It really is another world; while we are grappling with the heat and the sultry air, in the southern hemisphere winter has begun.. and what a winter!! In particular, the 2012 South American ski season, the “Temporada”, could not have got off to a better start: abundant, top-quality snow everywhere, with freezing temperatures and slopes in perfect condition.
The biggest snow accumulations are in the far south of the Cordillera, such as in Tierra del Fuego, where for a month even the city of Ushuaia itself has been constantly blanketed in white, highlighting its unique and extreme location as a mountain town, a ski resort and also a city between oceans. The slopes of nearby Cerro Castor are already in full swing, with almost a metre and a half of snow already on the ground and practically everything ready to welcome the elite of world ski racing, who from August onwards stay and train on these excellent slopes. The outlook is also excellent for the international month (August) of Nordic skiing, with 2 long-distance races and competitions for masters and children.
Textbook conditions also at La Hoya, a remote southern Patagonian ski resort that nevertheless boasts the best snow on the entire continent, as light as it is dry and fast. The snow report shows 140-170 cm of snow and, despite the thermometer constantly below zero, snowmaking has not yet been used. After successfully hosting the continental junior ski championship last September, La Hoya is relaunching itself as the ideal destination for smaller racing teams from Europe, North America and Japan, making available its homologated courses for all disciplines and its slalom stadium, at an altitude between 1,200 and 2,000 m, and organising “all-inclusive” packages. Supporting the resort is the welcoming town of Esquel, which offers every useful service and entertainment, as well as endless opportunities for sporting and sightseeing excursions in the boundless and irresistible Patagonian landscape.
Skiers in northern Patagonia aren’t doing badly either, for example at Bariloche/Cerro Catedral, Chapelco and Cerro Bayo; these are the resorts that, in terms of altitude and setting, are most similar to our Alpine ones, albeit with their own very particular features and surroundings. The snow in these areas ranges from 30-40 cm at the bottom of the lifts to almost 2 metres at the highest points of the ski areas, at around 2,000 m, and the pictures reaching us from these resorts show a perfect Christmas atmosphere.
At the moment, though, the deepest snow cover is at Las Leñas, much further north than the resorts above, with 230 cm of white blanket.. which means that the more than 150 catalogued off-piste routes, which make Las Leñas the freeriders’ mecca of the southern hemisphere, promise great satisfaction to fans of the genre. Things are no worse on the groomed slopes (the same ones that hosted World Cup races in the ’80s), which after days of blizzards are now also enjoying the cold but brilliant sunshine of early winter.
Slightly less snow, but still between 30 and 160 cm, in Chile’s Tres Valles, just above the metropolis of Santiago, where over 120 km of slopes with snow that is “polvo”, as they call it here, are already open; this is the most welcome and pleasant “powder” you could ever imagine!!
For anyone dreaming of a truly white summer holiday, there’s nothing left to do but go: the outlook really is excellent! However, these are the last days to find good availability on flights and local services.. If you’re tired of the heatwaves “Scipione”, “Caronte”, “Minosse” and in general of the great, unbearable heat that has had Italy in its grip for over a month now, then you should take a look at this page to get away from it all and go carve the snows of South America
Recommended links and contacts:
> www.vacanzeneve.mondoneve.it/offerte/viaggio-sci-estivo-sud-america-cile-argentina-2012
> Skiing in South America– www.paolociotti.it
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