Dustin Eldridge, a student at Colorado Mountain College in Steamboat, has spent part of the last two summers down in the Southern Hemisphere winter as an intern with SASS Travel. Here’s his report from his first week with SASS this year. This article was first posted in Dustin’s blog, Steamboat Livin’.
As I type this, I’m sitting in the Soul Max hotel, located directly at the base of Cerro Catedral, a ski resort outside of San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina. My first week has been a blur of powder, partying, good times, and great people, and I’m sure the second week will live up to the hype. Here’s a little write-up I did for SGT’s blog about our first powder day a couple days ago. Get ready for more updates, amazing photos and videos to come in the next couple weeks. Salud!
Today was the first powder day for Session Two down here at SASS Global Travel. With only two inches at the base this morning, everyone was preparing for dust-on-crust conditions for the day. As we climbed higher up the mountain it became apparent that snow on the upper mountain was stacked much higher. The crust could still be felt under the snow for the first few runs, but as the day went on, and the snow stacked higher, the bottomless turns became more regular.
Here it is, August 12th, and I’m getting face shots one after the other in a raging Patagonian storm. With all of the Argentines sticking to the main runs, there were fresh tracks to be had from first chair to last call. We rallied from one side of the mountain to the other, and as we moved the turns got deeper. Almost everywhere on the mountain held the goods all day long.
The snow is falling lightly at the base now, and if it clears up tomorrow, we’ll get up into the backcountry. If the snow sticks around, we have another day of shredding trees and on the resort. Either way, I think we’re in for an amazing day. The forecast for the week is promising an abundance of new snow, but even if it’s incorrect, there are days of incredible shredding to be had in the areas around Cerro Catedral. Sun or snow, we’ve got it made. If you’re North American summer is too much to handle, or your face has become hot with the lack of face shots, come down to Argentina with SGT and shred some serious pow!
Words: Dustin Eldridge
Photos: Thomas Tikos