South America 2024

Tony Crocker said:
How much hiking must you do to ski the best Laguna terrain at Catedral?
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Internet consensus is about 15-20 minutes, depending upon where you want to go in La Laguna Bowl.

A surface lift was installed a few years ago, but it never ran and is now gone/inoperable. Here is an excellent write-up about this lift and the La Laguna sector:
Best ski lifts down south #3: La Laguna Cerro Catedral

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ChrisC said:
Internet consensus is about 15-20 minutes, depending upon where you want to go in La Laguna Bowl.
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5-10min if you are 2010 Ingrid Backstorm… 15-20min for the rest of mortals and a bit more for me (transition, snack, pictures). In my TR (link above), you’ll see the day’s graph at the start of the day. Hike, short descent, climb to other side of bowl.
 
Got to love the variability of South Americs snowfall.

Chile as an example:
June - 250”
July - 0”
August - another massive storm!

It seems like the entire season of SA is predicated on maybe 3-6 big storms. With very minor snowfalls in between.

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It looks like this is the year for the Central Andes - Chillan and north.

Argentina’s Patagonia could use a little more snow.

I think way down south is doing well, but I don't follow those mountains.
 
I don’t quite understand this, but Ski Arpa (snowcat) only had its first ski day in late July. I guess most years that’s a ‘new normal’ start date?!



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Season-to-date snowfalls Portillo 249 inches, Valle Nevado 236. That's 2 feet from the recent storm after the dry month+. A little bit more is expected over the next few days. Both ChrisC and Patrick should pull the trigger soon.
 
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Not sure what’s up with Las Lenas reporting. Looks like new snow (4 ft on top), huge winds and lots of closures - especially off piste.

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OpenSnow thinks the Andes got snow Monday.

Dry for everyone Chile, Argentina, Australia and NZ for the next 10 days.

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Some belated reporting in the Andes. Look like Vall\e Nevado received about 44 inches new last week.

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A strange number of key lifts closed. Wonder if they are accurately reporting in what's open.

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It is positive that Las Lenas is reporting Marte open with low winds.
 
Looking a little warm in Argentina's (northern) Patagonia.

I am surprised that Catedral has yet to install snowmaking on its lower slopes. I cannot imagine a North American or European ski mountain just giving up on return-to-base ski slopes by mid-February, but that happens at Catedral. I realize import tariffs - and inflation - are a huge reason for a lack of investment, but it still seems an undesirable outcome.

Catedral: Nice up high, a bit brown down low

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Cerro Bayo: Looks good up high.

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ChrisC said:
Catedral: Nice up high, a bit brown down low
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Normal, lower third of the hill is infrequently skiable from what I read over the years.

Marte at Las Lenas is not listed open the last two days.

Today's narrative OpenSnow report is confirming new snow for next Monday/Tuesday.
 
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Tony Crocker said:
Marte at Las Lenas is not listed open the last two days.
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Las Lenas does that annoying reporting - that many Alps ski areas do, too - where lifts are only marked Open/Closed—no third category - such as Expected or On Hold. So you have no idea what lifts might operate. (Zermatt does this! PITA!)

So it is outside scheduled hours; you only see a closed sign.

You need to check during EST +1 hr (GMT-3) for a 9 am-5 pm ski day. Or else you only see closed.

Everything was open (or attempted) to start the day. The only weird thing is that Off-piste displays a closed state. Some pistes are marked closed, but I can see tracks on them in the Webcam (for example, Pluto).


Here are lifts open until 5 pm:
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Tony Crocker said:
Marte at Las Lenas is not listed open the last two days.
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I'm planning to kick off my ski trip in Las Lenas (10 days from now). If I'm lucky enough to get a good stretch of skiing with Marte open and decent-packed powder/corn, I might just extend my stay and skip Patagonia/Bariloche (Catedral & Cerro Bayo). After all, Bariloche is a bustling city with plenty of hotels and flights, so no reservations are necessary.

If I have three or so good days (out of seven) with Marte open, decent-packed powder, and/or corn and ski the major routes, I will call it a success. And if it is phenomenal or I miss Marte, just stay longer.
 
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