Unofficial Andes

Cerro Catedral base lodge

So far this season the norther ski resorts of South America have received heap loads of more snow then the resorts in the southern Andes. Cerro Catedral is closed until they receive more snow and many of the other southern resorts are not looking much better.

Here is the latest report from Jamie of livinginpatagonia.com

Catedral Closed Until More Snow Falls

Written by Jamie

Cerro Catedral was forced to close their slopes to skiers until more snow falls.

Last night is rained pretty hard and felt warm. Waking up today and looking at the peaks across the lake, it was pretty obvious it has rained to the top of the peaks.

So, we are in a holding pattern in these parts until we receive more snow. The forecast calls for some heavy precipitation from Thursday onwards.

livinginpatagonia.com

This is a far cry from last season when the resorts around Bariloche had one of the biggest snow years on recored. It was right around this time last year that I was skiing knee deep powder on a super fat base. And that was just the start of the season.

Photo from June 21, 2007 (street sign buried in snow)

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It is not easy finding quality weather information for South America. That being said, here are the top weather sites for following storms and other weather patterns over South America.

1. snow-forecast.com
2. livinginpatagonia.com

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Arrived in Las Lenas to fresh air, clear sky’s and a good base!

Terrain:

Most of the mountain has a solid base but the bulk of the snow is firm and wind effected. Ts Marte has been running but most/all of the good terrain is closed. Poached some runs only to find really firm wind effected snow (little scary but hey, thats the way the first day back in LL should be. right?) Yesterday I hike out to the office and the snow was soft spring snow. much better.

Weather:

That weather has been great with loads of sunshine and temps in the 50’s and 60’s. Yesterday I had a coffee out on the sun deck at 10am in a t shirt. Felt great!

Changes:

1. The village now has Wifi but its been down for three days so we will see how that works out.
2. Johnny’s is not yet open but when it does beers will be $15 pesos
3. No McDonald
4. Las Rosas is only selling Budweiser beer for $10 pesos
5. The price of food in the G mart has almost doubled on most goods

What the Same:

1. The mountain, in all its glory, is still here.
2. Lots of good looking girls (big surprise there)
3. Internet still sucks
4. LL management is still loco
5. Lasso Pool is still the spot! With all the same guys working.

Dam this internet!! I will try to post some other photos and more info after the afternoon internet rush.

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Just arrived in Las Lenas after very hard few days and sleepless nights of traveling that went something like this.

1. San Luis Obispo, CA to LAX by Car
2. LAX to Dallas TX
3. Dallas to BA
4. BUE airport to Retiro Bus Station
5. BA to San Raf by Bus
6. San Raf to LL by Bus

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Mark getting amongst it on Mercurio

MARTE IS OPEN and life is good.

Looking good for opening weekend.

2008 marks the 25th anniversary for Las Lenas Ski Resort so the partying will be rage all season long.

Las Lenas is open for the 2008 Winter Ski Season!!! UnofficialAndes.com’s good friend, Mark Lasseter of LasLenasSki.com, hooked us up with these photos from this pass weekend.  Not only did the mountain officially open but the famed Ts Marte started spinning on just the third day of the season! The first unofficial reports coming back to us have all been super positive with lots of coverage top to bottom.

I  will be arriving in Buenos Aires on June 25th then on to LL by the 26th or 27th. Stay tuned for the return of  UnofficialAndes for the 2008 winter ski season and one HUGE announcement that should make all our readers very happy.

More photos of opening weekend can be found at Southamericaski.com Vacations Profile on FACEBOOK

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Here are some official photos from Las Lenas that were taken on May 30, 2008.

Las Lenas has been blessed with a massive early season snowfall.

Las Lenas Official Website

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Webcam shot from Las Lenas May 29, 2008.

Nice to see the snow guns going.

Las Lenas Webcam

More snow for Las Lenas!!! Webcam

May 26, 2008

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The start of the 2008 South American Ski Season is about a month away. Las Lenas official kickoff is June 14th. Hope your ready!

Enjoy the site and if you have any questions or are looking for information that you can not find on the site drop me an email at Tim@unofficialsquaw.com.

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2008 South America Road Call

The 2008 South America Ski Season is now just a few short weeks away. The official opening of most of the SA resorts is June 14th. So who is going where and doing what? My plans as of now are to arrive in BA by mid-June and then head over to LL for the big kick off.
Lets hear what you all are doing.

Post a comment below on your summer ski / travel plans.

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According to snow-forecast.com Las Lenas ski resort will be picking up 3-5 feet of new snow on the upper mountain over the next week. Lets hope it keeps up!

You can track the storm using livinginpatagonia.com Weather Page

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