Las Leñas

Our globetrotting Skibum correspondent Zach talks about life in the "Corvus" apartment, a rotten vacation home in the chronically muddy part of Las Leñas, behind the garbage containers of the big hotels, where a sworn crew of Las Leñas enthusiasts meet up year after year. But: the future of the Corvus family is uncertain because the lift operator is making life increasingly difficult for freeriders.

When the ski resort runs out of snow, you have to look elsewhere: Our roving Skibum reporter and South America correspondent Zach Paley reports on a multi-day tour with a tent and the challenges that come with it.

Aaron Rice (Instagram: @airandrice) from Utah broke the world record for vertical meters climbed on touring skis this year and is well on his way to achieving his goal of 2.5 million vertical feet (= 762,000 vertical meters). What sounds incredible to the downhill-oriented ski tourer is also hard to grasp for the uphill-oriented. So the question arises: who is the crazy type and how many vertical meters can you theoretically cover in a calendar year?

The story of the GPO (short for Giant Pacific Octopus) began in the fall of 2012, when Drew Tabke designed a ski with which he would later win the Freeride World Tour. And although the GPO has proven big mountain qualities, it is still an all-round freeride ski for (almost) everyone.

This time, Zach Paley's Las Leñas diary is all about the weather forecast: if the only thing you can rely on is that you can't rely on it, you'll just have to make up your own mind when skiing.

Zach Paley reports on fresh snow and tense bad weather boredom in Las Leñas.

It seems everyone comes out to play in the summer. Even those of us that love the snow find other ways to stay entertained in the mountains. For a while, it seems winter can be forgotten. Though for some, something is missing.

We had an all-round good end to the season in the winter and northern summer in Las Leñas, Argentina: the weather remained good and the spring temperatures spoiled us with the best firn every day. After a long week of big tours, we took it easy on the last few days of the season and skied the countless variations in the ski resort.

Last week we were spoiled every day with great weather, lots of sunshine and little wind. We were finally able to ski the peaks in the touring area around the ski resort. At high altitudes, we found set powder snow in all exposures and top-quality firn in the lower half.

Finally back in Argentina: the land of wine and asado. Our journey by bus from Nevados de Chillan to Las Lenas took a whole three days.

Once again this season, we will be providing you with the best web videos of the week on PowderGuide every week.

A total of four meters of snow transformed Las Leñas into a winter wonderland: one day was better than the next... We were finally able to do all the things we had come here to do.