Las Leñas

At last!!! The suffering is over! After three continuous weeks of frustration due to terrible conditions, snow finally fell!!!

Due to the poor conditions and the growing boredom, we decided to move on to the next valley for a few days. The "Valle Hermoso" ("beautiful valley") bears its name for good reason, I have rarely seen anything so beautiful.

Argentina - The land of beef and red wine! Of tango and beautiful women! And above all, the Andes!

Winter sports in Argentina begin for us with a wine tasting in a bodega in the "Valle de Uco" in the hinterland of Mendoza. It is mid-July, we have come from the European summer and are in search of South American powder snow. But here at 700 meters above sea level, it's not as cold as we expected and the sky is so clear and blue that it almost looks fake. Only the view of the snow-covered Andes towering high into the sky suggests a little winter.

However, before we are allowed to plunge into one of the gullies, we have to get accredited as freeriders at the lift. This means that we are familiar with alpine dangers, can assess the avalanche risk and are prepared to take the risk of an accident ourselves. Then everyone gets a neon-colored sticker stuck to their ski goggles and the guys from the piste control give the go-ahead.

Las Lenas is huge, but it isn't scary. It is supremely aesthetic and inspires you to leave a single, snaking track down each of its many faces. The thing is, it is very possible to do so with the Marte Chair running and incredible peaks within easy boot-packing distance. From the top of these, the mountains stretch on seemingly forever, and so do the possibilities...

For us, the South American skiing experience usually begins at an airport far away from South America. This is followed by a 15-hour flight, a bus ride (or two) that is at least as long, dusty, foreign cities and people who talk far too fast for you to understand them in meagre tourist Spanish...