Mendoza

In the last part of Zach's South America reports of this year's southern season, he takes us to lesser known corners of the Argentine Central Andes on spring tours with tents, lots of wind, rocks, good and not so good weather and mixed feelings about the end of winter in summer:

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.

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.

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.

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...