After two solid days of travel, we’re all safe and sound back here in sunny/warm North America. DAKINE’s time in Argentina with SASS was a winter adventure travel experience that we will all cherish for a lifetime.

The last four days of our trip produced almost every kind of mountain weather one could think of. After several days of blizzard like snow conditions, the sun finally broke for us (Sunday 23rd). Due to wind and unstable avalanche conditions the alpine was still off limits though. No worries, the trees of Cerro Catedral are loaded with endless features so it didn’t take us long to get productive.

That afternoon, conditions started to deteriorate rapidly. The temps rose and the snow began to turn to mashed potatoes. We couldn’t help think of how similar the weather was in Patagonia to that of the winter weather in the Pacific Northwest. One hour your shredding waist deep powder and the next hour it’s raining all over it! Needless to say, that’s exactly what happened.

Still living strong in the stoke from conditions we had on the first half of the trip, we took the rain in stride. Despite the soaking conditions, we were still able to find a sick log jib in the woods. Afterwards, Josh Dirksen, Austin Smith, Eric Pollard and Chris Benchetler all decided to swap out their gear (snowboards for skis & skis for snowboards). Pure comedy!!!! We followed the day up with a late night birthday celebration (yours truly) at a sick club in downtown Bariloche.

Conditions change rapidly in the Andes. Since we’ve returned home, we’ve already received word that it’s snowing at Cerro Catedral again. If you plan to go, allow yourself enough time to be patient and wait for the goods. It will pay off!

Thanks again to SASS (www.sasnow.com) & Sudbruck (www.sudbruck.com) for their warm hospitality. We’re looking forward to coming back to visit next summer!

READ MORE ABOUT THIS TRIP
REPORT 1 >>
REPORT 2 >>

PHOTOS:
Abe Blair, Liam Gallager, Randy Torcom, Leanne Pelosi

WORDS:
Randy Torcom