With great pleasure and exceptional company, Eric and Kent from SPC hosted our 2016 Argentina Ski Adventure to Bariloche, Cerro Catedral and Baguales Snowcat Skiing from August 27-Sept 3, 2016. With 6 SPC guests along for the ride, we were blessed with great snow, cold temps, exceptional services from Baguales, SGT and their local guide Mauri Cambilla, as well as some super gung-ho guests.
This was our 2nd trip down south and we are hoping to pull this off next year as well, around the same timeframe (late August into early September).
We nailed our day with Baguales in what turned out to be an exceptional day of cat skiing. It started out iffy as we woke up to a steady downpour of rain at our apartments. But after a fun filled commute via van and jeep where we drove across a river, then onto snowmobiles to climb to where their high end lodge is located, we waited out Mother Nature and the 50 mph winds and were blessed with an afternoon of ripping cat skiing. The rain had turned to snow at elevation so the Patagonian highlands provided us with above tree line runs, filled with endless powder stashes for us to play in. This trip was certainly a highlight of the tour and we look to possibly add in 2 days at Baguales next year and maybe a ski tour into one of their refuges.
On the other days, we utilized the lifts at Cerro Catedral to get up into Laguna which is Catedral’s hike/skin to off piste paradise. The hikes were a minimum 20-min but we did a few additional hikes to gain the ridge line and pick off certain zones that fit in perfect with our groups ability.
We had 6 guests come with us. All were gamers. Everyone had all been with us on our Level III trip before so we knew they could ski but in the end you never know, and in this case our abilities all clicked so the trip really flowed. Not everyone had skinned before so it was a learning experience for some in utilizing AT bindings. Beyond the ability of the group, the crew were all of similar attitudes, humor and engagement. It’s the people that make all of our trips and in this case it was about as good as it could have been.
Check out the images on this page as well as the link here to all images taken by Kent during the tour.
Here are some testimonials from our crew:
“This was a trip to remember. Patagonia is a magical place that must be visited by everyone. The trip down there will have to become an annual event. The backcountry terrain was as good as any I have been on and the local guide knew exactly where to take us everyday for the best conditions. The SPC crew put together a awesome agenda for the trip and made everything work seamlessly. They were always there to make sure everyone was having the best experience possible. Cant wait for next year!” Bob F.
“A life changing experience!! The Patagonia region was way beyond what I had imagined. Saw my first condor which by the way predicts snow for real! It was like stepping into a Warren Miller movie. I’ve been lucky enough to have skied backcountry trips all over but this trip truly pushed my limits and brought me to a whole new level. Big shout out to our guides Eric, Kent and Mauri for keeping us all safe!!!” John Dee
“What an amazing adventure! It totally exceeded my expectations and my expectations were very high! Every aspect of the trip was managed to perfection you guys and Mauri were terrific guides, the cat skiing at Baguales was spectacular, the selection of restaurants was excellent and I am not really sure how you arranged the dump of fresh POW but it sure was appreciated! You can count me in for the trip next summer.” Bob B.
