Argentina

    For anyone considering a ski trip down south this summer, Las Leñas is offering some pretty decent prices at the moment, if you book (and pay) by August … Read More

Saturday 7/21 delivered the storm that we desperately needed here in Las Leñas, and today was a classic first sunny day powder day. This video shows the standard first powder day timeline: morning Cenidor runs, mid day Vulcano, and afternoon Marte. For many of us, today was the first true powder of the season, so stoke levels were running high.

It is hard to say how much fresh snow we’ve received. Something like 12 inches, with a whole lot of wind to really smooth things over and fill everything in. Conditions primarily consisted of good powder with a very light wind skin, with some areas looking a little scoured, and others with some breakable wind crust (carton).

Despite really heavy winds, ski patrol was kind enough to give us all one good Marte run in the afternoon. If you ever find yourself complaining that they don’t try to open Marte in heavy winds, remember today!

Patrol only opened Mercurio and “variations” today, so Eduardo and the South Wall remain untouched for tomorrow. It isn’t clear whether tomorrow will be blue, or stormy and gray instead.

Jordi Tenas, Txema Trull, and Adrià Millan just put together this great video of shredding around Las Leñas the past couple weeks. Also featured is Augustin Torres, shredding on the guitar. Good work, boys!

For some great photos from Las Leñas and Spain of these three, check out Txema’s website: TxemaTrull.com

Also, browse Adri’s Vimeo Page for their other videos from past seasons.

Conditions remain more or less the same in Las Leñas at the moment – most things are seriously wind blasted, but there is still some powder hiding here and there. However, it’s getting harder and harder to find, as people hunt it down and hike it.

On the bright side, we are on the brink of getting into a decent corn cycle, so there should still be some good skiing once the powder is gone (and until the next system arrives).

Looking forward, it appears that we’ll have high pressure till Friday, and hopefully a top – up on Friday night. At the moment, Snow Forecast is calling for 8cm at mid-mountain, but it was showing more yesterday, and who knows what it will show tomorrow. Past Friday, we are back into high pressure. So let’s hope we get that forecasted snow, and then some!

Days 1-3, Snow-forecast.com

Days 4 – 6, Snow-forecast.com

Days 7 – 9, Snow-forecast.com

So you plan to engage in one of the most unnatural phenomena we as humans undergo, flying through the air at speeds in excess of 500 miles per hour in … Read More

Well, the wind has continued to work things over in Las Leñas the past few days. Just about every unsheltered slope is covered with rock hard, un-skiable sastrugi. Today, the Eduardo’s off-piste gate was closed, presumably due to how firm the snow was.

However, there is still some powder to be found up there. We skied reasonably soft snow on Cerro Martin today, and others reported powder on some other peaks on the upper mountain. Further, the current high pressure is beginning to develop some decent corn, if you can find anywhere that hasn’t been sastrugified.

Looking forward, it appears that we will have high pressure for the next week atleast. Again, although the current snow quality is frustrating, it’s hard to complain when Marte is open and most lines are filled in.

However, Snow Forecast is calling for “Heavy Snow” next Friday (the 20th) night, so the future is looking good.

Days 1-6 mid-mountain, snow-forecast.com

Days 7-9, mid-mountain, Snow-forecast.com

French Mountain Command and Line Skis rider Leo Taillefer did work last year in his first visit to the Southern Hemisphere. Here’s an edit of his escapades in South America this summer.

Check out his stuff from last summer, disregard the lack of music and listen to the sheer enthusiasm coming out of his mouth.

Although most people are aware that Las Leñas added a new chair lift (Minerva), few are aware of their other addition this season: a skating rink!   Yeah, yeah… we … Read More

Let the Rivalry begin! If you’ve been to both of these places, then you’ve got an opinion on this topic.  If you haven’t, you still should.  Bariloche is the Lake … Read More

One long run in the Labyrinth.

Overall, conditions are above average in Las Leñas at the moment. The base is much deeper than usual for this time of the year, and just about every named line is filled in. The south wall has already seen lots of traffic, whereas last season it was only skiable for about one week at the end of August. I believe the last time Las Leñas had a base this deep in early July was 2008.

Having said that, Las Leñas saw significant wind events (surprised?) last week, and just about everything is pretty firm and wind buffed. Temperatures have been warm and the sun has been out, so everything on the northern half and lower elevation has a breakable sun crust on it. However, if you go higher, south facing, and protected from the wind, there is still soft snow to be found.

At the moment, it is windy, cloudy, and lightly snowing. However, the sun is forecasted to make an appearance this afternoon.

Eduardo and the front side, looking very filled in for early July.

Going forward, the forecast is calling for high pressure for the next week at least, with relatively low winds. While this means that powder skiing will be extremely hard to find, it also means that there is plenty of potential to enjoy Marte with loads of lines ready to ride. 

Snow-forecast.com at mid-mountain for days 1-6.

Snow-forecast.com for mid-mountain, days 7-9.