Cerro Lopez & Refugio- Bariloche ARG

Argentina: a land whose name is derived from the Latin term for silver but views are nothing but golden.

Shortly upon arriving in Bariloche I met up with Adi. We had been in contact over Facebook as she needed a split-board part from the states and reached out to me to see if I could snag it for her. Luckily I was able to grab the part and save her split-board for her trip! What a coincidence!

A joyous meeting exchanging her part for a big smile and a hug, she invited me to the Cerro Lopez Refugio in two days and I was elated!

The morning of day one I eagerly awaited the bus at KM5,9 with my bag packed full of goodies: sleeping bag, ice axe, chocolate and other assorted snacks. As the bus arrived I hopped on to meet the rest of the crew- Miles, Sara, & Kacey. As we drove towards the trailhead we began to discuss our backgrounds and mutual contacts.. We giggled about our friends back in the states and got off the bus at the trailhead: a dreamscape of a starting point. A small cafe with all the provisions one could want either starting or finishing a hike.

Left: Bus stop kit check

Above: Trailhead Super Pancho Appreciation

Once getting our kit squared away, we began uphill. The ascent starts with a steep hiking trail for about 1500’ until you reach the snow line. This particular season was a phenomenal in regards to snow so we transitioned to skinning at the mid mountain cafe. This was a great place to see the lakes and the character of these mountains that we would be playing in for the next few days.

After a short skin on a summer road we finally had the Refugio in our sights. A bright red structure at the base of some of the most dramatic looking mountains I’ve seen in a long time. As it was a beautiful spring day we encountered tons of day hikers but few skiers as we learned later, the refugio wasn’t open to the public but luckily for us we had contacts we were able to stay for a few nights.

Left: Basking in the sun after our hike in

Below: Lake views from the skin

Arriving at the refugio we met the hut master along with a mountaineering group who were taking a course for their Argentinian guiding certifications. After some awkward conversations in our second languages we stowed away our items on the top floor and realized we have the entire refugio to ourselves for the next two days or so.

We had beautiful weather which could not be understated. Strong sunshine, no wind and a good crew made for an awesome morning. After an hour or so goes by filled with snacks, water, photos and smoke breaks; we decided to go for an afternoon ski.

The rolling terrain above the refugio was a perfect intro to what would be my first backcountry ski tour in Argentina. We picked our way through the face using some old skin tracks along with making some proper adjustments. Getting to the top of our ski line was a feeling I’ll never forget. We were mostly strangers a few hours ago to strong backcountry partners sharing a summit was a moment to remember. We skied some awesome corn snow back to the refugio while taking ample breaks to soak in the experience of skiing in late august 3000 miles away from our homes.

Left: Miles with Kacey close behind on our final push for the day

Bottom left: Miles & I living it up

Below: Crew moving up!

Once back at the refugio, we were pleasantly surprised as a hot dinner was being prepared while we decompressed from a solid day's skiing. We initially thoihgt we had to make our own meals so we were all very glad to have a delicious meal served to us while connecting and telling stories of good times had. We enjoyed an awesome milanesa accompanied with ample red wine from Mendoza. After more stories and a warm buzz, it was off to the bunks for the night.

Above Left: The tastiest wine I've ever had, Above Right: Teaching the crew spicy Uno

Below: The final alpenglow with shimmering lights of Llao Llao and Bariloche below

The next morning we all rose early for the sunrise as it was not something to miss. After a few more photos and a questionable breakfast, we were off the races once again to hunt some good skiing.

We started the day by descending from the refugio to the base of an adjacent ridge line to access a peak we had our eyes on. We booted up the first ridge and solidified our game plan from there: we would drop the backside of the ridge we were on and ski the major peak ahead of us. After a 500’ ski down we transitioned back into our skins and began up towards our main objective for the day. Another perfect weather day of strong sunshine and no wind allowed us to have another best day ever.

Left: Soaking in the rays

Above: Our first descent of the day

Bottom left: Taking in the views

Below: 3,2,1... Dropping

Once atop we took a snack break and more photos. Adi rode down first to snap photos of us as we ripped down a beautiful face of Argentine corn snow. Making big GS turns on this face was a true moment of bliss for me. We all collected at the bottom with nothing but ear to ear smiles from the entire crew. Retracing our steps back to the refugio yielded another short but fun descent on the face we booted up in the morning.

Below Left: Making business calls, Below Right: Just kidding, tip shots only

Below Left: Look mom we were up there, Below Right: Tracks we put down

Below: Miles and my new bird friend

Back at the refugio it was time for more snacks, music and of course red wine. We enjoyed the sunshine til sunset then had another awesome meal provided by the hut master. The next morning we boogied on back to the road and had to indulge in a super pancho ( a very large hot dog) back at the trailhead café. This was a perfect capstone to our beautiful adventure to the Lopez Refugio.