Cerro Piltriquitron- El Bolson, Patagonia

AlexMitchko
Feb 9, 2023
2 min read

Updated: Sep 29

El Bolson, a small community just under 200km away from Bariloche provides quite a unique experience. This smaller community takes life a little slower. Upon arriving in the evening before our ski, we were greeted by our warm hostel host who made us feel right at home. He even pointed us in the right direction for food, suggesting we head to a local soccer pub where the empanadas were some of the best I experienced during my five weeks in Argentina. El Mirador was home for two nights including all of the patagonia staples: Resident dogs, Dulce De Leche and Mate at all hours of the day. This place was such a treat, I would definitely recommend El Mirador if you're planning on visiting the area.

We started our ski day in traditional Argentinaian style with Mate and dulce de leche on toast. After a short drive up towards the trailhead, I had to stash my car as the road had ruts that would easily high-center any sedan. Once we found an appropriate place to park, we shuttled myself and the rest of the crew to the trail head. From here the route finding is very straight forward. The refugio sees quite a bit of foot traffic throughout the year so the trail is well-defined. As the refugio comes into view, the vista towards the lakes below and adjacent mountains are spectacular. We poked around the hut, drinking some water and even getting a coffee from the hut-master.

From here we continued east towards the saddle that brings the summit into view. The meandering low angle terrain was exactly what we were looking for on this day. Prefect temps, low wind and good conversation created a perfect setting to have a picnic on the summit while we teed up some perfect corn skiing.

After experiencing the true summit and its vast exposure on the westside, we began to descend some of the best corn skiing of the entire trip.

This peak is nothing crazy, but that's what makes it so great. Big open bowls with more than enough room for our entire party to put down fresh tracks was just divine. Once reconvened at the bottom of our descent we decided to hike up an adjacent peak but were thwarted by incoming wind, poor snow quality and some lingering injuries.

Once backing off our second descent we made our way back to the refugio to check out the space MTV cribs style. The climbing/ skiing history in these refugio’s always makes the stop worth it, not to mention the warm drinks and even warmer hospitality that bonds to your soul like ptex to your ski base. Enjoy the skiing out there!