A few days ago, I was flipping through Ski Press Magazine and I came across an article called “Switchbacks and Ceviche, a South American Adventure” written by our own Alliance gal, Beth Jahnigen Pappas. As I was reading it, I had to laugh because it couldn’t have been more exact on my own South American experience.
During ski season, when I didn’t want winter to end…another winter and 5 months in South America seemed like a great idea, so I booked a ticket to South America. But as July 1st approached, the date I was suppose to leave, I wasn’t so sure I wanted to give up summer. Although, reluctantly I boarded the plane and headed for Argentina.
After locating my luggage that had been lost somewhere in transit, I finally made it to Las Lenas…6 hours out in the middle of nowhere. I found a place to live with a bunch of men (or maybe I should say boys). This seems like it may have been nice being the only chick, but sharing a room for 3 months with a bunch of snoring farting men who loved to wake me up in the wee hours of the morning was less than ideal. Then there was the marte chair, which has the steepest pitch of any chair I’ve ever been on and swings in the wind as it crosses a terrifying cliff band…although they seemed to have a hard time opening this chair, which was too bad because it accesses all the good terrain. Most frustrating of all were the lift lines, which funneled you to the loading point…you literally had to fight your way to the front, and I don’t know how I was expected to get forward when the person behind me wouldn’t get off my skis.
While I continued to endure blizzards worst than any I’d ever experience…I was thinking of my friends back home enjoying warm summer weather. Then there was my brush with deadly illness (still can’t figure out what I ate). But I recovered from that and as it turns out the fire season back home had been one of the worst on record and I have to say blizzards are better than smoke.
However, the powder and skiing made it all worth while and I hope to return for another ski season.
