Day 1 – Travel Day
The next destination after Frey Hut was Lanin, a 3700m volcano at the border between Chile and Argentina. Our group was to leave Bariloche on Sept 5th and drive to Junin de los Andes to spend the night so we could get and early start at the volcano the next morning. We ended up departing quite a bit later than planned due to a late night of eating, drinking, and partying after our return from Frey. One of our group managed to stay out to 7am and spent half of his 4 or so hours of sleep in his mate’s car. By comparison, I managed to make it home in the relatively respectable range of 2-3am (exact time unknown).
We rolled into town in the early evening and proceeded to prepare for the next day. As soon as we had access to wifi we anxiously checked the mountain forecasts. It was not looking good. There was precipitation and high winds in the forecast — not a good recipe for summiting a 3700m volcano. We decided to pack for the original plan and adjust as necessary when we reached the base of the volcano.
Day 2 – Lanin Base
Morning came with the sound of an iPhone alarm. There was hope as the weather in town wasn’t horrible. We ate breakfast, loaded the car, and headed out. As we neared the base of Lanin the hopes for a summit bid had evaporated. It was cold, windy, and rainy. We modified the plans and decided to make the most of the situation and skin up an open bowl on Lanin situated looker’s left of the spine that was typically traversed to reach the huts most climbers used to break the trip to the summit.
My camera stayed in the bag the whole day as freezing rain/snow and cameras don’t mix. We skinned up a respectable 1000+ meters for such a crappy day and almost made it to the elevation of the hut we would have stayed at for a summit trip. We turned around when we’d had enough of the increasing wind and cold. The top of the descent was actually reasonable. After a short interlude waiting for our guide’s helper to retrieve his glove, we skied a number of enjoyable turns in (relatively) decent fresh but heavy snow. That ended far too soon with a knee wrenching transition into water saturated snow that grabbed our ski bases like glue.
Back at the car, we formulated a plan for the next day as we loaded our gear. We were going to head to San Martin de los Andes and ski some terrain in that area. Hopefully the weather further east would be nicer than at our current location.
San Martin is a nice little ski town. It was a well kept place with an abundance of interesting shops and inviting restaurants. In some ways it reminded me of Pucon. It was definitely a touristy place but somehow managed to establish a charm without going overboard and feeling too fake. It was a big upgraded to the dreariness of Junin and in some ways I preferred it to staying in Bariloche.
Day 3 – Backup plan, touring near Chapelco
The next morning our group met up with Jorge’s guiding assistant Pablo and we headed to a backcountry area that Pablo recommended. We drove up a muddy dirt road to an elevation of 1400m and parked near the refugio Miramas, a zip-line/ski instruction/snowshoe adventure lodge in the vicinity of the Chapelco ski resort. The weather was looking better than the previous day and our hopes were high for a good tour.
We started out through a fairly flat forest trail to make our way around a small peak standing between us and the destination of the day. As we rounded the ridge of the peak and gained some elevation we caught some glimpses of our original goal, Lanin, in the distance.
Looking back at Lanin
We continued on our path skirting the mountain.
Jorge (left) and his assistant for the Lanin trip, Pablo. Coincidentally ski and boot twinsies.
Tom and Charlie enjoying a quick breather
Eventually the hump of our destination came into view and we stopped for lunch.
The destination, right hump
Lunch
After fueling up we climbed to our destination.
Climbing
As we got closer it seemed that the clouds become darker, lower, and more menacing. The summit was cold and windy. Up went the hoods as we surveyed the surrounding terrain and made a decision on where to ski. With the worsening weather, ticking clock, and heavy snow we decided to ski back the way we came instead of committing to a more inviting line that would have involved further skinning and more avy danger.
At the top, what to ski?
The downhill was much like yesterday, a few decent turns at top ending in glue. It still beat the pants off staying indoors and was an enjoyable tour. It’s definitely an area I’d like to explore further as we spotted a few nice lines that would be good in better conditions. We stopped by the Miramas refugio on the way back to the car and had a beer and snack. Since the weather was bad and there wasn’t an urgency for making it back to Bariloche for the next segment of our trip (Tronador) we stayed another night in San Martin.
Lanin remains at the top of my list to do before I leave. My fingers are crossed for a good weather window and some climbing partners with compatible schedules.
