Photo: geoftheref
Even as much of the world is enjoying the bike rides and water slides of summer, there’s another half breaking out the skates and snowboards.
I gazed out the bus window last Sunday afternoon to see…well, nothing.
No jagged mountains or endless pampas as I’d imagined. Instead, a solid sheet of white hung like TV static out the slowly progressing bus window. Blizzard-like conditions were slamming Patagonia’s Route 40.
This was the first time I saw it snow during my now six months in South America. And I was just as shocked as I had been back in January, flying out of snowy Boston to arrive in the humid, hazy summer of Lima. How amazing that it’s possible to switch seasons in a day simply by hopping a plane.
Photo: lepiaf.geo
However strange it may feel, I’m ready to take advantage of what Patagonia’s throwing at me.
Over the next month or so that I’ll be here in Esquel, Argentina, volunteering with Asociación MAPU (which just so happens to be a Matador member organization), I should have a couple days free to hit the local ski mountain, La Hoya.
And if I were to venture a bit farther north, I could sample a couple of the 5 Best Southern Hemisphere Ski Resorts that Trips profiled earlier this year.
The other three are in Australia/New Zealand.
What about my fellow Southern Hemisphereans? What are your plans for enjoying the winter of 2009 while our cousins up north steam and sweat? Let me know in the comments.
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6 Comments... join the discussion!
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Thanks for the comment, Turner. I bet you wish you were Down Under right now. From what I hear, TX is baking.
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Las Lenas in Argentina- ill post a guide once I return from laos in a few weeks.
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Nice. I hope to finally make it up to the mountain this weekend.
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I’ve spent the last several years living in Colorado…I was drawn there from Chicago for obvious reasons. This year, I’m living in Thailand and missed the snow season more than I had anticipated
No worries, I’ll be back home in time for the resort opennings for 2009!I worked for a short time as a children’s ski instructor in Steamboat Springs, CO. Among my coworkers were a good deal of Aregentines and Chileans who said adios to the heat and enjoyed there summers on the slopes. If I can polish up my Spanish, I’d like to try and get a job down south for a summer. Do you know anyone who has done that? Regardless, my nex trip will be to Argentina in the summer of 2010…but I’d like it to be more than just a vacation.
Saludos
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No, I haven’t met anyone who’s done that. It’s probably more difficult that vice versa, because there’s a special U.S. work visa (J-something?) for young people from abroad to go work in U.S. resorts during the winter, but here in Argentina/Chile, jobs are pretty scarce. That said, I’m sure it could be done. Try posting a question in the forum on the community site: http://matadortravel.com/
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