In Argentina, we don't stress

This first week in Argentina has been so exciting, skiing for the first time in a few months and meeting new amazing people. But also it’s been a week to learn how to adapt to a new culture, the very relaxed Patagonian style. Things take their time and you just have to let it flow that way. No need to stress. There’s always time to have a Mate (traditional hot herb drink) or some Dulce De Leche on a cookie. People are very friendly and as a visitor in their country I feel warmly welcomed. Family time here seems more important than sitting by the TV, computer or phone. A good example is the birthday party we went to the other day. It was held in a house on the backyard built with the purpose to drink Mate in, have a barbeque or a party. This is apparently very common in Argentina, to have a hangaround house in your garden. So here’s an edit from the touring trip we did together with James and Lucas on our first day riding, two people that we met at the pub and friends of Niki’s. This was the first time skiing in the new outerwear from Planks, and I was super impressed by the technical performance in the Patagonian beech forest and up the windy mountain peaks. It’s nice to see that fashion doesn’t always come at the expense of function. Here's the edit, hope you enjoy it!  

  On Thursday we went riding at Cerro Bayo together with Colin Boyd (FWT snowboarder) and his Argentinean girlfriend Sofie that we stayed with in Wanaka last season. This daytrip was an unexpected surprise and Cerro Bayo turned out to be a freeride paradise!  It was only an hour drive from Bariloche but the locals there don’t seem to have discovered what this year’s new gondola has to offer. We scored some fresh snow and a blue bird day with no queues so definitely a day we’ll remember for a long time. With the stunning backdrop we decided to get the camera out, check out what we got below. Neil slashing some powder in Cerro Bayo ME! Colin getting deep Amazing view and moi Hopplahopp, Tove Yesterday we were back on our touring skis, and they were back on our backs. Niki joined us for another mission with James and Lucas, this time touring off the back of Cerro Catedral (Bariloche’s local resort). We were lucky and needed their local-ness to get a one ride pass because they had to convince the lady that we were going cross country skiing on the tracks at the top of the gondola. We started our mission in a milk bowl with absolutely no visibility but we got lucky and the sky opened for us just in time for a sketchy rock scramble over to a good run. The rain crust was still lurking at variable depths under the dry pow meaning that we couldn’t quite ski full speed or drop anything more than a few metres, but the deep turns that we got kept smiles on our faces for most of the skin back to the resort. A 2 day storm was coming in, dropping crazy snowflakes that looked like bean-bag filling, and the thoughts of family fire time with Mate and Dulce de Leche cookies lured us home to bed for a day off. Enjoying the view and the new outerwear Neilio making love to his handsome skis with his eyes Neil making the most of a small hole in the clouds Niki dropping in Patagonian style It's snowing as I'm writing this so stay tuned for the next update! Hasta luego!