I have made it down to Bariloche, Argentina, my latest stop on a whirl-wind trip of South America ski destinations, accompanied by my Norwegian travel contingent. We have seen blue bird pow conditions in El Colorado, above the smog of Santiago, more of the same at South America's only cat skiing operation, Ski Arpa Snowcats. I happened upon my brother Les there, high in the Andes, an odd circumstance.

Montanita, Ecuador - Travel is a powerful drug. It can make you love places you never knew, miss people you never knew existed, and do things you never thought you'd do. It will change you forever. It's a one way street to new and varied experience that is not without it's emotional strain, and diversity. For many travel is a way to open the mind, to raise the blindfold on the vista of life. We do this, we travellers, to better understand experience and interaction. We do it to better understand the world and the human form. It is an act that bridges ignorance and amplifies consciousness. By doing this one reaches a higher plane.

Does travel bring you closer to god? To travel is to be lost, to be immersed in the unknown - to know god is to know the unknown. I have seen god in the eyes of a street kid in Villa 31 near Retiro, Buenos Aires, Argentina; covered in dirt, eyes blazing white, moving like an animal. I have seen god in the storms of tremendous power that brutalize the Andes every ski season here. I have felt god in the blinding heat of Guaylaquil, Ecuador.

No wonder winter hasn't started yet up in the Pacific Northwest. Our winter has been stolen! Yep, that's right. Cold handed theft, from non other than our favourite South American neighbour, Las Lenas. Mark Lasseter wrote in an email today from down there...

"Ah, it is puking snow in town now.  While the resort officially closed 2 weeks ago, the sexotuple and lynch chairs are open and a pass is 25 p. You know we're going to be tapping that this week!"

Sometimes hair-brained ideas really do work. Adrenalina had been staring at me through my front window since I arrived in Lenas; a 6000ft couloir starting at 13,070 ft. with a 48-50 degree entrance. I knew I wanted to ski it before coming to Argentina, but finding a partner to climb the thing hadn't proven easy. With only a few days left down here and a storm system looming, my opportunity looked to have passed.

 Well, after last week's storm cycle, I think we all thought it was time to ski corn for the rest of the season. Gringos jumped ship and left town en masse today. But it looks as though there's another dump on its way Monday. The picture is of Riley enjoying semi-spring conditions in Sans_Nom. Adrenalina looms in the background.

Sometimes I think that the gaper factor is so prevalent in Argentina that I'm beoming desencitized to it. Then  these three dudes showed up....the guy on the right has a board that says "Wild Duck" on the base......sick!!!

 gaper

Well, almost a week with no fresh snow, trips to the park, and trips to Mendoza culminated with 40+cm of perfect pow. Once the mountain reopened, it was bluebird and green light. We skied over 24000 feet of near trackless snow in a day. Day 2 meant boot packing to Entre_Rios and Cerro Martine.....Alaska on the cheap.