South America Part IV (plus a reminder to vote!)

Before I get into the conclusion of my trip, please do me a favor, visit the following link and give me a vote! With your help, I could win a hiking excursion to the Arctic! Voting is daily so every vote helps, thanks so much! http://promoshq.wildfireapp.com/website/6/contests/324364/voteable_entries/68689974

I had just arrived in Bariloche, and was excited to get my feet wet snowboarding. Luckily, my first day there I met a crew of people who would soon become my good friends and riding buddies. Staying at Hostel 41 Below, we would make our daily bus ride to the mountain and shred hard everyday. The riding was great, my friends Ryan, Trevor and I even went in a big air contest one day, and Ryan and I ended up on the podium. Every day's riding would end with a Quilmes beer and a Super Poncho (a 12 inch hot dog, wrapped in ham, with melted cheese and crushed Frito-Lay chips on top) before heading back into town and consuming mucho steak and wine, and cheese. It was truly 2 weeks in paradise.

I took my camera up with me one day on the mountain, and we had a bit of fun exploring. Other than that, it was purely a soul shred, packing in as many turns as I could for a South American adventure. After 2 weeks, I was headed onwards to the last chapter of trip - 4 days of boozing and sightseeing in Buenos Aires. Check the next post for the conclusion! Thanks again for the votes!

South America Part III (and please vote for me!)

Before the third chapter of my South American trip, please, if you don't mind, take a quick visit to the link below, and vote for my entry in a photography contest with MEC... it could win me a hiking trip to the Arctic!

http://promoshq.wildfireapp.com/website/6/contests/324364/voteable_entries/68689974

We finally reached Argentina, in a small town called San Martin de los Andes. Here I went for an awesome day snowboarding at a resort called Chapelco, inbetween a couple late nights enjoying beverages, live music, and new friends. This town reminds me of the Whistler area... skiing in the winter, fly fishing, biking and other activities in the summer, expensive market areas for rich tourists. Beautiful place. After 2 days in this town, we got to take a trip on the 7 Lakes Road. In BC, the Sea-to-Sky Highway from Vancouver to Whistler is known as quite the scenic drive, but it pales in comparison to the variety of landscapes you get to see on this road.  What would make it all the more interesting is I was travelling this road 2 months after the eruption of the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano that left many areas of Chile and Argentina coated in ash. I was told that these beautiful lakes I was seeing, were actually coated in a meter of ash shortly after the eruption. Much of the land was still covered, like I was in a desert.

The 7 Lakes Road finally brought us to Bariloche. Here, I would split from my travel group, and stay on my own for 2 weeks of snowboarding. After my group left, I found a new hostel (Hostel 41 Below... if you ever go to Bariloche for skiing or snowboarding, I recommend it. The owner shreds, and most people staying there are there to ride as well), and quickly found a family of new friends from all kinds of places. Bariloche would be my new home for the next 2 weeks, which would be filled with steak, wine, and snowboarding. More to come...