A week or so later it was evident the early season dry spell had ended and there would be plenty of moisture to come. Unfortunately moisture in the mountains comes in two forms – rain and snow. After one of the biggest rain storms in recent history the South America Snow Sessions (SASS) crew I am rolling with was starting to worry our lake front house might be gobbled up by the Nahuel Huapi lake.

Thankfully at the end of the week the temperature dropped and the rain turned to snow, especially above treeline. When the clouds parted and the sun came out we were able to tee-off on the fun chutes of the Nubes area. A 20 minute hike from the top of the highest lift open would yield nice, steep, 250 meter couloirs in shin deep powpow followed by some nice open cruising back to the lift. After boxing out some overaggressive 10 year old ski schoolers in the lift line/backalley brawl style race to the chair, we were ready for some more goodies.

After another day of rain at the house (and snow up high), Cerro Catedral was ready to open the remainder of their lifts. From the top of Del Bosque lift the SASS crew made the 40 minute hike to the top of La Laguna for our best big mountain session of the winter. The upper portion of La Laguna in a huge open bowl littered with nice rock drops, mini spines and slashable drifts. From the top of the ridge you can see into Chile, and at least 3 huge volcanoes. Time to pull out the camera for a panoramic. Now, once again it was time to drop in. After a hand full of high speed blower pow turns and a couple mid sized drops it was time to throw the skis on my back and follow the bootpack to the top. A couple of my homies pointed out a particularly steep section simply called "last year's rock ride". This year the wet snow, wind and rain had covered the rock ride with skiable rime. Too steep to stop on for measurement, we estimated it just under vertical – maybe 75 degrees. Although the rock is fairly short (100 meters), it provided the two steepest freefall turns of my life, followed by a short drop as I exited the parachute worthy mini line.

So a few days of fun alpine riding is great, but that can be found in more than a few locations across the Southern hemisphere this time of year, right? Big deal. What makes Bariloche special is the time spent off your skis. For some reason the powers that be in Villa Catedral (the small pueblo that houses the ski resort) decided to build a mall, complete with escalator, at the base of the lifts. Inside this mall resides, quite possibly, the world's best mix of one piece clad, rear entry boot renting, gaper gap sporting beginners and purely sexy ski bunnies. On occasion the gaper mixes with the sexy and you are left with the undeniably unique site of a super hot kook. Now that is what I traveled thousands of miles for….no me gusta Argentina, me encanta Argentina.