Las Leñas 2010

[enlosandes]

I figured we might as well start a thread for Las Leñas. I will try to post during season, but internet connection maybe a little spotty at times.

Today was about 3-6 inches of powder and it skied well all the way to the valley floor. It is still low tide. Only the front side, from Eduardos towards Paradiso is open.

New improvements this year include an electronic lift pass (like other ski areas) and flour tortillas at Super G.

[enlosandes]

Wind came up today and Marte did not open. Lots of wind buff forming.

Here's a couple from yesterday.

[buttahflake]

oh my god, that looks so good right now. hottest summer since '88 here. more please

[enlosandes]

6 degrees this morning in Los Molles, hope that helps.

[buttahflake]

it does. thanks dude, keep em coming. your avatar is still wrong, i thought they had fixed that?
that second pic you added is money

[Mike Pow]

Yes please

[joniwirts]

Thanks for this! I am going at the end of August.
Cheers!!

[MadPatSki]

6 degrees this morning in Los Molles, hope that helps.

Celsius or Farenheit?

[enlosandes]

Celsius or Farenheit?

Farenheit. -15 C

[MadPatSki]

Farenheit. -15 C

That's what I thought, however you're never sure with Americans that have been living or staying a while outside NA.

[enlosandes]

A couple from yesterday. Trippy mid-level clouds, which made for some cool visuals.

[enlosandes]

East winds came up and blew a lot of snow around. Wind chill around -25F on the mountain today. Marte was open for a couple hours.

[Creeker]

Great shots ELA! My Las Lenas and Marte time has been limited, but it's one of the most unique places in the world. Keep the updates coming!

[JoseNYC]

Hi, I was quite impressed reading your Living in Patagonia blog. You guys must have had an incredible experience there. Being originally from Argentina myself, I am envious.

I just joined this forum and would like to ask for advice on Las Leñas.

A trip to LL has been in the back of my mind (and also in its front) for quite some time. The superlatives that I have read and heard about this mountain, and in particular its higher, off-piste terrain, make my mouth water. Yet, I have also read and heard many conflicting reports on the resort. Being originally from Argentina, I can believe the stories of poor organization, lifts closed "just because", shoddy infrastructure, outrageous prices for what it is worth, etc. Yet, I am still willing to try it.

I am in my mid-fifties. I normally ski Whistler, BC or Alta, UT. I can ski almost any surface and/or slope, from easy to advance black, with varying degrees of elegance or sloppiness. I can ski powder (although I would not like to watch a video of me doing so...)

I can pretty much try anything EXCEPT (and big EXCEPT here) extreme stuff such as narrow couloirs and chutes with steep angles worthy of a ski film.

And this brings me to my question: Can somebody with my profile take advantage of LL's upper terrain accessed by the Marte chairlift? Can I access the 'great off piste terrain' as soon as I get off the chair without having to go through chutes and couloirs and kill myself in the process? Can I get back to the base without having to go through extreme terrain? Or is the place only suitable for casting calls of Warren Miller's films?

Furthermore, since the Marte chair calls the shots for the upper terrain at LL yet it is often closed sometimes for days at a time, are there other chairs from which I can access other open, yet lower, off-piste areas in LL, again without chutes or couloirs? Or is LL, without Marte, just a regular mountain not justifying the effort and cost to get down there?

Thank you in advance for any input.

José

[tomi25]

Hi, I was quite impressed reading your Living in Patagonia blog. You guys must have had an incredible experience there. Being originally from Argentina myself, I am envious.

I just joined this forum and would like to ask for advice on Las Leñas.

A trip to LL has been in the back of my mind (and also in its front) for quite some time. The superlatives that I have read and heard about this mountain, and in particular its higher, off-piste terrain, make my mouth water. Yet, I have also read and heard many conflicting reports on the resort. Being originally from Argentina, I can believe the stories of poor organization, lifts closed "just because", shoddy infrastructure, outrageous prices for what it is worth, etc. Yet, I am still willing to try it.

I am in my mid-fifties. I normally ski Whistler, BC or Alta, UT. I can ski almost any surface and/or slope, from easy to advance black, with varying degrees of elegance or sloppiness. I can ski powder (although I would not like to watch a video of me doing so...)

I can pretty much try anything EXCEPT (and big EXCEPT here) extreme stuff such as narrow couloirs and chutes with steep angles worthy of a ski film.

And this brings me to my question: Can somebody with my profile take advantage of LL's upper terrain accessed by the Marte chairlift? Can I access the 'great off piste terrain' as soon as I get off the chair without having to go through chutes and couloirs and kill myself in the process? Can I get back to the base without having to go through extreme terrain? Or is the place only suitable for casting calls of Warren Miller's films?

Furthermore, since the Marte chair calls the shots for the upper terrain at LL yet it is often closed sometimes for days at a time, are there other chairs from which I can access other open, yet lower, off-piste areas in LL, again without chutes or couloirs? Or is LL, without Marte, just a regular mountain not justifying the effort and cost to get down there?

Thank you in advance for any input.

José

Jose, LL offers stuff for every level. You don't have to be a pro to ski LL backcountry. There are lots of lines that you can enjoy without taking any risk. Paraiso is a clear example, its a very wide are, where you have lots of lines to choose and they aren't difficult at all.
When Marte lift is closed your options are reduced, despite that you can manage to ski some off piste, the lower part of paraiso for example. Senidor is an other option or you can just hike to Eduardo.
If you don't have any problems to hike, the you can also enjoy Cerro Martin, Entre Rios, Torecillas, etc. They are 45 min up to 3 hour hikes where you can acceses to some gnarly stuff. Proably this options are not in your mind, but once you are there and watch the lines, you'll feel tempted to ski them!

[JoseNYC]

Thank you, Tomi,

for your encouraging message.

About the areas that you mentioned requiring a 45-minute to 3-hour hike: starting to hike from where? from the top of Marte or a bit below, like from the top of Neptuno? I am trying to figure it out from the LL map, but it is a poor map with virtually little descriptions.

Do you know where I could find a detailed map of the off-piste areas, if such a thing exists?

Thanks again and best regards,

José

PS: What a bummer Argentina's performance at the World Cup, right?

[enlosandes]

Jose, if Marte is open, you are stoked. If it is not, not so much.

From the top of Neptune to the top of Marte is a good 2 hour+ skin for the average backcountry enthusiast.

For detailed maps, the world renowned guide and critically acclaimed author Thomas Perren has his second edition of his "backcountry skiiing in Las Leñas" book available in the ski shops around the base area.

PS Gracias por las palabras sobre nuestra blog, muy amable.

[enlosandes]

Here's a few shots from this afternoon, after the truck thawed out. It was minus 2 F in Los Molles this morning.

Low tide on Marte



Some good snow exists, but not that much





Wind is picking up quickly out of the west, looks like some snow in the forecast.

[buttahflake]

^ are you serious, that looks awesome to me right now. i'm going to consult with Jah Rastafari right now and ask him to send you big dumps

[enlosandes]

^ are you serious, that looks awesome to me right now. i'm going to consult with Jah Rastafari right now and ask him to send you big dumps

How about sending Señor Rastafari down here with a delivery? We will make it worth his while!

[joniwirts]

end of August should be epic

[powderhound100]

heres a run or two from my brother yesterday

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u26rb5QeEw"]YouTube- las lenas[/nomedia]


and a couple pictures

http://yfrog.com/2op7170037bj

http://yfrog.com/j3p7180039j



And from today

me (kinda hard to see) http://yfrog.com/ncp7180052uj

and brother #2. (#3 has the video above) http://yfrog.com/n3p7180058j



Where is the place to ski when the top is closed. The run from the pictures above seemed to be the only decent thing (traverse left off of Volcano.) We had fun in a little gully out to the right of that rope tow mountain right (urano), but over all there wasn't much. Are we missing something?

Very willing to Hike, but did not bring my touring set up as my brothers and do not have one yet (but we did bring beacons etc.), and I wanted to bring different skis (I got a pair of the new ON3P billy goats (186) with demo bindings if anyone wants to try them out)

[tomi25]

^^^ Nice vid!
Waiting for ELA pics from today

[enlosandes]

Where is the place to ski when the top is closed. The run from the pictures above seemed to be the only decent thing (traverse left off of Volcano.) We had fun in a little gully out to the right of that rope tow mountain right (urano), but over all there wasn't much. Are we missing something?

Very willing to Hike, but did not bring my touring set up as my brothers and do not have one yet (but we did bring beacons etc.), and I wanted to bring different skis (I got a pair of the new ON3P billy goats (186) with demo bindings if anyone wants to try them out)

Welcome to Las Leñas! If Marte is not open, your choices are limited, especially when they have the traverse from the top of Vulcano closed.

Your best bet is to boot up from the top of Caris up. You could get to Chivito in a 1 hour plus, but it is not quite filled in.

The other option is to skin or walk up the groomer from the top of Neptuno.

[TeleHead311]

ELA - thanks for always posting great stuff over the years. We are heading down to LL next week on July 29. How is coverage going in general? Stuff ok from top of Marte back to the valley? How about all the peaks accessed from top of Marte like Entre Rios and Martin?
Had such a killer time when we were there last time; hoping for a repeat performance!
Have any good weather sites to check? snow-forecast.com does ok, but not always that accurate.

PLEASE post more pics and daily updates if possible!

Know anything about Los Penitentes right now? Hoping to head there August 7-14. Any tips on that place?

Cheers!