South America 2009 Thread

[joblandaesthetics]

anybody know how much money one should expect to spend for food/taxis whatever in bariloche and LL? got the hostel and lift ticket situation, but wondering how much money most people spend in a week down there for my budget.

[PeteO]

What's the Swine Flu situation in BA, Las Lenas?
I was just reading this

[covert]

the swine are actually in charge at las lenas and their nasty funk pervades most operations

[enlosandes]

What's the Swine Flu situation in BA, Las Lenas?
I was just reading this

Not sure about BA, but the skiing at Las Leñas was en fuego this week.

[enlosandes]

Couple pics of Mrs ELA from this week at Las Leñas.

[rometheworld]

anybody know how much money one should expect to spend for food/taxis whatever in bariloche and LL? got the hostel and lift ticket situation, but wondering how much money most people spend in a week down there for my budget.

If you buy food at the store and cook at the hostel you can get by for $5 a day. Booze, Teachers is a nice addition after a day on the hill, and cheap. Plan $15 a day for food and booze and that should cover you.

[Gunder]

I just dropped some $$ and will be in S.A. August 20~Sept 5th.

No set plans other than skiing lots of pow, drinking good red wine and eating lots of steak.

[jSki]

Couple of shots of conditions at Nevados/Termas de Chillan. The main lift to the top is open and the lifts on the skiers right of the mountain should open soon. From what I could gather in my shitty spanish is the other lifts are owned by one of the major hotels and they're in a dispute with the rest of the resort so they closed the lifts until it's settled.

Coverage is good, just gotta be on the look out for sharks. Had about 4 in of windbuff over a solid base. Ran into some serious ice exposed over cliffs on the skiers left of the mountain that I had to hike out of, shovel handles make great ice axes.





Looks like they should get some good snow later this week. I'll be heading back down this weekend.

[SASS]

If anyone is still looking to head south, we have spots open for the last week in August (18 and over week). Killer pricing going out with special pricing to Mags (I am one). Let me know if anyone is interested. Coverage is looking good!

[nickwm21]

^^^^

el yeti took his first pee since summer hibernation

[joblandaesthetics]

thanks rometheworld for the advice. ill plan accordingly. for those of you optimistic about the $450 flight i posted from LA-BA through STI travel, i regret to inform you that the promotion, which was something with delta, is over, so its back to hunting on cheapoair.com.

anyone optimistic cerro catedral will fill in well by mid-august? lenas is looking like a safe bet a this point for august.

[SASS]

For anyone looking for flights, Fly.com is showing $287 round trip out of LAX.

http://www.fly.com/FlyWidgets/FareAl...ate=10/30/2009

That's the best I have seen so far.

[rugbydave]

They just announced the dates for the comp at la Parva, sept3-7, thinking real hard about a week or so at LL followed by the comp at La Parva. What's the logistics of moving from LL to La Parva, nightmare? Good spot for info?

[enlosandes]

They just announced the dates for the comp at la Parva, sept3-7, thinking real hard about a week or so at LL followed by the comp at La Parva. What's the logistics of moving from LL to La Parva, nightmare? Good spot for info?

Far but doable.

[COpow]

Hate to bust bubbles but that fly.com website price is for the way down, way back is around $800 making the total price around $1100.

There are some flights out of Miami for around $800 on LAN i think...

[COpow]

I just watched your video. Am I the first to comment on that slide at the beginning? Were you shitting yourself? Looked SCARRRY!

I guess thats why one should always wear their gear in-bounds in SA.

Nice video though, might have single-handedly persuaded me to buy my ticket this year!

[Gunder]

for the record I got round trip tickets from Vancouver BC to Santiago for $640 plus taxes.

That was about $300 cheaper than round trip out of Seattle.... so those living in the US near canukstien may want to check flights out of canuk airports.

[rugbydave]

Far but doable.

Sweet, good to know. Let the planning begin...

[alma del polvo]

Hate to bust bubbles but that fly.com website price is for the way down, way back is around $800 making the total price around $1100.

Hiring a coyote for the way back might be cheaper

[SASS]

Hate to bust bubbles but that fly.com website price is for the way down, way back is around $800 making the total price around $1100.

There are some flights out of Miami for around $800 on LAN i think...

Yea, I just double checked it and all the $287 flights are gone now. As of last night, there were a few left.

Kinda wish I was flying out of LAX. I would have booked then. No Im just hoping to catch a cheap last minute out of JFK or BOS.

[MadPatSki]

for the record I got round trip tickets from Vancouver BC to Santiago for $640 plus taxes.

That was about $300 cheaper than round trip out of Seattle.... so those living in the US near canukstien may want to check flights out of canuk airports.

Tix with Air Canada return Ottawa-Santiago were $729 CDN plus taxes when I bought it 3 weeks ago. I paid $120 extra to a return from Buenos Aires instead.

Advantage of that ACan flight...it's non-stop from YYZ to SCL.

[Hugh Conway]

Tix with Air Canada return Ottawa-Santiago were $729 CDN plus taxes when I bought it 3 weeks ago. I paid $120 extra to a return from Buenos Aires instead.

Advantage of that ACan flight...it's non-stop from YYZ to SCL.

Advantage of flying into SCL for Americans is you get to pay the $130 reciprocity fee for Americans. Yay!

Going to kill someone this year SASS?

[MadPatSki]

Advantage of flying into SCL for Americans is you get to pay the $130 reciprocity fee for Americans. Yay!

Canadians also, except it's good for the life of the passport (our passport are good for 5 years). I paid the fee in 2007 and I believe my passport expires in 2011, so I'll be milking it a few times.

[Hugh Conway]

Canadians also, except it's good for the life of the passport (our passport are good for 5 years). I paid the fee in 2007 and I believe my passport expires in 2011, so I'll be milking it a few times.

I've paid it as well.

Just pointing out that the Santiago reciprocity fee ($130) is much larger than the Buenos Aires departure tax (~$20 or whatever) and if you are counting airfare pennies you should pay attention.


WTF happened to the rumoured Argentina reciprocity fee?

[SASS]

Advantage of flying into SCL for Americans is you get to pay the $130 reciprocity fee for Americans. Yay!

Going to kill someone this year SASS?

We are trying hard not to! We have Fabio and Kim from Silverton on staff as guides this year. Fabio kicked my east coast ass at Silverton a few years back, but he kept myself and my companions safe. Silverton has a pretty good track record with safety so we think their guides will be a great fit for the program.

I think we can all agree that while what happened was unfortunate, if you ski in the BC long enough, its not "if" but "when".