2009 Skiing in South America
May 18, 2009 – 6:34 pmThis year, a stronger U.S. dollar means there are some great bargains available, including seven-night packages in the Argentine Andes starting at $479.
Buenos Aires-based Inspira Travel stands out among South American tour operators with week-long ski packages to three different Argentine resorts for under $600. Inspira focuses on three ski areas in Patagonia: Bariloche, San Martin de los Andes and Cerro Castor, near Ushuaia.
Last year, the U.S. National snowboard team trained at Cerro Chapelco, a mid-sized area with 27 runs. The base area is modeled after a European-style alpine village, surrounded by forests, lakes, and a volcano.
Cerro Castor has a claim to fame as the southernmost winter sports center in the world. The area has one of the longest seasons in South America. European ski teams use the area as a summer training base, running gates on one of the area’s 19 runs.
Cerro Castor is located near Ushuaia, the capital of the Tierra del Fuego province. Along with skiing, Ushuaia is a popular base for exploring Fin del Mundo, the end of the Earth at the southernmost tip of South America.
Skiers or boarders can take a break from the slopes and visit sea lion colonies or trek through Tierra del Fuego National Park. Inspira Travel is offering a seven-night package to Cerro Castor and Ushuaia for $499, with lodging at the Macondo House Inn.
The southernmost winter sports center in the world, Cerro Castor (or “Mount Castor”) is also the newest in Argentina. Near the Ushuaia province capital city of Tierra del Fuego, Cerro Castor features 19 runs of varying difficulty and one of the longest seasons in South America.
Home to many European professional teams who train here during their summer off-season, Ushuaia is also popular with travelers who want to explore the “End of the World.”
Travelers wanting a break from the slopes can enjoy additional outdoor adventures, such as boat rides to sea lion colonies and treks through Tierra del Fuego national park. The Summer Slopes Ushuaia seven-night package starts from $499 per person, based on double occupancy at the Macondo House Inn, a boutique hotel that has garnered great reviews on Tripadvisor.com.
Bariloche is one of the best-known South American ski centers. Inspira offers a seven-night package starting at $539, with skiing at Cerro Catedral, named for the towering granite spires of the region.
Cerro Catedral offer modern facilities with over 53 runs overlooking the spectacular lakes and hills of Patagonia. Lodging for the package is at the lakeside Tres Reyes Hotel.
All of Inspira’s packages include lodging, a shuttle from hotel to lifts, ski lift tickets, breakfast, roundtrip airport transfers and medical insurance.
Rates are per person, based on double occupancy. Airfare, ski passes and equipment are not included. Packages are available from June 13 – Sept. 26. Prices may vary.
More information is online at www.inspiratravel.com. The company is focused on creating tailored itineraries that promote interaction with local landscapes, cultures and customs.
Inspira also maintains an entertaining and informative travel blog at www.inspiratravelblog.blogspot.com, including a recent entry on green travel in Buenos Aires. E-mail: info@inspira travel.com or call (203) 307-1267.
Ski area links:
- Cerro Castor: http://www.cerrocastor.com/2009/2009_ENG/
- Bariloche: http://www.bariloche.com/english/index.asp
- Cerro Chapelco: http://www.interpatagonia.com/chapelco/index_i.html
Bustling Buenos Aires
If you decide to visit Argentina for summer skiing, be sure to plan for an extra couple of days in raucous and friendly Buenos Aires.
A recent visit there helped me glean some insight into the culture that gave birth to the magic realism in contemporary South American literature. During a 36-hour layover Leigh and I enjoyed a great sidewalk pizza and cold brews, watching as residents strolled home from an evening protest in a downtown square, their banners furled nearly under their arms.
We visited the Recoleta cemetery, a block of tombs and mausoleums built by the city’s rich Catholic families. Some are lavish monuments while others are crumbling, leaving gaps between the bricks where you can peer down into the vaults to see six layers of coffins stacked atop each other.
Eva Peron is buried here, nor far from Padre Antonio Fahy, an Irish priest buried under a giant Celtic cross.
At one point we notice a nearby penthouse resident practicing rooftop yoga in his Speedo, apparently oblivious to the throngs of tourists below.
In a taxi, we zoom over to Parque Lezamo, in the San Telmo district, where Spanish conquistadores supposedly laid the first cornerstone for a city that now has about 12 million residents. Our stroll takes past an onion-domed Orthodox Russian church, and to Plaza Dorrego, where Tango dancers perform for tourists while pigeons scrap for crumbs on the cobblestones and Argentinian hippies sell beads and drums along the edge.
A jazz guitarist sets up his amp for a concert while we sip a frosty mug of Quilmes beer and munch peanuts. Halfway through the show, several pigeons dive-bombs him, swooping and pooping while he plays a soft-jazz version of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess.
Street vendors on bikes pedal by, one with braids of garlic hanging off the handlebars, another laden with a cardboard box full of flowering plants.
Just down the road is the city’s smallest house, the Casa Minima, barely wider than a doorway. It’s a vivid daydream of a city, appropriate, since nobody here seems to sleep at night.
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SOURCE:
“Ski South America”
By Bob Berwyn
summit daily news
Summit County, Colorado
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