Refugio Agostino Rocca on Paso de Las Nubes, between Puerto Frias and Pampa Linda, Argentina. Photo: ANB

Club Andino Bariloche (CAB) is happy to announce the recent completion of the construction of their newest backcountry hut, Refugio Agostino Rocca. The grand opening will be held this weekend, starting on April 28, but the facility will remain closed to regular visitors until next summer. This new high mountain refuge is located on Paso de Las Nubes, between Puerto Frías and Pampa Linda near Bariloche, and features a capacity of 80 people, divided into 8 rooms of 10, a spacious living room, family room, kitchen, bathrooms, infirmary, radio room, warehouse and office for staff, all distributed over two floors with a total area of over 300 square meters (3,229 square feet).

This new fully-equipped refugio was constructed with the help of the Fundación Hermanos Agustín y Enrique Rocca, in memory of the late Agostino Rocca, mountaineer and president of the Techint firm, who passed away in a tragic plane crash along with climber Jose Luis Fonrouge, journalist Germán Sopeña, and several others on April 28, 2001. The date of the grand opening of Refugio Agostino Rocca marks the 11th anniversary of their accident. CAB representatives expressed their great pride in the completion of this project, stating that it “represents a milestone in regards to services for visitors to the mountains and to environmental care.”

We are excited to visit Refugio Agostino Rocca next summer, and we are working on plans to incorporate it into our tours. For more information about the grand opening festivities, please visit the Club Andino Bariloche website (clubandino.org).

Just when everyone was getting into the spring groove of mountain biking, rock climbing, golfing, and skiing the spring slush, winter made its triumphant return on the morning of Good Friday, with temperatures in the teens and a foot of fresh snow from the peaks to the valley floor. We must admit, we were a bit surprised to see 2-3 inches of snow in the Salt Lake Valley, when only 3-5 inches were expected to fall in the mountains. Inspired by the sudden change from spring warmth to a winter wonderland, we took to the hills for some ski touring in the Cottonwood Canyons.

Our dear friend, Brian McKenna, starting up the skin track on his splitboard at the Cardiff Pass trail head in the Town of Alta.

We were delighted to see about a foot of fresh snow on the ground and cars covered with huge snow drifts upon our arrival at the Cardiff Pass trail head in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Visibility was quite poor, due to the still overcast conditions and moderate rate of snowfall, so we elected to ski a few laps in the south-facing Cardiff Bowl above the Town of Alta. Despite the frozen spring snowpack lurking beneath the fresh layer of cold, dry snow, we enjoyed some excellent floaty powder turns in the bowl.

This photo says it all, really:

View of Little Cottonwood Canyon from the Sitzmark Lodge in Alta, Utah

We celebrated the surprise powder day at our favorite local establishment, the Sitzmark Club at the Alta Lodge. Just as we sat down to enjoy our aprés ski whiskey, the clouds lifted, and we enjoyed the incredible down canyon view. Good Friday was good, indeed. The sun’s late appearance meant there was more good skiing to be had the following day, before the big warm-up.

PatagoniaSkiTours.com Head Guide, Justin Lozier, skiing Little Superior Buttress in Cardiff Fork

Early this morning, we headed back up to Cardiff Pass under the light of the pre-dawn moon in search of more of what we got yesterday. With clear skies and cold temperatures, we continued up the Cottonwood Divide to Little Superior Buttress on the lower East shoulder of Mount Superior. We skied great snow on the Northeast face into Cardiff Fork and headed back up for more.

Looking back at our tracks on the way back to Alta

After another lap in Cardiff Fork, we skied warm schmoo powder on the sunny southern slopes back into Alta under a bluebird sky. We finished early, at about noon, just as the snow was beginning to become unsafe.

The past two days have been a wonderful surprise, a blessing. Another stronger storm system is forecasted to hit the region mid-week. Here’s hoping for another great couple days of powder skiing…

Visit our Facebook Page to see all of our photos from our Easter snow storm adventures and more.

Happy Easter, everyone!

After several days of high pressure, the Wasatch Range has just received 35″ of new snow in the past two nights of March 18 & 19.

The Atwater snow stake at Alta, showing over 30 inches of new snow March 18-March 19, 2012. Photo: UAC

With the heliski season coming to a close, PatagoniaSkiTours.com Owner & Head Guide, Justin Lozier, has spent the past two days ski touring the latest storm. On Monday, he joined Tyson Bradley of Utah Mountain Adventures for a day of guiding some strong clients skinning and skiing the Argenta slide path in Big Cottonwood Canyon. The Argenta slide path is a 3000 vertical foot avalanche path that drops from the top of Kessler Peak down to the Big Cottonwood road below. By the end of the day, Justin and the rest of the touring party had climbed and skied over 6000 vertical feet of incredible untouched snow. Below is a short video clip of one of the clients skiing the middle section of the run.

Several of our splitboard buddies from Vail, Colorado drove out to ride the storm, so they joined Justin the following day for a ski tour up in Days Fork. The snow was blower and stoke levels were high. We’ll let this short edit tell the story…

A high pressure ridge is bringing some rapid warming to the area, which will affect the snow greatly. We will continue searching for the goods, as we ride out the remainder of the Utah ski season, before heading back into winter in Argentina. We’ll keep you posted. Check out our Facebook Page for the latest news between web posts. Stay safe and have fun out there!

After receiving over 40 inches of new snow in the core of the Wasatch Range, the skiing and snowboarding conditions in Utah have been excellent. We have just experienced the best days of the year so far, and we were all once again reminded how wonderful it is to ski powder in Utah. Since the weather conditions were not conducive to flying helicopters, our Head Guide, Justin Lozier, joined his partner and Assistant Guide, Sean Zimmerman-Wall, and the rest of the Snowbird Snow Safety team to run some avalanche control routes at Snowbird before opening the resort to the public. Due to the closure of the Little Cottonwood Road for avalanche danger, the entire team spent the night up in the canyon, watching the snow dump from the heavens. Justin had the privilege of riding up the early morning tram with the Snowbird Ski Patrol just before dawn. After the route plan was delivered, the team took to the slopes and experienced one of the greatest mornings of skiing in recent memory. Smooth, untouched slopes covered in blankets of low-density powder were all around, and the sound of hand charges and artillery filled the air.

Justin skiing fresh powder in the Gad II area of Snowbird during avalanche control routes with Snowbird Ski Patrol

Along with this blessing of new snow came heightened avalanche hazard across the entire state. Over 70 different avalanches have been reported to the Utah Avalanche Center since the onset of the storm on February 29. Widespread natural avalanches occurred during the storm, as strong winds transported snow, loading the eastern leeward slopes. Avalanche hazard has been high across the Wasatch Range and has only continued to rise with the recent rapid warming after the storm. Temperatures are looking to cool down with the entrance of another small storm tomorrow. We will see how things play out with the snow and avalanche hazard. In the meantime, be smart and stay safe out there.

On the heels of the latest storm that brought 15″ to the Wasatch Range in the past 24 hours, another fast moving winter storm is set to arrive in Utah late tomorrow morning/afternoon and last until Friday. Most forecasts are agreeing on a total storm snow quantity of over 20 inches to fall in the mountains. The Cottonwood Canyons Forecast is forecasting 14-28″  with strong winds (up to 65 mph gusts out of the Southwest). The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for a “MAJOR WINTER STORM TO IMPACT MUCH OF THE AREA”: click here for the full text. An Avalanche Watch has also been issued by the Utah Avalanche Center, click here for their latest Avalanche Advisory, and please heed their warnings.

The latest MM5 Snow Accumulation Model showing 25-30" to fall in the Central Wasatch Range between Wednesday, February 29, and Friday, March 2.

We had some great skiing this morning at Snowbird, and one can only imagine that the next few days will be even better! Have fun and be safe out there!

Great skiing conditions in the mountains above the Town of Alta, Utah.

Thanks to recent snow storms, the ski and snowboard conditions are improving in Utah. So far we have received 200 inches of snow this season, around half of what we had at this time last year (380 inches).  It looks like we will be having some more unsettled weather in the coming weeks, which should bring some more snow to the Wasatch. Backcountry skiing and snowboarding conditions have been quite good as of late, although the avalanche hazard remains high in most of the upper elevation terrain. Wasatch Powderbird Guides has been heliskiing all over the range, from the Bountiful Sessions Mountains down to the Cascade Mountains above Provo, finding high quality powder snow. Keep checking our Facebook profile for new photos, video and snow forecasts of the 2011-2012 Utah ski season.

We are excited to be attending the Outdoor Retailer show, also known as ‘OR’, this weekend. Our guides, Justin and Sean, will be visiting with some of our supporters and partners and also looking for potential sponsors to be featured in our new documentary and promo video this upcoming season. Wish us luck!

Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2012

It looks like all of our hopes and prayers for snow are about to be answered, starting tomorrow morning. Current weather models are forecasting a major winter storm to hit Northern Utah on Wednesday morning, as a wet Westerly flow enters the area. I found the MM5 snow accumulation forecast model to be particularly exciting, showing 40 inches to fall in the Wasatch Range between Wednesday morning and Thursday evening, and it looks to continue through the weekend! The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Watch for the area from Wednesday afternoon through Friday afternoon, containing the text: “STORM TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 24 TO 36 INCHES … LOCALLY GREATER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE.” – click here for the complete text. Our friends over at WasatchSnowForecast.com have also released a forecasted snow total of 18-30″ for this week’s storm, with another 10-20″ over the weekend! This storm cycle appears to be the beginning of a major weather pattern change for our area, ushering in a series of storms, as the jetstream dips down and ‘opens the door’ for a major storm track.

The latest MM5 Snow Accumulation Model showing 40" to fall in the Wasatch Range from Wednesday morning to Thursday evening

This week’s storm cycle will likely be accompanied by our first major avalanche cycle of the season, as the wet, heavy snow begins to load our weak, thin snowpack. Please pay close attention to your local Avalanche Advisory, available on the Utah Avalanche Center website. They have already issued a preemptive Avalanche Watch for this week’s storm. Backcountry travel is not advised during this time. We would recommend everyone skiing or snowboarding during this time to use extreme caution, even if you will be riding at the ski resorts. Stick to marked trails, and observe all warnings. Be safe and have fun out there!

Yesterday, January 13, 2012, Aerolineas Argentinas flight 1682 landed at the Bariloche Airport at 1:45 pm. Hours later, at 5:58 pm, LAN flight 4346 also landed at the Bariloche Airport. As reported in our previous post, LAN had announced that they would be resuming daily flights between Buenos Aires and Bariloche. Hours after this news got out, Aerolineas Argentinas announced that they too would be resuming flights to Bariloche. This is the first time either airline, or any major carrier for that matter, has landed in Bariloche since last June. Due to volcanic ash complications following the eruption of the Puyehue Volcano, the Bariloche Airport had been closed for the past 7 months. After the completion of a major renovation project this past Christmas, as reported in one of our previous posts, the Bariloche Airport announced that they were ready to begin receiving flights once again. It took several weeks for Argentina’s two major airlines to respond, but the day has come at last.

Aerolineas Argentinas Flight 1682 touches down at the Bariloche Airport, photo: Trilce Reyes Bartoliche

The new Governor of the Río Negro province, Alberto Weretilneck, also announced that Argentina’s Ministry of National Defense will be installing new volcanic ash sensing technology at the end of the month, in an effort to avoid future problems. We are overjoyed with this news, and we wish everyone flying to Bariloche a safe flight and a great trip, Buen viaje!