5:15: A stop at the petrol station for Nafta (gas), coffee and snacks.
5:20: Still at petrol station and just stumbled upon the realization that there is a portable mate container thingy made for the car with a hot water machine outside to refill the mate thermos, sweet! I hate coffee.
5:30: Left petrol station and making our way around the lake as anticipation for the sunrise builds.
Sometime around 7:00: Driving through Arizona like canyons and rounding the corner on a lake as the sun rises.
After sunrise: Dozing off, sitting on 2 hrs of sleep after going to bed around 2:00
4 hours later: Come across first town after leaving...gas, some giant milanesa sandwiches for lunch and off we go as giddy as little schoolgirls.






Ok enough with the timetable thing. After driving through a canyon with steep-rock walls falling to the valley floor with some decent vertical, we arrived at the flattest ski area known to man. This was expected though, Caviahue is like an African savanna with rolling hills and ridges... except its in the mountains.






Very scenic and resembling a mountain oasis, there's a lake at the foot of the quiet town, and mini-golf lines lead your eyes down from the tops of the ridges and away from the resort making you realize that almost none of the lines are accessible from the resort. Then the realization hits that the mini-golf lines are actually too mini to really be worth the time and effort spent accessing them. Oh well at least there's something to mind ski...and many of only one type of tree helping to create this unique and exotic landscape.






Dating back to the early Mesozoic period, the Araucaria are literally living fossils that look like a winter/mountain version of a palm tree or African savanna tree...thus helping to create the mountain version of an African savanna. The tree jibbing potential of these trees is pretty much the best ever and very exotic in terms of how they look...unfortunately we didn't get around to building a ramp up one of them due to a conflict with another exploratory mission via cat.






This "mountainous" savanna region also happens to be very volcanic with the Copahue volcano looming in the distance above the resort. And yet another interesting feature of this place is the fact that there are thermals here and a remote town called Copahue tucked away in the mountains which exists solely for tourism to the thermal bathes in the summer and for military use since its the last frontier before Chile. In the winter its completely deserted and is surrounded by huge cornices hanging over short steep landings and buildings with wind drifts on all sides, forming all kinds of natural features to play on. From the cat we traversed over, explored some cornices that were way bigger than they looked from a distance and found a little spot for a flat ramp.











Unfortunately, the wind came and we had to bail after 2 jumps (if you've never been to Argentina, the wind is crazy here. Caviahue is like a flat version of Las Lenas, ie: wind, ie: cornices, ie: good jump potential). Next we checked out the thermal pools, shoved food into our mouths, took some photos, and the cat took us up farther for a really really mellow ski down to the resort. Hey, it's all about the beauty and scenery, ahaah.






The first day there, we were so overwhelmed with the exotic scenery of the place, we rode the resort and analyzed the ins and outs and what have yous of the terrain features. The only section offering possibilities was the downside of a rocked out ridge thing with a gap to steep landing and smooth ridges of powder for 3 turns- Yey. At least the rock was volcanic and the view was expansive to say the least. After parting ways with the volcanic rock we built a jump over a bus at the bottom of the mountain and cycled that until sunset. Then dinner at one of 2 restaurants in town (note: don' t be early to the restaurant, you'll be the last served, we call it Caviahue style) Over the next few days we went sightseeing around the lake and went exploring some of the vacant (at the time) Mapuche Indian structures perched on the hillsides. Then...we ate at the other restaurant in town, Caviahue style of course...its all part of the experience, and I wouldn't have it any other way.











Thanks to Duke Clothing, www.dukeonline.com and, of course, where would we be without SASS, www.sasnowsessions.com