rincon

I was getting a bit tired of the long approaches to high elevation snow here (arenales trip was 5 days for 1,5 days of skiing...) and planned to return to chile where there is more snow in theory (and the views west have been very snowy). On Friday I visited Malipel, irene´s family winery. I guess it is small by mendozan standards but seemed quite large to me and very nice. The nearby peaks of cordon del plata loomed high and white over the vinyards. I definately left CDP feeling a little defeated last time and that afternoon resolved to go back for another try. The next morning i caught the bus to porterillos and walked/hitched the remaining 25k to refugio maussy climbers hut (i hope you are getting bored of this bus to hitchhike stuff, i am too) arriving, you guessed it, just at dark. the next day the weather was bad so i slept in, watched a bunch of movies (satelite tv no less) and went for a hike. The next day things improved and i got and early start to ski cerro rincon. this is a big day from the hut (9200´ to 17600ish) but better than packing a bunch of camping gear up the valley on foot in my book. i was hanging on my poles and gasping a bit by the end but the views on top were well worth it. the peaks of cordon del plata are cool, but the next range back (towards chile) is amazing and gets almost no traffic according to the guides i talked to that night in the hut. definitely expedition material, next year?? the snow was really good up high, and i was able to ski a fun steep line from the east ridge down to the glacier above the salto d agua camp. below salto de agua (most of the vert) it was survival skiing on knee deep penitentes and icy crust. stayed once more in the hut (packed that night with really interesting guides, climbers and porters) and blah blah blah walked back to porterillos, nobody stopped, got drunk on andes beer waiting for the bus and then fell asleep and missed the bus. rent a car you cheap sob.