Bariloche is a popular town for tourism located in the lake district of Argentina. It has some beautiful scenery to offer which attracts outdoor minded people both in summer and winter. In winter many people go skiing at the well-known resort of Cerro Catedral. This resort gives also access to a backcountry area next to a great hut, refugio Frey. This backcountry area is known for having great couloirs…
In August of 2007 I was supposed to make my first appearance at refugio Frey but some idiot got the idea of stealing my skis and at the time renting a touring setup was impossible so I couldn’t make it. More than six years later, in the beginning of September 2013, I finally went to the famous Frey area. Together with guide Jorge Kozulj and three other guests, I made my way to the refugio.We used the lift system of Cerro Catedral before we skinned to the summit ridge. From there we had to traverse an exposed section where ice axes where recommended. A short downclimb followed before we made fresh tracks in the Van Titter valley. At the end of this valley we had to skin up for another hour or so in order to reach Refugio Frey. On arrival I was mesmerized by the amazing terrain surrounding the hut. One couloir immediately caught my eyes, the Central Couloir…
The Central Couloir is located in the shadow in the top-right section of the picture. This couloir is rated 4.3 / E1 which means is has extended sections of 40 degrees with the possibility of short passages to 50 degrees. The exposure is low (E1) indicating a fall most likely does not have serious consequences (it still would not be a good option to fall though…). I immediately opted to ski this run and luckily, for me at least, Jorge agreed. We skinned across the big lake in front of the refugio from where we started the uphill. Initially we linked many zigzags but later a bootpack was necessary. In order to find the entrance to the couloir we had to walk / scramble another 20 to 30 minutes around the backside of the mountains. Beautiful scenery along the way made the hike very enjoyable. We finally arrived at a nice plateau above the couloir, as if it was made for skiing!
We had a nice look into the beautiful couloir and we prepared ourselves for the run. The snowpack was stable but conditions were not ideal for skiing. A tough breakable crust had formed on top of the packed powder; survival skiing was on the agenda. As the saying goes; there are no bad snow conditions, only bad skiers…
It would be absolutely fantastic to ski this couloir in fresh snow or nice spring conditions but we had no choice but to deal with the crust. Cautious skiing and jump turns were the best combination to make it down safely. Personally I’d prefer to ski a steep couloir in bad but doable conditions over a mellow powder run. Therefore I was more than happy to ski this couloir and you’ll only learn how to handle difficult conditions if you practise. After some of the others went first, my turn had finally come. The first turn was the most interesting because of two reasons. First of all the top section is the steepest and second of all it makes you aware of the actual conditions. After succesfully completing my first jump turn I knew I was good to go (not that I had a choice…). I carefully made my way down before larger turns could be made when the terrain opened up.
Be First to Comment