(Anti-) summer special: Turning summer into winter

Spain has once again won an international soccer title, you're sweating at the thought of exercising and on your days off you're shuttling between beach bars, ice cream parlors and air-conditioned rooms. These are unmistakable signs of a season with very little snow - known in everyday language as summer. You can put up with it, or not. A guide to summer escapism!

Summer is probably the most beautiful season for many people: passionate skiers, snowboarders and tobogganists excepted. However, if you belong to this species, there are only a few alternatives: Stay at home and moan or put up with the heat, switch to other sports and activities - where would we end up! -, or take the flight forward. Thanks to the invention of aviation and the discovery of South America by Columbus - our home planet has been round since Columbus at the latest - winter reigns in the southern hemisphere during the northern hemisphere summer! Long story short: here are some travel tips, interesting facts and travel stories to whet your appetite for the southern hemisphere winter.

Travel tip - equipment

In addition to the usual travel utensils and the obligatory ski or ski touring equipment, a proper ski travel bag with wheels for transporting skis by plane (example: Evoc Snow Gear Roller). If you want to travel by cheap public transport instead of an expensive rental car, you will appreciate this tip on site. For South America in particular: only travel with tried and tested, durable equipment. Spare parts are rarely found in decent quality and even more rarely in a modern look.

Lea Hartl

Bus station in Mendoza

Rob,Grahame

Travel tip - time period

Powder is most likely to be found at different times in summer, depending on the geographical location. In South America, the powder-affine period usually extends from the beginning of August to mid-September. The annual "Santa Rosa" storm, which arrives towards the end of August, is particularly rewarding for experienced South American freeriders. The ski touring season lasts until around the end of October. Similar periods are recommended for New Zealand. If you want to go powdering in Australia, we recommend carrying a lucky pig or good contacts in the underworld.

Travel tip - pay attention to country-specific information

A look at the entry regulations for the destination countries won't hurt freeriders either. In particular, rental car conditions and entry regulations for Argentina/Chile should be observed. Knowledge of the local language is useful - you won't get very far with English in South America, but you will in New Zealand.

New Zealand

Information on the ski resorts, club fields and travel tips can be found in the following articles:
New Zealand's club fields - weather and co.

New Zealand - Travel and Move

The ski resorts of New Zealand

South America - Chile and Argentina

With a length of 7500 kilometers (north-south) and an extension of up to 600 kilometers (east-west), the Andes are the longest mountain range on earth. The fact that there are naturally all kinds of mountains to discover here should be immediately obvious to everyone. Although there are also many large mountains north of the Santiago de Chile-Buenos Aires axis, the most interesting skiing terrain lies to the south. Around 50 ski resorts (overview) are spread along the north-south border between Chile and Argentina.

The ski resorts differ from the alpine resorts across the board, sometimes dramatically. Some areas consist of up to 3 lifts, others are seemingly designed to resemble the retort stations of the Alps. The quality of skiing (lifts, hotels, slopes, terrain) is almost always lower than in the Alps and also comparatively expensive. Nevertheless, some areas are on a par with smaller Alpine ski resorts. The following resorts are particularly recommended for freeriders:

Bariloche, Cerro Catedral: Reasonable number of lifts and generally quite modern, good freeride terrain with and without running, good tourist infrastructure (day ticket approx. 45 euros), very good touring options including mountain huts in the region.
Termas de Chillan: Sufficiently large ski area, equally sufficient infrastructure, very high rainfall, sulphur springs for that special extra, interesting touring area, good value for money during the week (day ticket approx. 30.-
Las Lenas: Retort resort, rather poor in snow, yet very popular with freeriders due to the dry snow, relatively expensive (day ticket around 60 euros), interesting touring area.

Infinite expanses: the South American Andes beckon in the northern hemisphere summer

Marius Schwager

Lanin Volcano, Chile

Dani, Manu

Santiago (La Parva, El Colorado, Valle Nevado): local recreation areas for Santiago's upper class, relatively expensive (day ticket approx. 50 euros), easily accessible by shared cab from Santiago (international airport), three smaller but fairly modern ski areas, mostly with little snow, the best freeride run (towards Santa Teresa) has unfortunately been banned since 2011 (no guarantee).
Ushuaia, Cerro Castor: smaller area and often windy, but skiing and ski touring at the "end of the world" is a unique experience.

The Andes are a true paradise, especially for ski tourers - in contrast to the ski areas for freeriders. Countless mountains, slopes, couloirs, volcanoes and glacier massifs are just waiting for ski tourers. The large undeveloped regions in the Andes are South America's great asset. The disadvantage of this wilderness is the often difficult access to the tours. Huge private properties sometimes block the direct route, roads are rare and sometimes in poor condition and an organized rescue is pure wishful thinking. For those who find these and similar obstacles a challenge, the following guidebook is recommended as a source of ideas and reading: Chili - Argentine, topo de ski alpinisme by Frederic Lena. Here you will find inspiring ideas for your first tours in South America and lots of information on worthwhile tour destinations. Price 38 euros plus shipping. To the book