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Published: July 29th 2012
Leslie and Tiffany have jumped from their Summer Holidays to their Winter Holidays in less than 2 days....
To recap a little....we did Saigon-Hong Kong-Chicago....2 nights in Chicago...than Chicago-Miami-Santiago-Buenos Aires....and 2 nights in Buenos Aires...
During the total of 54 hours in Buenos Aires...we confirmed and visited the school....we found and reserved a nice flat....we had great food...and even icecream! We even managed to tour the city...and I nearly forgot to point...we even have tickets for the concert of Juanes in October...cool!
So what's next...well...you know it...you've seen the pictures...it's time to hit the slopes as the locals do...and for us, it's Las Lenas....some of the best snow I ever skied!
Not many outside Argentina will know about Las Lenas. The place is 1200km away from Buenos Aires...and it's a ski paradise for the wealthy portenos...aka, the people of Buenos Aires. You can either fly to Malargue, which is 80km away from Las Lenas....drive yourself...or take the fun buses....
Flying is not really an option for us...in season...that's mean now...they have charter flight during the week-end for those who stay at Las Lenas for a full
week....trust me, this is not cheap! So flying, not an option. This explain somehow why 90% of the people here are Argentinans....I may point that from my experience, around 8% of skiers areBrazilians...and yes....there are few in the know...we bumped into two Finns (yes, Finland)!
Second option, driving...well, after what we did the last week, I was not going to be the sole driver of two kids for 1200km....and that's one way...no way!
Safest and easiest...the bus. We took a cama ejectutivo from Retiro bus station in Buenos Aires to San Rafael....13 hours...nice dinner....nice breakfast...and seats which are more than enough for a good night. I was happy I had booked those early as the bus was full. We than transfered on a semi-cama for the three hours to Malargue. Semi-cama is more similar to the long distance buses we are using in Europe. So we actually arrived pretty relaxed in Malargue just in time for lunch.
Next...accomodation...sleeping in Las Lenas is expensive...as is the food actually....so if you want to go cheap (if this still exist in Argentina)...you sleep in Malargue. We took the "best hotel in town"....yes...90usd got us
a triple room, breakfast including....in the pretty good 3 stars Microtel hotel. Bear in mind...this is actually the two more expensive weeks of the year...being the school holidays....try to compare this with Christmas in Europe! So for a comfortable option, it was a pretty good deal. The hotel had a swimming pool...the restaurant was decent...but a little too much "one time really nice...one time below par"...if you want great food, just cross the road to La Cima!
The skiing....well....shall I name it the best snow I ever had! This is a pretty dry climate...which means not much snow fall....and the snow is a dry powdery snow...pretty amazing. Malrgue is at around 1600 meters altitude, Las Lenas skiing is between 2200 meters and 3250 meters...high...high...high...
Before going more in details about Las Lenas, let me re-cap the ski abilities of my two little skiers. Tiffany has had a ski week with me back when she was 5 years old...not much skiing abilities there....than she did a one day ski venture last summer in Mt Hood, Oregon, US...I barely had the time to try to explain to her what snowplough meant...and for her to try the
basics on. So Tiffany can only be considered as a beginner...and in need of classes!
Leslie...well, this was his fifth week of skiing. The young man was actually not happy that I refuse to take him off-track or on the only black run at Las Lenas. But let's admit it, he has today a better skiing technique than me....and if he was not so light...would probably go way faster than me! Hey, I'm still better than him at golfing and diving....but I'm happy to admit...he is a better skier than I...cool! This is one of the moment when a father is proud....his 11 years old is doing things way better than him...and trust me, I feel it will happen in way more areas than simply skiing!
On my side....I did ski years ago out of Bariloche....but I was a stupid basic intermediate at the time...and I've been fortunate to ski in few other places around the world since than....still....I'm waiting to ski one day on Morocco or Lesotho slopes to finally ski the six continents....one day...Africa...coming...
So let's go back to Las Lenas. Rent ski equipement in Malargue is a pretty
good deal....15usd per person per day for a 5 days skiing....transportation....it's 80km one way...15usd return per day per person...
Than there is the ski pass....we speak of 46usd per day for me, and just below 40usd per day for the kids. Bear in mind, all these prices are in USD....and at the blue rate to the peso! So now...if you want to know what is the blue rate...it's time to use google!
We left Malrgue each morning before sunrise at 8am...and were back each day around 6.30pm. This means hitting the slopes before 9.30am...till 5pm. As we had junk food for lunch....food/drink stops were never long...yes, you got it, it was a good six hours of skiing every day! I'm sorry to have to admit it, we haven't seen much of Malargue!
I did put Tiffany into full day skiing classes for three days....and well, if they have one thing expensive here....this is it....even at the blue rate...we speak of 110usd per day for a three day classes....expensive it was.....but the results were pretty amazing...and classes....yes, Tiffany needed them!
I had people asking me more info
about the skiing in Las Lenas, this is simply why I'm more than happy to quote the prices. Don't forget though...inflation is king here...and there is this little thing call the blue rate...
At the end of the day, it seems we were pretty happy with the weather. First afternoon...we had snow! Remember, this snow is pretty dry...so it won't stop us to ski, as it actually doesn't make you wet....nice! Than we had four days of full sun. It's actually turn out pretty well as we had fresh snow...but on our last day...they told us they were expecting the next snow...not earlier than 5 days from it...not great, as too much sun...does melt the snow....but we won't have to experience this! Ouf!
The first three days, I skied with Leslie when Tiffany was enjoying her classes in "castellano"...sadly...it seems Leslie will be way faster than Tiffany to catch the local lingo...well...we'll see! So for three days, it was red run after red...we went to 3250 meters and had an amazing time! Skiing is fun...skiing with your own kids....is even better! And we even got the wind...a little too much at some times...
Than Tiffany joined us....first day...we kept it pretty cool....she can now go down any blue...at a decent speed...than the last day, we raised a little the level...and Tiffany went red...on the red slopes I mean...and full speed too...and without ever eating the snow...I'm an happy Dad!
So time to say bye bye to the snow for now. Tiffany is already asking when is the next ski trip...January my love...January!
We are back in Buenos aires....school start tomorrow...we are also moving in our new flat tomorrow...a busy day ahead! And to remind me that they are growing fast, this afternoon Leslie lost his last baby tooth...yeap...growing they are!
We had an amazing day in Buenos Aires today. I will not blog right now on it....as we have a packed week and week-end ahead of us...so next blog...coming pretty soon, just wait a full week....but so far so good, I can tell you...Tiffany and Leslie love Buenos Aires...
And a last comment....while visiting in the past, I always thought the city was much more a place to live than a place to visit....for once, we have no emergency
to taste all the great things Argentina have to offer to us...there is way too much to sample in a single year...and yes, we have a busy schedule ahead of us!
Le bonheur....c'est maintenant....my Mum will translate in castellano!
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Graciela
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Mendoza
Mendoza has a lot to offer: snow, wines, landscapes, friendly people!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is Argentina.