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Published: August 14th 2006
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If it wasn't for the scenic views overlooking a lake with snow capped mountains in the distance the four of us would have thought we'd arrived back home on a miserable wet and windy day in England. The first day was spent chilling out exploring Bariloche, mostly from the window of a cafe bar due to the snow blizzard and back at the hostel arranging a couple of days skiing in the local resort.
The following 2 days were brilliant. I never expected that i'd be skiing in the mountains of Argentina before I left to travel South America. In hindsight i'm sure we'd all be more prepared with warmer clothes but we were able to find a place that hired out all the gear for us and we struck up a good deal with our hostel for a 2 day ski pass. Getting ready for our day on the slopes was hilarious, the 70's ski gear we had hired looked ridiculous and from the photos it must look like we went to a fancy dress shop by mistake. Turner was the only one out of the four us not to have skied before so the morning of our first
day skiing was spent showing Turner the ropes and trying our hardest not to laugh at him. We'd heard that the conditions had been very poor a couple of days before but we must have been the luckiest guys in Bariloche to have picked this day to ski. The sun was out, the snow was perfect and it wasn't too busy, so we enjoyed a full day on the slopes.
We needed to get down to the bus station to book a bus to our next destination, Puerto Madyrn for the following day. We got there no problem and sorted it all out but getting home proved more difficult. It was cold and raining and there were no buses or taxis available from the station. After about half an hour waiting a local guy pulls up in his car to drop his mate off so in desperation we ask him if he can drop us off anywhere in the main part of town. The guy was the friendliest guy we could have possibly met that night and went out of his way to drop four random guys who don't speak a word of spainish in town. I'm not sure
if this is classed as hitch-hiking or hijacking but we were happy enough to be back in the warmth of our hostel.
A pool competition was on the agenda for the apres ski that night. A bunch of guys from our hostel signed up and the tension was rising as the knock out tournament begun. Gareth convincingly won his first game, Turner made hard work of his opponent but managed to scrape through whilst Bim and myself had a nightmare and went out in the first round. Turner was knocked out in the next round whilst Gareth went on to win the tournament and claim the t-shirt and crate of beer prize. A few free beers later and a bit of banter with a couple of irish girls the early night we were all after soon turned into 3 hrs sleep before our next day skiing.
The conditions for our second day skiing wasn't as good but still very enjoyable. Turner had picked it up very well and we were able to explore more of the ski resort. Bim, Gareth and myself went off on our own and left turner practicing his snow plough but soon found ourselves
off piste in deep snow no thanks to Bims map reading. Having only been skiing once before it was very difficult skiing off piste but was I just about coping. Colliding with Gareth was quite amusing at first until it was virtually impossible to get back up due to how deep you sunk in the snow. 5 minutes later the main piste was in sight and Gareth led the way followed by Bim shouting, "follow my track Peters" which I did until I dropped 7ft down some hole. Not knowing where I was or how to get out I laughed to myself until I tried to get out. Every time I moved I sunk deeper in the snow against a wall of mud and a ceiling of snow just waiting to cave in. 10 minutes of struggling and shouting to Bim and Gareth, I was eventually heard by an Argentinian guy. He spread his weight out on the snow and offered his hand but I was unable to reach him. I threw my ski and poles up to him and then dug around for my other ski which I later found a couple of feet above me. I eventually manged
to crawl out through the deep snow and get my skies back on and the guy left and skied towards Bim and Gareth who had been waiting for about 20 minutes wondering where I'd got to. He told them, "your friend, he nearly died" and then he skied off. Collapsing, tired and cold on the main piste at the feet of Bim and Gareth was a huge relief as they both giggled and asked "so..shall we do that one again?"
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Welshi
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My 2 Cents
Well howdy doody my intrepid travelling friends. I’ve been quietly following your progress in the background for quite some time, waiting for the perfect moment to pounce (like the cat that I am - meeeeooww) and join in on the banter......so here goes!! Bim, Turns forget about it boys not even that sacred water could help you guys, the words "lost" and "cause" spring to mind!! Just joking fellas you go and show those Latino Lovelies what its like to be with real men, just use your accents they’ll be putty in your hands. Peters that must have been the only "hole" you have ever wanted to get out off!! Glad your alright mate you had us worried a bit there - nice to see that Bim was looking after you though "follow my tracks Peters".........what a mug. Gurth loving the fact that the dulcet tones of G.Llewelyn are finally reaching the worldwide audience that they truly deserve. Great to see that you’re doing it for the kids mate........Michael Jackson would be proud of you ;-) Hope you’re all well fellas, keep the blogs coming Beaners, they are so much fun to read and its awesome to see you all having a good time. Looking forward to catching up with you boys at Graduation Viva La Bant Muchos Lovos Welshi P.S. The goal is free boys, if you fancy a quick game of H&Vs to celebrate the start of the new season??