Refugio Frey is infamous. It is located south and slightly west of Cerro Catedral (ski field) in Bariloche, Argentina. There are numerous trip descriptions, articles etc. written on it and by South American standards this information is very easy to find as a foreigner/ gringo. For some reason because I knew it was so popular and frequented I didn't have high expectations. Yes I had seen the pictures of the rock faces and couloirs but I hadn't expected it to actually be as good as it looked. Wow low expectations pay off. The ridges surrounding Refugio Frey, known as Cerro Catedral Sur The tour in was longer than we had expected, with heavy packs (a tent and cooker in tow, the cooker is completely unnecessary for the record) we set off from the car park at Catedral and after some miscommunication with the staff regarding a one up pass we were those people touring up the ski field. We dropped over the back of the mountain from Puerta Princesa (peak) and our team communication failed us as we, one at a time, skied over a convex roll which released a small slab as I came down last. Small BUT a very good lesson. We vowed to be more careful and take our time to look at line options. Next step, follow the valley down and then climb back up to Frey. Patagonian skin tracks are such hilarious fun. This one crossed a barely there snow bridge over a stream and then squeezed around, through, over and under trees before increasing in steepness making us work for the ridge line. This should have been a good warning for the type of skinning Frey was about to educate us on. Adventures on Patagonian skin tracks We arrived at the hut and I set up my tent with excitement. Digging out snow and making a wind shelter. We then met the 20+ other ski tourers in the hut and heard about their adventures around the area. The consensus was Frey was skiing incredibly at the moment and the avalanche danger was very minimal. The basin that Frey is located in is lucky as it has very steep rock faces on all sides which means that in any conditions at least one aspect will be skiing well. The forecast for the next day was primo so we got some ideas on routes and planned to wake up early. "Three in the tent and the little one said roll over". There was zero rolling over to be done because that would have meant squishing another person. We were warm though and when the standard Patagonian wind started to howl at 4 am we were still comfortable. Morning dawned and we were out. Chucky suggested the first run up what looked like a pretty steep committing face and I was nervous but keen. It was indeed committing and a definite step up from the previous day. Keep a calm head when your downhill ski slips out from underneath you while skinning, it will be fine. The view and the ski down were worth it and we chugged on to our next route which was a nice laid back tour up and fun ski down with some features to provide short moments in the air. The committing skin track (it felt more impressive in real life). PHOTO Hannah James Chucky was hungry for more and Hannah and I were literally hungry so the two of us headed back to the Frey to make some lunch and decide on our next move. It was 3 pm and we were just thinking we could try something technical but short when a few of our friends from the night before came in to say they had just skied the best snow of their lives and it would be a sin if we didn’t go out and do the same route. We hustled. The track up looked hard and it was predicted to take 3 hours, it is dark by 7 pm so we had time. If ever there was a time to use the word beautiful to describe a skin track this was it. The previous riders had done a superb job of carving it up a reasonably steep access. I was appreciative. The wind picked up, the clouds started rolling in. We made a video dairy claiming to have our "adventure pants" on and continued on. We were rewarded within 1.5 hrs (hallelujah we are not as slow as we thought) by the view of the lake and the 'Principal peak' of Catedral. The ski down was indeed as incredible as the claims. Effortless, light, pillowy, face shots, do I need to continue?? Whooping with delight we boosted through our last transition back up to the ridge then skins off and down to Frey. Our destination, Cerro Principal! The start of the best powder! The hut had cleared out with the incoming terrible weather and we were spending the night inside in the interest of not getting blown off the mountain. That night we had a spanish lesson with the hut wardens; the most important word is cosas (things) followed by pointing and smiling. The relentless wind. The wind. Oh the wind. We may have been inside but I still didn’t sleep. The next day we were leaving via the valley and then traversing around the mountain to Catedral. It turned out to be harder than we thought. A lot of new snow meant the track was hard to follow and then when we were clearly on it the snow became very wet and heavy and the standard Patagonian adventure skinning started again. Over rocks, through streams, between bushes Our routes: White (access track), Purple (first route, committing skin track), Blue (second route, mellow), Green (third route, via Cerro Principal). About then, still 3 hours from the end of the track, I learnt my biggest lesson of the trip. Bring more food. I had run out of food and was not in my happiest of places. It turns out I am useless at life when hungry. Skis on, skis off to cross a stream/clamber down a rock, skis back on again.. Repeat. The track probably wasn't as bad as I'm making out. We got to the end at 4 pm, I had last eaten at 9 am. To put it in perspective Chucky asked me if I wanted to go back in the day after because the weather was looking good again and there would be fresh snow and I promptly declined, despite absolutely loving the place and the snow and the ski lines, because the memory of that track was still too painful. All in all an incredible experience with more valuable lessons learnt: primarily take more food, always communicate and take your time in unknown terrain, have confidence in your abilities and don't underestimate Patagonian skin tracks. Refugio Frey with Cerro Principal in the background, Patagonia is breath taking. PHOTO: Hannah James
0 Comments
|
AuthorMarian Krogh Archives
August 2019
Categories |