On Saturday, September 22, Jim and I finally left the comforts of Buenos Aires for a week on the snowy slopes of Cerro Catedral, Bariloche. We each paid US$1000 for the week through a Buenos Aires travel agent, and were very pleased with our package which included ski passes, return air tickets from Buenos Aires, and accommodation at Village Catedral, which I found to be the perfect ski resort at the very base of the mountain.
I was immensely impressed with our room at Village, which featured a wall-to-wall window overlooking the snowy mountains; warm, wood-panelled furniture; and a good, hot shower. Free access to the resort spa, room service and wi-fi were much appreciated too.
My first ever week of skiing was a challenge that I think was much alleviated by Jim's very patient coaching. Over the course of the week, I must have only really fallen over four times, although Jim did have to catch me a couple of times as I snowploughed right into him and breakneck walking speeds, yelling madly for help as I approached. Our yell-and-catch arrangement only failed once, when I freaked out on a green run and snowploughed right into an unsuspecting Jim, even though I was mostly still in control. The impact took us both out in very slow motion, resulting in a pile of giggles and some amusement-tinged concern from passers-by.
It was a nerve-wracking seven days, but by the end of it all, I had conquered the bunny slopes, the greens, and a blue training slope. Under the insistence of my rather sadistic instructor, I took on a short but rather steep blue slope on our final day in the snow, which resulted in what must have been an hour of swearing, sulking and almost-crying as I feared my way down the slope.
All the while, hypothermia was never too far off.
posted by liz at
1:14 PM
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