Malargue and Las Lenas Ski Resort

24th July to July 27th 2003.

We love buses! 36 hours and 4 buses later we made it half way across Argentina from Esquel to Malargue. Fun, fun, fun.

Malargue is a petroleum town in Central Argentina sandwiched between dry arid plains in the shadow of the Andes and the Andes themselves..... Great place for a ski resort.

Las Lenas is a great ski resort. This is where Argentinas rich and famous come to ski. However, they stay up the mountain and not with us in Malargue which is 90 minutes away by bus.

Unfortunately no one ordered the snow again and whilst they tried to make snow, ice was predominant. The view from the top of the mountain highlights the problem.

No snow and overcast conditions gives times to practice somersaults. This bungy and trampoline combo enables triple somersaults to be done with ease.

Unfortunately Jason was the only grown man using the apparatus and after 5 minutes he was totally exhausted.

The terrain park at Las Lenas is a professional affair. It has a name 'Thor02' with a DJ booth and bean bags for those who prefer to watch than ride.

The lack of snow meant that the professional and advanced parks were shut and only the intermediate park was open with no half pipe.

The professional park is massive. You can see the dirt humps that when covered in snow are a true recipe for madness.

Jason got his front side 360's going...and a very wet bottom where he waited for the other 10 jumpers to decide whose turn it was to go next. He got a lecture from one of the Argys about waiting his turn whilst they all sat on their arses watching each other.

Monkey boy going for a grabless (no vines or trees) backside 360.

If you look closely you can see Jason doing his mums concentration face ... tongue poking out through his lips. We have looked at all the other jump photos and he does it in everyone. Be proud Hazel!

The off-piste here is insane. You could ride a different trail everyday for a season.... just don't get injured as it seems rather expensive.

This is a car for sale on the main street in Malargue. This should give you an idea of the kind of one-horse-town it is.

The bus driver who drove us up the mountain was a very nice guy.  He maintained a significant religious shrine around the dashboard / rear view mirror. Highlights include 3 crosses, garlic, a picture of Mary and red carpet on the dashboard. After seeing how long he could chat to people behind him and drink mate (local tea) without looking at the road we understood why this was all necessary.

Three days here was enough... the promise of fresh snow was not enough to make us stay in this very tiny slow town, so we split.... funnily enough the snow never arrived... making it 3 weeks without Las Lenas having a snow dump!

However... we would come back in a flash if they had good snow!
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