October 07, 2013
Refugio Frey
Frey Frey Frey, where to begin with you? Well for us it started at a bongo drums party for a friend of a friend that were celebrating that his girlfriend got pregnant. After the party we got a text from Colin Boyd (FWT snowboarder and friend) saying his crew were heading to Refugio Frey (a backcountry hut) tomorrow and that we were welcome to join if we feel like it. Absolutely we thought! Getting to Frey was interesting; first we had to convince the ticket lady that we were going cross country skiing so we could get a one ride pass for the Gondola. It was only a short tour from the top of the lift to the ridge and drop in but we managed to get lost because the visibility was soooo bad, it was like skiing in a milk bowl with no tasty cereals in it. But then something amazing happened, the light popped and the cereals appeared everywhere! It was suddenly a bluebird powder day and we were the first to get to the saddle that divided Cerro Catedral from the back country and the valley that led to Frey. Eric Hjorleifson and Jen Ashton were next to drop, that felt good.
Dropping in in the first laguna
Neil loving it!
It had snowed 2 days before but the resort had been tracked in low light since then and we had no expectations on the snow quality just over the ridge, so after our first run of deep dry pow we got to the bottom in stuttering, stoked shock. The sky was clearing too and we immediately made way to the next ridge to harvest more dream conditions before moving onto a small river crossing, tight tree navigation and the Frey valley itself.
The crew
Niki the monkey showing us his secret spotts
Me skiing down to the group
Locals, being proud of their home mountain
Neil getting tangled up in the bush while crossing a river
Niki and Frey
We arrived at Frey with still a few hours of light left so we had a quick Mate and headed out for some more powder skiing. We started touring up a step beautiful face but then eventually had to start boot packing up. Niki the monkey was leading the track and we got to a pretty icy part, our token snowboarder was doing really well in snowboard boots but just as we said so he slipped on the hidden ice and fell over some rocks, his back pack with an attached snowboard got caught and he dislocated his shoulder. He was screaming “mi hombro” but we thought he was saying “mi hombre” which means ’my man’ or ‘my friend’. Hmm we were very confused for a second but soon realized he meant his shoulder. Neil turned into a ski patrol hero and after two tries relocated his shoulder into the right position. There were immediate hugs and cheers, followed by a very relieved and mellow run back to the hut for him and Neil, while Niki and I continued hiking to the top of the face.
FREY!!!!
Here’s a photo of me skiing down, it was steep, fluffy and a superb last run.
With legs tired like over boiled spaghetti we headed back the hut. Dinner was ready to be served which tonight was soup, risotto, pizza and desert and it only costs us about 7 €.
Heaps of skins
We woke up with the wind shaking the little hutt and the clouds hanging like a napkin over the mountains. But we headed out and again the sky opened for us and we scored a long nice run. After that I decided to start the tour back to the resort but Neil and Niki went for one more run in a nice colouir. The tour back worked my legs pretty good and getting to the top was a relief. Niki and Neil were not far behind me and I knew they haven’t had anything to eat in a long time so I left some salty biscuits in the touring tracks for them to snack on. They were stoked!
Niki!
Neilio
Neil slashing
We got back to Cerro Catedral after closing and felt happy, exhausted and filled with new good memories. Although we just realized we didn’t have a ride home and thought it was going to be tricky to find a way down the mountain. We got lucky and found a ride down to the roundabout and from there a friendly guy picked us up in his tiny car but we managed to fit all of us and all our gear. On the way home we did a necessary stop at the supermarket and bought stuff to fill our empty bellies with tasty treats and amazing Argentinean meat.
Niki having a little rest
Frey, Frey, Frey, what an incredible place. Just waking up in the morning and picking your lines by looking out the window while drinking your Mate. I’ll defiantly come back!
Ciao!
Dropping in in the first laguna
Neil loving it!
It had snowed 2 days before but the resort had been tracked in low light since then and we had no expectations on the snow quality just over the ridge, so after our first run of deep dry pow we got to the bottom in stuttering, stoked shock. The sky was clearing too and we immediately made way to the next ridge to harvest more dream conditions before moving onto a small river crossing, tight tree navigation and the Frey valley itself.
The crew
Niki the monkey showing us his secret spotts
Me skiing down to the group
Locals, being proud of their home mountain
Neil getting tangled up in the bush while crossing a river
Niki and Frey
We arrived at Frey with still a few hours of light left so we had a quick Mate and headed out for some more powder skiing. We started touring up a step beautiful face but then eventually had to start boot packing up. Niki the monkey was leading the track and we got to a pretty icy part, our token snowboarder was doing really well in snowboard boots but just as we said so he slipped on the hidden ice and fell over some rocks, his back pack with an attached snowboard got caught and he dislocated his shoulder. He was screaming “mi hombro” but we thought he was saying “mi hombre” which means ’my man’ or ‘my friend’. Hmm we were very confused for a second but soon realized he meant his shoulder. Neil turned into a ski patrol hero and after two tries relocated his shoulder into the right position. There were immediate hugs and cheers, followed by a very relieved and mellow run back to the hut for him and Neil, while Niki and I continued hiking to the top of the face.
FREY!!!!
Here’s a photo of me skiing down, it was steep, fluffy and a superb last run.
With legs tired like over boiled spaghetti we headed back the hut. Dinner was ready to be served which tonight was soup, risotto, pizza and desert and it only costs us about 7 €.
Heaps of skins
We woke up with the wind shaking the little hutt and the clouds hanging like a napkin over the mountains. But we headed out and again the sky opened for us and we scored a long nice run. After that I decided to start the tour back to the resort but Neil and Niki went for one more run in a nice colouir. The tour back worked my legs pretty good and getting to the top was a relief. Niki and Neil were not far behind me and I knew they haven’t had anything to eat in a long time so I left some salty biscuits in the touring tracks for them to snack on. They were stoked!
Niki!
Neilio
Neil slashing
We got back to Cerro Catedral after closing and felt happy, exhausted and filled with new good memories. Although we just realized we didn’t have a ride home and thought it was going to be tricky to find a way down the mountain. We got lucky and found a ride down to the roundabout and from there a friendly guy picked us up in his tiny car but we managed to fit all of us and all our gear. On the way home we did a necessary stop at the supermarket and bought stuff to fill our empty bellies with tasty treats and amazing Argentinean meat.
Niki having a little rest
Frey, Frey, Frey, what an incredible place. Just waking up in the morning and picking your lines by looking out the window while drinking your Mate. I’ll defiantly come back!
Ciao!