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A question and answer guide to what you might need to know
about
Cerro Catedral, Bariloche, Patagonia, Argentina
What is so special about it? Everything! This is without a doubt our favourite resort. It has chic, it has glamour, a buzz, it is very friendly, and the skiing is fantastic! The resort has a lovely Swiss feel to it with lovely log cabins up on the mountain to sit outside and enjoy the sunshine from, (with a glass of deep red Argentine Malbeck!) It undoubtedly is the best resort for mixed groups where not everyone wants to ski. As a diversion from pounding the slopes there is horse riding, trekking, the lakes and national park to enjoy, explore the bamboo forests on the D'Agostini slopes above Lake Gutierrez, diving in petrified forests, glacier walking with crampons, golf at the beautiful 18 hole Arelauquen Club, mountain biking. The list is almost endless.
Where is Cerro Catedral? Cerro Catedral is the ski resort sometimes referred to just as 'Bariloche', due to its proximity to the town. You fly into Bariloche Airport which is a 2 hour plane journey from Buenos Aires. The ski resort, like Chapel Co at Saint Martin de los Andes, is in North West Patagonia, and infact the two resorts are only 75 miles apart by road (a 4 hour journey that allows you to experience the countryside at a fairly sedate pace due to the condition of the road which is largely unsurfaced, but perfectly passable in a four wheel drive vehicle.
How high is the base level? The ski resort is based at 3445 ft above sea level.
What is the height at the top? The height at the top of the resort is 6726 ft.
What is the drop? 3281ft.
What is the snow like? This resort has a base level that is nearly 4000ft lower than the other great giant of the South, the resort of Las Lenas. Although offering almost the same vertical drop and length of runs, undoubtedly the snow on the lower slopes here tends to get soft by the afternoon in September. There are snow making facilities to keep the runs to the base open which towards the end of September is very helpful. Higher up the mountain the skiing is unsurpassed. Even in bright sunshine the snow remained excellent all day.
How long is the season? This last year the season commenced on June 15th and continued through until Sept 30th.
When is the best time to go? Again, like the other resorts, try to avoid going in July as it is peak holiday time for the Argentines.
What are the lift queues like? Not a problem. The resort is huge, with 35 lifts that can apparently transport up to 26376 skiers per hour! Not that they would have to and we were visiting over a very popular time and never had to queue. The resort has signed an exchange treaty with Copper Mountain Resort in Colorado, USA which allows a flowing exchange of technology and staff, so it is a very slick operation.
When do the lifts open and close? They open at 9.00am and close at 5.00pm.
What accommodation is available? There is a vast choice of really good accommodation from 3 Star to 5 Star. All levels of accommodation are good value for what you pay and that goes for 3 star right through to 5 star. Again it depends of whether you want to stay up in the resort or in Bariloche. Our recommendation is to stay in the resort as you are therefore right on the slopes in the morning. There are taxis between town and the resort, but generally the resort is a hive of activity during the day, but calms down in the evenings as people return to Bariloche. That said, there are some very nice bars and restaurants open in the evening in the resort and we very much enjoyed it. If seeking the clubs and discos, then Bariloche in the evening is where you want to be.
What transport is available in the resort? In the resort itself there is none as the entire lift system is accessed from the main square. There are short distances between the various lifts which fan out onto the mountain side. If staying outside the resort transport would either be arranged by the hotel (or if booking through us it is included in the quote).
What is available for snow boarders? There are 3 snow parks for boarders, one at the base which is useful for beginners and the other two well up the mountain on the black and red gradients providing excellent boarding.
Is there childcare available? Yes. This is run by the Catedral Kids Club. The nursery facilities are there for babies from 45 days until 8 years between 9.00am until 5.00pm. For the children between 45 days and 3 years they have games, songs, puppets and snow activities to keep siblings quiet while bigger brother or sister goes off to ski school. They provide children's food. For the 3 - 5 year olds you pay for a pass between 37 pesos per day (£6.70 in high season), 31 pesos per day (£5.60 during mid season) and 22 pesos per day (around £4.00 during the low season). This ski pass includes access to the kids nursery from 9.00 am until 5.00pm. These prices would appear to be the same for the babies from 45days. Children between the ages of 6 until 8 years fall into the minors category for their lift pass, and therefore a pass costs 52 pesos (around £9.45) during high season, 43 pesos (£7.80) during mid season and 29 pesos (£5.20) during low season.
What is the cost of a lift pass? Just for ease of comparison we have taken the cost of a week long full adult pass, though obviously ski passes can be purchased on a daily basis. High season runs from July 10th until July 30th and a full adult pass for 7 days is 440 pesos (around £80.00). Mid Season runs from June 26th -July 9th and from July 31st- August 27th. A 7 day mid season pass is 363 pesos (around £66.00). Low season runs from June 19th until June 25th and from August 28th until October 3rd and an adult 7 day pass is 253 pesos (around £46.00). Children between the ages of 6 until 11 years are considered minors and from 12years upwards are adults. A minors pass for a week for high, medium and low season will be 357,297, 203 pesos (around £65.00, £54.00 and £37.00 respectively). If between the ages of 65 to 69, you pay a reduced rate and if 70 and above the lift pass is free.
What is the ski school like and is it expensive? The ski schools are excellent. There are several of them, Ski Catedral, Ski Total, Super Ski, Ski Ranch and Robles Catedral. There are 150 instructors available to teach everything that has anything to do with snow! There is snowboarding , monoski, competition ski lessons, deep snow, off-piste, para skiing, and very good childrens classes up to the age of 14. A full week of sking instruction (2 hours every morning or afternoon for 6 days) is around 195 pesos (around £35.00) during mid and high season and around 165 pesos (around £30.00) during low season. Classes can be booked for more than the 2 hours per day package, so if you are after all day instruction the group size has to be a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 6 people.
How much is ski rental? The ski equipment is very good. To hire all your ski equipment (skis, poles, boots) per day is around 30 pesos, (around £5.50), depending on the exchange rate. Superior equipment can be hired and there are numerous hire shops around the resort to hire from. Probably the easiest however is to go to the Center of the Base to Las Terrazas as this has lockers too which is useful for leaving gear.
What else is there to do in the resort besides skiing? Anything you like! On the slopes you can take out snow buggies and there is a purpose built track for them through the forests, or you can para-glide (with or without skis). There are toboggans to hire and if you have had your fill of snow, then come down from the resort, dropping below the snow line to play golf, horse ride, trek, dive in the lakes to swim amongst petrified forests. The list goes on, glacier walking with crampons, shopping, enjoying the famous chocolate of Bariloche, mountain biking, rafting - in fact the only thing that we couldn't find to do was sled-dogging which is best done in the far south in Ushuaia.
What level of skier is this best resort best suited to? This is a great 'all round' resort.. 15% of its runs are for beginners. (which considering the size of the resort is plenty), 51% for intermediates. 24% of the runs are for advanced skiers and the remaining 10% for experts. For experts we can organise a private guide for extreme skiing which will be around USD 150 (around £80 per day depending on the exchange rate.) As of July '06, the extreme skiing will be over the back of the resort down the D'Agostini slope to the shore of Lake Gutierrez, on the North Face of the Argentine Peak and across the glaciers of Mount Tronadour. (the one who thunders).
What safety measures are in place in the event of an accident? Like with Chapel Co resort this resort has plenty of red cross patrol stations scattered through the resort, with the main station at the base. An ambulance is always positioned at the base and as soon as it has to take a patient to Bariloche hospital another ambulance is sent up to the resort base. Like all action holidays personal insurance is essential, but they do not withhold treatment until the insurance papers have been shown! All casualties are treated immediately and paper work sorted out later.
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