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A question and answer guide to what you might need to know
about
Cerro Castor, Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina
What is so special about Cerro Castor? The southern most ski resort in the world! All the facilities, equipment hire, restaurants and bars are modern and excellent. The resort goes into its sixth year this season. If snow falls are heavy you can take refuge down the valley and have the most fantastic unforgettable sled dog experience. There is no shortage of activities to enjoy, including an outdoor ice rink, or dry suit dive in the channel! The nearby National Park is a must. Evidence of Beaver dams are everywhere and the bird life is fabulous. The Nordic skiing is excellent too and they have beautiful trail circuits cut through the lengas forests. The numerous other interesting winter sport activities to enjoy along with the skiing make this resort so enjoyable.
Where is Cerro Castor? In the far South at the tip of the world. It is the worlds southernmost ski resort and is close to Tierra del Fuegos's capital city of Ushuaia (26km). The plane journey from Buenos Aires is almost four hours. It can be reached in stages from Cerro Cathedral (Bariloche) and Chapel Co (San Martin de Los Andes) by flying south to Calafate. Because of the internal flights timetable this necessitates staying for two nights and a full day in Calafate. This is time well spent as you are by the Morreno Glacier, where you can don your crampons and get walking!
How high is the base level? The ski resort is based at only 646 ft above sea level!
What is the height at the top? The height at the top of the resort is 3139 ft.
What is the drop? 2493 ft.
What is the snow like? There are very rapid weather changes here. When we visited, it snowed hard and there was excellent powder (the day we had to leave!) It was from all accounts just bad timing as the storms normally come through quickly, then half an hour later you are in sunshine. The apparent reason the powder is so good is the stability of the temperature. This fluctuates between plus 5 and minus 5 degrees centigrade.
How long is the season? This last year the season commenced at the beginning of July and continued until October 12th (not because the snow had run out, but because lift operators had other spring jobs to move on to).
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? Our impression was that queues were not an issue here at any time. This may have been encouraged by the fact that we visited during snow falls that may have put people off. However the lifts were fast, and you can believe the stats. for this resort which say that the 5 lifts have the capacity to transport 5000 skiers per hour. Even with the resort filled to capacity the skiable area is enough to spread out over (400ha).
When do the lifts open and close? They open at 9.00am and close at 5.00pm.
What accommodation is available? Accommodation is mainly nearer in towards Ushuaia. There is a wide range to choose from. It is possible to stay up in the resort in self catering chalets. Alternatively there is a good choice of old style chalet like hotels around the town outskirts, or at the top end of the market Las Hayas, which has the most fabulous cuisine, is lovely and warm, has all the facilities and sauna, but is modern, so lacks on the 'atmosphere' marks. We can suggest an itinerary to suit any level of accommodation you are interested in.
What transport is available in the resort? All the hotels have access to transport to get you up to the slopes. Most of them run a couple of mini buses in the morning, and then stipulate times for you to return in the afternoon. If booking through the agents we work with in Argentina, then within the quoted price transport is taken care of.
What is available for snow boarders? There is no special snow park for the snow boarders.
Is there childcare available? Yes there is. For the 3 - 5 year olds they can take a skiing class or just mess around in the snow from 9.45am until 11.45am, and in the afternoon from 1.45pm until 3.45pm. Lunch is not provided. For the 3 month babies until 3 years there is a longer service from 9.45am until 12.45pm for the morning and 1.15pm until 4.15pm. Again this service does not provide food and it is up to the parents to leave a snack if they think their child might get hungry. We had a good look around the nursery facilites and they were excellent, with a wide range of toys for outside like toboggans and tiny skis. The cost of childcare for the 3 -5 year olds for a complete day is between 49-56 pesos depending on low or high season. This is around £10.00. For the 3 month to 3 year olds it is between 42 to 49 pesos which is around £9.00. If booking a whole week this price per day is reduced.
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 these can be purchased on a daily basis. This resort unlike the others only has the two categories of pricing. High season is called Regular season and low season is Special season. The Regular (high) season runs from July 10th until September 12th and a full adult pass for 6 days is 370 pesos (around £67.00). The Special (low) season price for an adult runs from June 11th until July 9th and from September 13th until October 12th. This was 248 pesos (around £48.00). Children up to the age of 5 go free. From 5 years to 11 years they pay the same as a senior citizen for the week which is 291 pesos (around £53.00) during the Regular (high) season, and 174 pesos (around £32.00) during the Special (low) season.
What is the ski school like and is it expensive? The ski school is good. There are 20 instructors available to teach skiing, snowboarding and snowblading. For children from 6 years to 15 there is group skiing, (minimum of 4 up to a maximum of 10 children). This is from 10.00am - 12.30pm and in the afternoon from 1.30pm until 4.00pm. This per day for both morning and afternoon sessions costs 98 pesos (£18.00 roughly) during Regular (high) season and 83 pesos (roughly £15.00) during Special (low) season. For a full week of sking instruction both morning and afternoons, this is 450 pesos (around £82.00) during Regular (high) season and 383pesos (around £70.00) during Special (low) season.
For an adult for a weeks ski instruction in a group (2 hours a day for 6 days) it is 199 pesos (£36.00) during high season and 169 pesos (around £31.00) during low season. These classes commence at 10.30am until 12.30pm and again at 1.30pm until 3.30pm.
If taking a private lesson, one on one instruction for two hours is 126 pesos (£23.00) per day during high season and 108 pesos (£20.00) per day during low season.
How much is ski rental? The ski equipment is fantastic, in fact state of the art, so if you have your own personal equipment in need of a little maintenance get it done here. To hire all your ski equipment (skis, poles, boots) per day is 30 pesos, around £5.50, depending on the exchange rate. This can if you choose be increased to 46 pesos, around £8.00 for superior equipment, however we found the standard equipment good and all their skis were carvers.
What else is there to do in the resort besides skiing? Plenty, and it is all relatively near the slopes. The national park (Parque Nacional Tierraa del Fuego) is a 20 minute drive out of Ushuaia . You can even take the Train to the end of the world! (El Tren del Fin de Mundo!)This is a small narrow guage train that runs from just outside Ushuaia (8km away at Estacion del Fin de Mundo) up to the park. Activities such as diving in the Beagle Channel or sled dog riding are such unique opportunities that it is worth putting time aside from the skiing to appreciate them. For the more adventurous you can go sledding at night. You ride out with coal miners torches on your head to an isolated spot, where a welcome camp fire awaits under the stars! For those who enjoy their food, there are some very good restaurants with crab as a speciality, or drive to Cumbres del Martial (10 minutes) to enjoy a very traditional tea at their tea house.
What level of skier is this best resort best suited to? This is a very 'all round' resort.. 30% of its runs are for beginners. 25% for intermediates. 25% of the runs are for advanced skiers and the remaining 15% 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.)
What safety measures are in place in the event of an accident? We were very impressed with this resort. At the resort base they have a manned red cross room, with excellent equipment and an ambulance is always parked outside. As soon as it has to take a patient down to Ushuaia 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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