K2 Crew Member, Joel Brinson, Checking In From Bariloche!
Argentina, much like the old west, is a land synonymous with cattle, banditos, and a different pace of life. Despite the many similarities, there is one difference so great that it brought the K2 team together to one spot, the Andes.
While shred-summers in North America are spent watching Luminous Llama for the 153rd time and counting days towards your Hood trip, there are a group of kids in South America destroying epic terrain with storms that seem relentless. If you can imagine dropping a line between rocky spires leading into a moss covered forest that funnels through snow-covered bamboo pillow lines, you’re on the right track.
Over the last few weeks, the K2 team has been taking every opportunity to tap into the terrain around Bariloche, home base to South American Snowboard Sessions, and the location of our current team photo shoot. So far we’ve been lucky enough to shred with rad locals while slashing river beds, jibbing trees, and experiencing the culture. The internet access has been spotty, but stay posted for general mayhem and more behind the scenes with the K2 team in Argentina.
Load'n up...A-Factor style.
Waking up to a few inches of fresh.
Bariloche, feeling it.
Eero Niemela rehearsing flight patterns atop Bariloche.
Good Bye Argentina
So I have been home for a couple of days but just wanted to drop some photos from the end of the Trip. Argentina and SASS was a great time. We got some Pow Pow and had lots of fun. There are more K2 Dudes currently in Chile and I am sure they are boarding it up, and will be posting some blogs about their adventures soon.
We Got Dumped on! Snow that is
That there is Powder.
Did I mention they did not have lifts, and use horses to get to the top of the hill
We meet up and shredded with Liam G from TW mag
First you kill it, then you eat it, then you put it on your wall!
We had to pay extra for the fire show but it was well worth it
Sass/Bariloche Winter Break Extravaganza!
Hola Amigos y Amigas! I’m just hanging out in my apartment at the Sass Camp getting ready to head back to the States after a 6 day adventure in the A Factor. The A Factor is name for Argentina and the way this country operates, which is in a way unlike any other. Lots of their ways don’t make sense to us fast past Americans, but this is the beauty of Argentina and the experience. See the below picture for a perfect A Factor example. This is a picture of our shower. Notice that the shower head is in an unusual place (one might say it’s in the wrong spot, but in Argentina there is no wrong spot).
AFactor Shower
Camp life was great; the Sass crew is really opening up some amazing opportunities for kids to come down and learn about a different culture and how to ride backcountry conditions in a safe way. Everyone here is super nice, knowledgable and accomadating and lodge life is never complete without the token big dog and here she is; Mauria in all of her glory!
too early to get up
The vibe in Bariloche the last 6 days was very winter break style. Tons of people celebrating winter. There were parades
there were snow polo matches
Apparently every High School Senior in Argentina takes a trip to Bariloche and they come and they all wear the same outfits. This is team orange mixed in with a little bit of team red. Guaranteed good lifestyle shots were taken here!
It snowed everyday that we were here. The first few days it was more like slush and less like snow but yesterday was the real deal and we got a fun powder day and got some shots for the catalog.
We also got an up close and personal experience in their totally unique bamboo forests! We kind of explored a little bit too far off the beaten path and really found ourselves thick in bamboo, had to hike out and would have liked to have had a machete, but an experience we will never forget!
So thank you to everyone who helped us along our way everyday! Thanks Argentina, thanks Sass and thanks Bariloche for a great experience!
Greetings From Argentina
Hello all you of you K2 Blog readers out there . We (the K2 team, well some of us) just spent our first day on the hill in Argentina. We got some powder but it was not very much. We are hoping it snows some more so we can get after it.
Snowboarders in Argentina ride gear that is from the 90′s. Its pretty awesome. Also the lift lines are really long, and LAN airline logos are everywhere.
Eero getting some of that fresh Argentina air on the way to the hill
This is just one of the lines to get a lift ticket. Check out some of the sweet styles
The conditions were not the best, but at least we got to see a bunch of collisions. This was the after math from a particularly entertaining crash.
Ok thats it for now. Check back for more updates from Argentina. Hopefully we will have some better, more engaging content in the near future.