Todo Nieve/Nine mountains
Section 2 of 4
Nine mountains, and how little they have in common
Nine lift-served mountains, and almost nothing held in common between the ends of the list.
One of them is a bare, wind-hammered valley at 2,240 metres with no town in it. One has a city of a hundred thousand at its foot and beech forest through its lower runs. One is built among monkey-puzzle trees on a volcano that is still venting. Six pieces on the mountains that carry the argument, and on the small areas that survive on a road or a snow shadow.
6 pieces in this section
- Las Leñas, and the chair called MarteThe steepest lift-served terrain in South America sits above one chair, and how often it runs is the whole story of the place.
- Cerro Catedral, and the town underneath itThe largest resort in the region has a city at its foot, which changes what it is for.
- Cerro Castor, the southernmostThe furthest south a lift runs anywhere, and the reason national teams train there in August.
- Caviahue skis through monkey-puzzle trees, on a volcano that is still workingAraucaria forest on the flank of an active volcano, and a resort built among both.
- ChapelcoAbove San Martín de los Andes, and the most sheltered of the northern group.
- Penitentes and La HoyaTwo small areas that survive on very different things — a road and a snow shadow.