Travel & Trails90

iN oCtobeR oF 2011, tweLVe RiDeRS FRoM itaLY aRRiVeD at tHe CHeNGDu iNteRNatioNaL aiRPoRt iN CHiNa. tHeY weRe GReeteD bY tHe two CaNaDiaN owNeRS oF FawCett exPeDitioNS. it waS tHe StaRt oF tHe FiRSt MouNtaiN bike touR oF itS kiND iN CHiNa, aND tHe ReaLizatioN oF a DReaM MoRe tHaN tHRee YeaRS iN tHe MakiNG.

Part 1 – The Idea

In 2007, my friend and business partner, rob Fawcett, shared his pho-tos from his cycling trip to Western sichuan province china with me. I saw huge mountain passes, colorful Tibetan houses, endless grasslands, herds of yaks, and smiling local faces. It was like something out of national geographic. When he told me he was going back the next year, I bought my ticket the same day.

When I arrived in chengdu for the first time, I was comfortable right away. I had just finished a 5-year stint in Taiwan and was used to Asian cities. We headed straight for the Tibetan quarter where rob introduced me to nuances of Tibetan butter tea. We didn’t linger long in chengdu, and soon had our bikes stuffed in the bottom of an overcrowded bus. We were heading up to the Tibetan plateau in an area traditionally know as kham. This part of sichuan province shared a border with the Tibet Autonomous region but was officially and politically china. geographically and culturally, it was Tibet.

The riding was amazing. everything was amazing. We rode over numer-ous 4000 meter passes. We explored villages. We had the time of our lives. What really blew me away that first trip was how close we were able to get to Tibetan culture. We were eating and sleeping in people’s homes, drinking tea in their tents, and bathing in hot springs, in the buff, under wide-open blue skies. We had no problem communicating with the local people, my mandarin being passable with the Tibetans who spoke it as their second language. The people were the highlight of the trip and I would have gone back again if only to be amongst such a beautiful and proud people.

over the next few years, we went back again and again. cycling on the quiet roads was great but we started to wonder where the all those dirt roads and trails were going. We saw yaks and nomadic herders walking along the tops of ridges. We saw lines high up in the mountains that looked perfect for mountain biking. We heard from our local friends of ancient routes that led to holy lakes and beyond. We knew we had to develop an off-road tour on the Tibetan plateau; we had to bring people to this very special place. This was going to take real time and sweat to put it togeth-er. We were up for it. rob and I poured over maps, quizzed our sources, and then got to work.

Words by cHriS Ganeff phoTos: fawcett & co. cyclinG expeditions

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Part 2 - Scouting

our first real mountain bike scouting mission, in the winter of 2009, was a bit of a disaster. It was too late in the year. It snowed. one route was being paved over and another was a dead-end. There were landslides and flooded valleys. It was frustrating and tiring… but we were making progress.

We were looking for tracks that would add up to long days on the bike, riding anything from dirt roads to hiking trails, and ending in places with some sort of accommodation and food. most of the clients would be coming from Italy and spain to start, through our partners at progetto Avventura, and we knew exactly what they were looking for based on other trips we had developed for them in other countries. They enjoyed wider tracks, not too technical, but challenging.

summer 2010 was a real breakthrough. I spent a month on the plateau. We had learned that we needed local partners to make the trip a reality and we found them in our friends who ran a local guesthouse. They knew the area intimately. zhuoma was a Tibetan dancer in a previous life. she was smart, and tough, and once she realized I was serious, she was very helpful. between her and her husband, zhaxi, who would later be the main guide on our tour, we had the area covered. I stayed with them and we talked about possible routes. everything was possible, but needed to be ridden. I ran out of time but found some really great stuff: full-day climbs on 4×4 tracks in the middle of nowhere; flowy, grassland single-track; and those ancient trails they had talked about. by the end of my time there I had the rest of the tour outlined in my head.

rob and roberto came a couple months after me, and in two weeks, with the help of our friends, finished the route. It was amazing. We had wonderful contrast in geography and really di-verse tracks. most impressive were the last two days to kangding: an ancient route, rarely traveled, with tear-drop lakes, towering snowy peaks, and a rough horse trail that took you back in time.

photos, video, stage descriptions, and gps profiles were done. Within no time the tour filled-up. everyone was excited about bik-ing in cHInA! The final number for the group from Italy was twelve. The brave ones.

The First Tour

After spending a night in chengdu, we transferred to our start in xiaojin, about 300 kilometres away. xiaojin is a busy little town, quite historic for being on the route of mao’s famous long march. It is tucked into a steep valley above the Jinchuan river. To get there we drove over Jiajin mountain, elevation 4100 meters. It serves as the geographic and cultural border between Han-chinese sichuan and Tibetan sichuan. our first stage was a rolling ride on a secondary road. It was a perfect warm-up to what lay ahead. We finished the day with a really fun off-road climb up into the village of zhonglu, considered by some as the most beautiful village in china.

stage two was to dangling. We headed up another secondary road, the only traffic being the odd farmer and his tractor. It is in another beautiful valley, full of Jiarong Tibetan style houses. The weather was perfect and everyone was feeling good. The last 15 kilometers were on a steep rough, dirt track up to the village. We saw a few chinese tourists there riding horses, but the place is pretty remote so it really does not get many visitors. That night we stayed in a family-run guesthouse I have stayed in a number of

Travel & Trails92

times. After dinner we ended up having a huge group sing-along: Italians, canadians, chinese and Tibetans all taking turns. After, we were given an impromptu dance lesson by the owner’s daugh-ter who is a novice monk.

stage three was a tough day, with a 1000 meter climb up to the 4300 meter summit. I was amazed at how well everyone rode this stage, with a pretty rough track at high altitude. We passed by a number of nomads living in yak hair tents and were able to stop and visit for awhile. The level of cultural immersion possible in this area is really wonderful.

stage 4 was to daofu, our guide zhaxi’s hometown. It was another big climb up to 4500 meters. The weather was sunny and crisp and we spent some time at the top taking photos, under the huge Tibetan prayer flags. The downhill to daofu at 3000 meters was unreal - a 1500 meter descent on grassland single-track. There were big smiles all around. bellissimo!

The next day we had an optional ride and an optional hike planned. everyone opted to hike and give the riding muscles a bit of a break. We went to zhaxi’s family’s house for lunch and then some of us hit the natural hot springs at the edge of town. Another good day.

everything was going really smoothly, especially for the first-run of a tour. And then…it snowed. october is one of the driest months but it is also when the temperature starts to drop. We got really unlucky. neither rob nor I have ever seen snow in octo-ber here all the years that we have been coming. but of course, it’s possible. It was not a huge problem though. We rode a much shorter stage six in bamei, visiting the Hui yan monastery. This monastery is one of the cultural highlights of the trip. The 7th dalai lama built it, the 11th was born there, and the current dalai lama past through as a young boy.

We rode the stage eight route to Tagong through a light dust-ing of snow. I had never seen this route so beautiful before. It was tough going but it felt like a real adventure as we made our way through the white landscape.

We had decided not to do the originally planned final two days of the tour and instead went with our plan b. With the crazy weather it was a bit risky to head into the mountains and set up camp. We spent the next day riding a loop in Tagong in beautiful, sunny weather. our final day took us over one more 4500 meter

pass before the huge descent into kangding. Arriving in chengdu was a bit of a shock to the system for

everyone. We had just spent ten days cycling under blue skies with no one around. The hustle and bustle of chengdu was almost too much. We had a final dinner of hot pot. on the way to the airport the next day, I felt that the whole thing was a bit anti-climatic. They came, they saw, they rode, and now they were leaving. We had spent years putting this trip together and now it was over. We walked the group into the airport to say our good-byes. The clients all thanked us individually. by the time I got to the last person, I realized what we had accomplished. We had given them more than they had expected and they were grateful. They loved the riding, the country, the people and the trip. I remembered why we did this.

chris Ganeff and his partner rob fawcett live in victoria bc, canada. they own and operate fawcett & company cycling expeditions, running 2-week, challenging, cross-country moun-tain bike trips in china, italy, canada & morocco. they are also part of the organizing team for the mongolia bike challenge which we featured in issue #21. for more information visit www.fawcettexpeditions.com and www.mongoliabikechallenge.com

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Volcan Tronador looms in the background of Thomas Vanderham's newest playground.

ARGENTINA, PATAGONIAROCKY TEAM

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'Dre' Hestler leads Wade Simmons on an early morning mission to explore the surrounding glaciers and feel the rough texture of volcanic rock under tyre.

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Words: ANdrEAs HEsTLEr pHoTos by MArGUs rIGA

ARGENTINA, PATAGONIAROCKY TEAM

t is early march and north America is slum-bering under a peaceful blanket of snow. Here we are patiently waiting and wonder-ing when spring will thaw and when we can begin riding our trails again in earnest. very

far south, Argentina is finishing summer and a warm heavenly sun still shines down on hundreds of miles of pristine singletrack.

The rocky Team (Wade simmons, Thomas van-derham, geoff gullavich and Andreas Hestler) have come to Argentina and the rugged land-scapes of patagonia to not only shoot photos and capture video but because adventure and travel are the culture and soul of mountain biking.

our guides, cepi, boyon and gonzallo pick us up at the airport in san carlos de bariloche, Argen-tina, a place nestled in the foothills of the Andes. They look just like us, dressed in jeans, t-shirts and runners and are fit and athletic with big smiles stretching across their tanned faces.

our bikes and gear are loaded into a couple of trucks as we drive towards the town of san carlos de bariloche through what appears to be a desert-like region. I pepper martin ‘cepi’ raffo our lead guide, with questions about the area:

“What’s the population? How big is this lake? When was it settled? Why is the architecture so european? Is cepi your real name or a nick name?” cepi replied “it’s a long story but essentially I was given this nick-name at a young age. It means long eye lashes.” I lean in to look closely and truly they are magnificent!

A growing sense of impending excitement fills the car as we careen through the town’s potholed streets along the shore of a massive lake. We have spied the mountains and are heading directly into them. making a quick turn, we head up a wind-ing road to our accommodations at the ski resort of villa catedral, located just outside of town.

getting settled in, we quickly celebrate the ar-rival of all our gear and commence building bikes. After flying for what seemed like an eternity, nothing feels better than a little shred on some local trails. We had checked our gear, bikes, bags and ourselves onto a flight in the frigid cold just a few days earlier and here - in a surreal juxta-pose - we are lathering on sunscreen and about to ride in shorts and jerseys on the other side of the world!

I

A traditional town square complete with a historic statue of the towns founder, an expansive view of the lake and traditional architecture give a brief taste of what abounds in Bariloche; history, beauty, culture and endless scenery. | Keeping this refugio and park pristine and natural takes some work; there are plenty of used wine bottles to recycle into improvised ash trays. The European influence meets South America style.

“HaViNG tHe oPPoRtuNitY to aSCeND HiGH oN a VoLCaNo, SPeND tHe NiGHt aND tHeN SHReD it’S SLoPeS waS tHe exPeRieNCe oF a LiFetiMe FoR Me.” waDe SiMMoNS

cerro catedral, the bike park

The smell of fresh coffee draws me out of bed the next morning. café con-leche is good and after yesterday’s small shred we are all frothing at the mouth for more. Heading to the bike park just a couple of blocks up the street, we sign waivers - and our lives away - and receive day passes in return.

The mountain has many chair lifts but we upload on a gondola much like our own at home in north vancouver - nine riders plus bikes. our first run takes us shralping down the west side of the mountain as if descend-ing straight into town and lake nahuel Huapi! It is dusty and rough as a mountain bike park should be, littered with stutter bumps and assorted airs. A few familiar ladder bridges and a nice four-cross course begin to tell the story of this burgeoning bike park. Another couple of laps are followed by lunch on the mid-station patio while we enjoy the panoramic views and warm sunshine. Applying another dollop of sunscreen to pale winter skin, we push and pedal our way up to the very peak of cerro catedral.

“The bike park at catedral was very raw but had excellent terrain. you can see the po-tential that is waiting to be unlocked. I really enjoyed the dual slalom course and surfing the sandy singletrack.” Thomas vanderham

While sitting atop the barren peak waiting for the warm evening light to arrive, we are accosted with limitless views all around. From here looking west of cerro catedral we can see vulcan (spanish for volcano) Tronador’s snow capped cone in the not so distant Andes. Around us, saw-toothed peaks and jagged arêtes poke aggressively through moonscapes of shale; slopes that continually let us know we are far from home and not in kansas anymore.

The day wears on, the heat climbs and the sun continues to beat down on us as we wait for the perfect light. our guides seem unaffected by the sun and join us in trun-dling rocks into the valley below as we kill the waiting time. Finally the light is perfect and it is time to sprinkle riders into this unique landscape. The faint impressions of single-track sitting atop this massive peak have never seen such aggressive pedaling or furi-ous cornering as we come to terms with this mountains epic vastness.

refuGio cerro lopez

rain sprinkled down on us as we loaded cepi’s trailer the next day. Fall in Argentina is just around the corner as we head west to the trailhead of refugio cerro lopez. At some point along the way Wade asks, “Hey, which way is north?” We all point in different directions and burst out laughing, knowing our internal gps’s are fully scrambled. The refugio, much like a small hostel or café, is

staffed through most of the tourism months of the year and caters to both hikers, skiers, mountaineers and now bikers.

We climb up to the rufugio through the coihue woods; tall, gracefully curved ever-green-like trees, some as broad as sequoias, following a double track from the lake shore up to a whopping 1650m (5413 feet). our return descent, nearly 3000 feet of sweet singletrack will occur after tea and lunch at the refugio on top.

steep and deep corners greet our hungry tires as we plummet down the mountain. From up high in the rocky vastness, the trail winds down back into the forest. short fast sections made tacky by the rain are punctu-ated by quick braking and technical challenges that arrive abruptly. The contrast is exciting and keeps the thrill of the descent tingling for hours afterwards.

volcan tronador

In planning this trip we had looked for some off-piste adventure, something that would be vastly different from anything available at home. vulcan Tronador, a scant 100kms (62 miles) west of bariloche towards the chilean border, was a last minute addition to our itinerary. We would ascend 6000 feet and stay overnight at the refugio otto meiling located right on the edge of the glacier.

The vegetation here is different, wetter and lusher, benefiting clearly from being in the rain shadow of this massive volcano. We had seen on approach that the mountain, isolated and alone, towered over 3000 feet higher than anything around it. currently it was socked-in and the peak at 3491m (11453 feet) was not visible

packing for an overnight sortie, even though we would be sleeping indoors, made for some serious speculation as to clothing choices due to the weather dipping between hot when sunny and chilly when cloudy. limited as we were by the size of our hydration packs that we’d brought, made for some re-usable chamois jokes! keen consideration was given on after-riding wear for the night spent atop the mountain. Finally we headed out with a goal of arriving just before sunset.

We climbed through the lush forest on a clay double track eroded by water. Around us the greenery changed from bamboo jungles

to strange gnarled sub-alpine trees and, once again, we knew with certainty that n. America was a faraway and distant place.

The trail climbed higher and narrowed as we finally cleared the trees and entered upon a very rocky alpine. A thin but well used singletrack wound up and through a massive boulder field as it headed directly into the clouds. With swirling mist all around and the trail barely visible, we arrived at the refugio as the sun was setting. Tired and trepidatious about conditions we would meet that night,

we finally saw the lamp-lit windows of the refugio glowing through the damp evening air. Inside a warm fire roared cosily in the great room while upstairs in the sleeping quarters, nothing but rafters and sleeping mats were all laid out in two neat rows!

We shrugged off our gear and quickly put on every last stitch of clothing we had and clustered around the fire to take stock of our situation. While the veneer and core of this refugio - or cabin on the mountain - was cer-tainly rustic they provided an amazing full ser-vice package. The two staff, one man and one woman who manage the refugio otto meiling, were fantastic. They laughed at our naïve understanding of what a true refugio was all about. We spent an amazing night eating well and quaffing beers, thoroughly enjoying the turn our trip to Argentina had taken.

The creak of footsteps on rough boards in the early hours had me crack an eye to assess the situation. It was early, just before sunrise and time to see what the outside world looked like. gully was first up and peeked outside to take stock of the light. He saw a blue sky with a just few lingering clouds already beginning to burn off.

The glaciers filled our vision. They com-pletely surrounded us except for the cabin and the trail we had ascended the day before. looming large, very large at the center of it all, was vulcan Tronador in all its’ majesty. A magical place like that entices you to stay - it fills you with awe and a yearning to remain close to the heavens - but having crawled over every inch of available dirt as we explored the spaces between the glaciers, the time had now come to descend all 6000 feet of it.

The first bit was rough, rocky and very treacherous as we threaded through a busy moraine field. There were a number of ground-slapping mishaps and, at one point, Wade following Thomas, got slightly off course in the air and landed hard on a rock slab. The sound brought us all up short as we collected to inspect the damage: half a missing outer

“aS CLiCHe aS tHe woRD “ePiC” iS; it SeeMS SuitabLe FoR SuCH SCeNeRY. wHiLe we weRe iN baRiLoCHe, it CaMe oFF aS tHiS LaND oF eNDLeSS SuMMeR, GooD FooD aND iNCReDibLe RiDiNG. i wiLL DeFiNiteLY be RetuRNiNG. “ GeoFF GuLeViCH

ARGENTINA, PATAGONIATravel & Trails36

chainring and one flat tire. Although his bike was a bit abused, it was none the worse for wear, so we continued on.

Heading down out of the rock gardens and into the bamboo, our speed picked up, cackling laughter echoing along the trail as we plunged head long down the mountain. Attacking the final few miles en-masse, we burst into the parking lot exhausted and elated with our faces mud splattered. After this final mad group gallop, one full of elbows and bump-to-pass manoeuvring, our grins were wide as we loaded our bikes onto the trailer, poured ourselves into the van and began the drive home to bariloche.

cerro carbon, cerro otto, bariloche

starting a ride at mid day may not have been the best idea. The sun was out and beat down mercilessly on us as we began an ascent of cerro carbon 600m (2000 feet). Weaving through small copses’ of white pine trees, the temperature hovered somewhere around 34 celsius (93 Fahrenheit) as we climbed up a dusty dirt road. soon the short, shade tree respites that we had ducked into and out of at the lower elevations, dwindled to nothing but open track and grassy hillsides. nearly two hours later, we crested into a saddle with the path forking up both left and right. To the right a singletrack wound through the grass and hoodoos ever upwards, lifting to a large commanding mesa. on the left, the dirt track continued to rise steeply towards a smaller summit at 1500m(4921 feet). We took the road to the smaller summit and stopped for lunch while enjoying the endless views of the city and lake far below. A long gently sloping ridge unfolded directly below us and wound its way slowly down to the outskirts of town and, nestled on the crest of this treeless grass covered ridge - was the clear outline of a singletrack!

With our mouths full of baguette, sausage and cheese we watched the sharp contrasting shadows of the afternoon sun creep inexorably towards our chosen ridge. “Holy shit, we’re going to miss the light,” yelled gully as we scrambled to our bikes and departed the treeless summit – a place identified only by a large rock cairn and the faded picture of some long lost saint. crashing down the narrow, trenched trail towards the ridge, riding in small groups of two due to the dry dusty conditions, we watched each other lighten the sky with long plumes of smoke jetting effortlessly off our wheels.

Feeling like locals, we headed into town to experience some night life. Things here operated in a very spanish fashion: late din-ners, late nights and what seemed normal to the locals, no sleep at all. We propped our lids open as long as we could having had

“tHe oVeRNiGHt aDVeNtuRe to tHe ReFuGio at tHe baSe oF tHe GLaCieR HaD to be tHe MoSt aDVeNtuRouS 2 DaY tRiP i’Ve eVeR exPeRieNCeD. takeS tHe Cake FoR Me aND i’M SuRe it wiLL HoLD itS PReCeDeNCe FoR a wHiLe to CoMe.” GeoFF GuLeViCH

"It aint mountain biking if you ain't hikin" a local North Shore saying. All good adventures have some form of arduous trekking involved, there is no good descent without a proper ascent.

The Bike Park at Villa Catedral houses some nice jumps, burms and wooden built ramps. Here Wade boosts off of a stunt for a little Argentinean air.

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ARGENTINA, PATAGONIA

Geoff Gulevich leads a Canadian freight train down the front side of Cerro Otto.

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a great time being entertained by a local bike store owner and part time magician Javoo ‘el mago’ Fabris. We packed it in at 2 a.m. just as the real revelry began!

cerro otto, the mini mountain located right in town, has it’s own gondo-la, it’s own ski resort and on the back side, it’s own mini-shuttle zone. Tak-ing a slow morning following our big night out, nobody had any complaints about an easy day of shuttling. before long we would be packing bikes, gear and flying the friendly skies home, so a fun day of short rips was what was called for. The smooth trails bumped and burmed their way down from the top; little jumps were carved into the straights and it was not hard to get into the groove of cerro otto. The frequent rate of high fives doled out told us we were hitting the gold. everyone was stoked! on the front side, a steeper trail carved through an oak forest followed the ridgeline over slabs and into gullies, finally ending in a snappy section of corners buried in brush thicket. such variety in so small an area was a great find and it became quickly apparent why this was the hot local ‘in town’ area.

To our surprise upon arriving in the parking lot, truck after truck pulled up, trailer after trailer loaded with bikes jostled for position keeping a constant stream of riders in motion. Word of our presence had gotten out and a majority of the ridership from town had shown up to gather au-tographs, have pictures taken and meet some of their heroes - the ones usually only seen in magazines.

Although the rocky Team was in Argentina for only a brief stay we made some amazing friends. We all felt that the spirit of Argentina, and the mountain culture of bariloche, would be with each of us for a much longer time. The recreational area around bariloche is undergoing some evolution; they are breaking down the barriers of belief in the impossible! Already they have a bike park and a wealth of beautiful riding zones and, while the snow is still flying at home, I wonder if next spring wouldn’t be too soon to head back and see what progress they have continued to make.

brief history of these lands

until the arrival of the spanish in 1516 this area of the world (south-central chile and southwestern Argentina) was inhabited by an indigenous people called the mapuche. The term mapuche can refer to the whole group of picunches (people of the north), Huilliches (people of the south) and moluche or nguluche from Araucanian, or exclusively to the moluche or nguluche from Araucania. The area of Araucania consists mostly of the lower half or narrow lower part of south America and is now occupied by the republics of chile and Argentina. currently the population of mapuche in Argentina comprises approximately 4% of the population. on July 9, 1816 Argentina was officially declared independent from spain and they became a republic in 1853.

the bike park – villa catedral

The bike park has been in operation for three years (since 2010) and has a number of established trails. They are going through the typical growing pains of a burgeoning mountain biking market. The old guard are happy with the status quo: skiing in the winter and hiking tourism in the summer, while the young guns push to expand the ski operations into another summer Whistler-type, mountain bike park. The mountain has tough dirt to build in. Its loose and sandy much like north star, Tahoe but a dedicated crew of knowledgeable bikers and trail builders are close at hand to help. The vertical is a solid 585 m (1920 feet) so time will tell if the politics will allow this new direction in growth to happen. While bariloche and villa catedral already have a very substantial seasonal business, the rest of the region which houses extensive trails and open spaces has land that is very raw and underdeveloped. Whether the expansion and legalization of mountain biking as a whole can be achieved, perhaps the tipping point may be has-tened by the development of the mountain bike-park as an anchor.

barilochebariloche is known as the tourism capital of Argentina. It has honestly

earned this title because of its amazing landscapes and location inside the national park nahuel Huapi. This wonderful place is located on the shores of the lake which shares the same name, lago nahuel Huapi in the rio negro province. From the Indian word vuriloche, meaning people from the other side of the mountain, it’s name also honours the famous german settler carlos Wiederhold. The city boasts a population of 100, 000 and its architecture very much resembles a swiss or german town.

“tHe RiDiNG iN aRGeNtiNa LiVeD uP to MY exPeCtatioNS! kNowiNG tHat tHe CouNtRY iS VeRY MouNtaiNouS, i waS HoPiNG to Get iNto tHe PeakS aND SaMPLe SoMe HiGH aLPiNe RiDiNG. aRGeNtiNa DeLiVeReD. it HaS aLL aSPeCtS oF GReat RiDiNG”. waDe SiMMoNSARGENTINA, PATAGONIA

Right: A path beaten into a boulder field of jagged rocks shares trail with 2.35" mountain bike tyres not for the first time.

Below: The trails eye view; from rock strewn to packed sand and clay the varying dirt conditions forced rapid rider adjustments. Here we see smooth and buff as the riders play the conditions and the dirt.

Far right: Granulated and irregular - hitting high speeds in scree slopes is a spectacular feeling that Thomas Vanderham puts into motion as he literally carves into the terrain.

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“i waS bLowN awaY bY tHe DiVeRSe RiDiNG teRRaiN iN aRGeNtiNa. You wouLDN’t ReaLLY iMaGiNe tHat a PLaCe

So FaR awaY wouLD HaVe CoMPaRabLe RiDiNG to HoMe. it waS iNCReDibLe”. GeoFF GuLeViCH

travel faq’sno visa required

Travel to Argentina is through beunos Aires, the Argentinean capital. From most us airports the average cost is $1,400.00

us dollars are accepted most everywhere while the Argentinean peso currently trades at 4.41 to 1.

bikes and Gear

An All-mountain bike is recommended. This allows for a greater variety of terrain to be explored from bike parks to big mountain climbs, rock gardens and rough descents. All can then be comfortably handled. We chose to use rocky mountain slayers with approximately six inches of travel and corresponding forks.

speeds on average were pretty high but led into some technical areas putting a big emphasis on suspension and brakes.

The dry dusty desert-like conditions and frequent water crossings require copious lube and good rider spacing.

Tires in the larger 2.35 size are recommended as the descents are rough and rutted with occasional rock gardens and thorns; tubeless or liquid latex is also a good idea.

knee pads are suggested as the mountainous terrain is both remote and aggressive.

do bring extra tubes, brake pads, specific hangers and other assorted spare parts as bike stores are available but they have limited stock.

Temperatures vary from hot to chilly, as with any desert these extremes swing quickly in the mornings and evenings.

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