BARILOCHE 2018 – WEEK 2
Week 2 in Bariloche – Hero Snow, Tango lessons and some more celebrations!
The Peak Leaders team in Bariloche have settled into the Argentinian way and are loving the culture over here. They have another action-packed week of training, some free skiing and then some après ski activities with more Spanish lessons, fitness training, and even Tango lessons this week. Plus we have had extra celebrations with two birthdays in the team so there’s been lots going on …
The snow up top has been epic – the slopes are quiet and the weather has been sunny every day with amazing groomed hero runs. Certainly, the perfect conditions for training to become a ski instructor!
The Peak Leaders team are training in two small groups to really maximise their skiing progress over the course to give them the best chance possible to pass their BASI exams. Our guest coach for the first half of the training bloc has been Justy – a local legend and Argentinian (ADDIDES) examiner! Justy and Jake, our Peak Leaders couch from Verbier, put both groups through their paces working hard on piste perfecting short turns and carving.
A Peak Leaders course requires maximum effort from all the trainees and this week the concentration and focus from both groups was amazing … with their eye on the prize! The team had loads of energy on the Wednesday as they can see the weekend in sight … even Agatha who just makes it off the ground!
A vital part of skiing is keeping your equipment well-tuned, sharp and ready to rip the piste. The Peak Leaders learn how to service and look after their skis early in the course so that they can keep their edges and bases in great condition to maximise their performance. In skiing you really can blame your poor runs on badly tuned equipment! Not the Peak Leaders team though … here Ivan shows us how it’s done by the ex-Olympian himself!
Friday was Callum’s 23rd birthday so we all headed out to Alberto’s – one of the most famous steak houses in Baroliche! There were a lot of different unbelievable meat options on the menu but fortunately Justy came accompanied us and used his local knowledge to order an excellent array of steaks. They were all amazing!
Each Saturday, on the chef’s night off, we have a “Come Dine With Me’ Inspired evening, where a small team has to cook a meal for everyone and they’re given marks by the rest of the team. This week is was Callum, Agatha and Bonnie’s chance to impress – they smashed it out of the park and scored very high marks. As well as great food they also provided wine, champagne and birthday cake for the second birthday of the week – Jake our Mentor and Coach, who is a little older than Callum! It was a brilliant evening pulling out all the stops for their shot at the Trophy!
On Sunday we went all-out Argentina style and took a Tango lesson … the whole team headed into Bariloche to give it their best shot. The dance coaches gave us a brief history of the dance, demonstrated some amazing moves and then invited us all to have a go at some simpler ones. Emily had obviously done this before secretly … as she was smashing the moves out!
The day was topped off back at the Refugio with another awesome Asado (Argentinean BBQ) by the lake … warning – you may feel hungry by this photo!
With two weeks of the course down, and only two weeks to go until the BASI examiners arrive … it’s time to knuckle down, train hard on the mountain, with a bit more sampling of the amazing Argentinean culture!
