FREERIDING IN THE ANDES: LUCAS AT THE SEB MICHAUD INVITATIONAL
Deep powder and blue sky. 2.200 metres above sea level. Just in the middle of nowhere. You might wanna rent a donkey to get there – or at least a snowmobile.
The Seb Michaud Invitational Freeride Camp in Valle Hermoso in the Andes is the real highlight for 12 of the best freeriders in the world. An exclusive – invitation only – unique journey, featuring freeride Pros like Jérémy Heitz (CH), Richard Permin (FRA) and our Team Rider Lucas Swieykowski. For the third time, Seb Michaud invited freeskiers from around the world to this unique camp. Ten days of hiking and freeriding at untouched mountainsides – a perfect preparation for the upcoming Freeride season.
This year, the event took place at a very special place: Renowned for its high mountain massifs, Valle Hermoso is a mecca for freeriding in the southern hemisphere. The vastness of the Andes offers perfect conditions to ride the best lines…
After joining the 10-days-event, Lucas is now back to Argentinian civilization from his exciting trip and took his time to give us his personal and exclusive insights. Read more about his unique experiences in the Andes and check out Lucas’ pics, showing some impressions from this years camp:
“Arrival at Los MollesThis year I was lucky to be invited to the Seb Michaud Invitational, an event that has been happening for the 3rd year in a row, in different places of South America. This year it took place at Valle Hermoso, Mendoza, Argentina, and we were very lucky to have lots of snow during the two weeks we spent there.
I arrived at Los Molles after a 12-hour drive to find the whole crew and enjoy a nice dinner. I knew some of the people attending but there were also many new faces. We all had a good rest until our journey began early next morning. After putting all the gear together we departed and after a long day of hiking and being pulled by the snowmobiles we got to the camp.
Our camp in the Andes
The camp wasn’t exactly luxurious, but not as bad as we were expecting either. The idea was to sleep in tents, but we were able to find a summer cabin next to a lake which made everything much easier for the whole team. The food was prepared by two argentines, Veronica and Damian, who made delicious food the whole time we were there. We even had two asados (Argentinian style barbecue) under the snow, so we can´t complain.
Amazing conditions: fresh powder with blue sky
We were out there camping for ten days, and had amazing conditions. It snowed a total of almost 70 cm of fresh snow, making each run unique! This is an area that usually has a lot of wind, but we were lucky to have no wind those days, so we skied fresh powder with blue sky – very special. Even the days with bad weather conditions were very interesting, since we’ve always had tasks to do, like building a bridge to cross a river with our snowmobiles in order to ski new faces the following days.
The Frenchmen Serge Cornillat and Vitelli organized the whole trip for us. They had been in Valle Hermoso with their Snowmobiles several times before so it was easy for them to find the best skiing options. We were able to reach all the terrain without using our skins, thanks to their Snowmobiling skills. So we had no problems going from one place to another.
After ten days of great fun and adventure we went to San Rafael, where a nice party was waiting for us. We all had a great night, partying until the early morning. I cannot give you further insights regarding the party… We simply had a good time!!
The following day we did a little sightseeing in San Rafael combined with a huge asado they made for us. Sadly the end was coming fast. Everyone was tired but we all get to keep great memories from this crazy adventure we were a part of.
My long trip back home
My trip back home was not as I expected. We had a little car trouble driving back home, so instead of taking 12 hours as it should have, it took us 36 hours. Luckily I was with a Frenchman, Mati Imbert, who joined me for the drive, and we were able to enjoy and have a good time despite all the trouble.
Just to summarize, it was a really nice experience and I enjoyed it a lot. I really learned a lot from this trip and hopefully more of these adventures will come in the near future.”
More information coming soon – Lucas is still preparing for the upcoming freeriding season in Argentina. We’ll keep you posted!
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