Why should you ski or snowboard at Cerro Catedral in Patagonia? Well, we can offer 5 Reasons!

But first, Cerro Catedral is the largest ski and snowboard resort in South America. There are accommodations, restaurants and shops at the base of the mountain. The city of Bariloche, twenty minutes away by car, is full of hotels, hostels, restaurants and shops. We were lucky to have snow at the base of the mountain. We learned that this is not usually the case, and for much of the ski season during the past ten years, skiers and snowboarders have had to take the chairlift up the mountain to the snow line.

Unfortunately, this year (2020), although Cerro Catedral has had snow at the base of the mountain for the whole season, few people have been able to enjoy it due to COVID-19. We hope everything will be back to normal next year.

REASON # 1: THE SKIING AND SNOWBOARDING.

Cerro Catedral is in the Andes, so the terrain is incredible. You can ski or snowboard above the tree-line or below it. Whether you are a beginner or expert, you can find suitable slopes.

REASON # 2: BURTON CATEDRAL.

We bought clothing at what may be the coolest ski /snowboard store ever - Burton Catedral. We liked everything in the store. In a normal store, there is usually a lot of clothing that you do not like. For us, that was not the case at Burton Catedral! The name of the owner is Herbert, and we think everything that he has chosen to sell in the store is great. He is also energetic and very friendly. Best ski / snowboard store anywhere!

REASON # 3: THE EMPANADAS.

Our favorite empanadas in Argentina were from Cerro Catedral. Specifically, the empanadas at Punta Princesa, which is on the mountain. Our ranking of empanadas during our trip to Argentina is below:

Best Overall Empanada: Punta Princesa, on the mountain at Cerro Catedral. These were chicken empanadas.

Beef Empanada Rankings:

1) Minga - Palermo, Buenos Aires. Perfect, in our view. Well-seasoned, and juicy. We ate multiple orders even though we were not that hungry.

2) Nonino Empanadas - San Martin de los Andes. This sit-down restaurant had the best variety of empanadas that we saw, though we did not like chicken empanada at all.

3) Don Julio - Palermo, Buenos Aires. These empanadas were delicious and contained sauce, which we did not see among the other empanadas that we tried.

4) Galeria Del Sol (ground floor) - Bariloche. Unfortunately, we do not remember the name of the vendor in the food court, but the empanadas were fresh and very tasty. The best we found in the town of Bariloche.

5) Las 10 Empanadas - Bariloche. These seemed promising, as they only make empanadas, but the empanadas did not have as much flavor as we would have liked. They were also a but dry.

6) El Filo Cafe-Bar - Cerro Cetedral, base of the mountain food court/shopping mall. These empanadas tasted like plain ground beef in a bread blanket. Looked like it too.

REASON # 4: THE VIEWS.

We found the views at Cerro Catedral difficult to beat. Everywhere we looked, we saw lakes or dramatic, jagged snow covered mountains. Add clouds and the sunset, and each day was unique.

REASON # 5: FRIENDLY ARGENTINIANS.

In our experience, we found the Argentinians we met to be extremely friendly and warm. Whether we were on a chairlift, in a restaurant, or in a store, the people were absolutely charming. And the same is true of the Brazilians - there were many Brazilians at Catedral!

INSTA360 ONE X SHOTS:

0:00
0:08
0:09
0:14
1:43
2:00
2:07
2:16
5:44