Here in the Argentine

Just a quick post, no pictures yet (at an internet cafe with slow access).

Anyways, my friends Blake, Forest, and I have arrived in Argentina after two days of uneventful travelling. We flew out of Denver on Saturday morning, enjoyed a brief layover in steamy Miami, and then a luxurious overnight flight to Buenos Aires. That flight, on Argentinian carrier LAN, was definitely a highlight: it was only three quarters full, so we each had an etire row to ourselves, and they served hot meals and free wine!

We had an entire day in BA, but unfortunately had to make our way across town from the international airport to the domestic one with all of our heavy bags. Once at the domestic airport, we were too early to check our bags, so were pretty much stuck there. We did take turns watching the bags, though, and had a chance to walk out and explore the town. Being a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, tons of locals were out enjoying the day. They were fishing into the ocean, playing soccer in parks, selling choripan, and generally being social.

Im really impressed with Argentina so far; its clean and temperate, theres tons of trees, and the population is active and friendly. I cant seem to find the apostrophe button on their keyboards, though...

Yesterday evening, a short flight took us southwest to Bariloche, in Northern Patagonia. We were picked up by a friend, who also provided a place to store most of our luggage, and we finally were free to roam with just our backpacks. So afternoon a fun evening exploring town, we camped out on the shore of the huge lake, and now were here in town the following morning, about to go buy groceries and hike up into the Frey!

Hasta Luego!

Leaving some loose ends...

I was lucky enough this week to enjoy some gorgeous sunny weather (typical Colorado January) with some awesome and motivated friends (typical Colorado folks).

I was not lucky enough to tie off two loose ends: the Evictor, and the Vasodilator.

Both are killer stretches of rock climbing, both are very difficult, and both kicked my butt this week. But we got some cool pictures:

Me on the Evictor (12d, not R!)

Images © Ryan Day Thompson, 2011 | ryandaythompson.com | ryandaylandscapes.com

Me on Vasodilator (13a)

Photos by Rob Kepley

como se dice "STOKED"!

-or-

Granite crack climbing in 14 easy steps

2011 is here, and I'm ready for some adventure. In case you're wondering what my plans are for the new year, check here.

So as training for the upcoming excursión a Patagonia, mi amigo Blake and I headed down to Colorado's own outdoor granite crack gym, the South Platte. Attempting to maximize daylight and mileage, we worked our way down the Cathedral Spires ridge, hitting up some of the most classic pitches in the Platte. Here's how it went down:

Cathedral Spires Day from Scott Bennett on Vimeo.

------------------------------

the sharp-eyed with of course note that, in the "Mississippi Half Step" segment, we changed t-shirts for the far-off photos. Actually, the photos are from a few months back when our friend Garrett Grove paid a visit and joined us for a Tour de Platte. Thanks Garrett!