Main Winter Resort. Catedral.

Its peaks resemble the towers of a Gothic style medieval temple. That is the reason for its name. Mount Catedral (cathedral), located 19 kilometers from the City of San Carlos de Bariloche, opens its doors to the inhabitants of the world who wish to experiment the adventure promised by winter sports.

At 1030 meters over sea level, Catedral seems to try to join the ground and the sky. A pioneer among South American ski resorts, at present, it is the most complete and it continues updating its facilities in order to offer visitors the most advanced infrastructure. From this season on, the unification of its sectors will offer 600 hectares of skiable surface divided into 53 well-signaled runs of various difficulties, which reach 2.000 meters over sea level.

All skiing disciplines, including off-piste, are available. Those who practice freestyle and snowboarding will also enjoy an area specially designed with bumps and rails to show their abilities. Catedral is also the stage for the most important international competitions.

The updating program, applied to its 39 lifts, will allow the total lift capacity of the mountain to be increased by 70%. Likewise, access will be controlled by a system of hands-free passes which works through radio frequency. Therefore, it will not be necessary to show the pass in order to get on the lifts, as it may be detected even if it is inside a pocket or a backpack.

Furthermore, Catedral has a modern snow-making system which creates real flakes that cover a skiable surface of about 10 hectares.

How to Get There: From Bariloche, Scénic advises that you leave along Bustillo Avenue up to the 8th kilometer (Catedral crossing). Then, turn left into the paved road till you reach the ski resort access, with its free parking space for 960 vehicles. There is also a regular bus service every 30 minutes. You can also go up by taxi or on a tourist excursion transfer vehicle.

Season: from June 18 to October 10, divided into high, low and mid season.

Timetable: from 9am to 5pm.

Activities: Alpine, Nordic, randonée and off-piste skiing, snowboarding, sleds, paragliding, hiking, mountaineering, mountain biking .

Services: refuges, first-class restaurants, lockers, garment and souvenir stores, photo development, medical service at the base, public phones and access to the Internet at the base and at the 1,600 station, ski rental, large parking space, information center, kids nursery, ski school, shopping mall, discos, transfers to the mountain, press room, quad vehicles and snow cats.

The 2005 season continues with the modernization plan to enhance the services provided by the winter resort and its infrastructure. Six more new lifts will be inaugurated, thus making a total of 39 runs available for all levels.

Another piece of news is the fabrication of snow in an 8000-m2 surface in the plaza Oertle area.

Furthermore, the La Roca post will be opened, located on the upper station of the new gondola, where the Nirvana post used to stand.

Among other infrastructure innovations, a new snow groomer will be added for the effective maintenance of the runs.

More lifts are being incorporated this winter at Catedral 2005, so that everybody may enjoy a record season. The new “Amancay” gondola, which can seat 4 people and transport 2000 passengers per hour, has been inaugurated.

As a result of this new lift, visitors can get from the base at 1,770 m.a.s.l. in only 10 minutes, to the lower Teleski 2000 station.

Once the trip is over, the La Roca stop and another new lift -the Triple Diente de Caballo chairlift may be appreciated.