Last days in the Fly Park
The final freestyle jam session of the 2008 South American ski season was held in La Hoya recently from October 10th to 13th.
La Hoya’s terrain park ‘Fly park’ is Argentina’s finest freestyle arena, maintained by Nico Lopez. Thanks to his passion and determination Fly park is known as one of the best places to practice freestyle in the Southern Hemisphere.
Nico’s artistic design has given his park a very industrial feel. A ruined car sprayed with graffiti is parked at the foot of three epic kickers and 15 rails. The rusty car wreck, a rare sight within the snow, sits in front of a dramatic view of the town Esquel, an unusual gateway for a ski resort. Situated in Patagonia and in the Chubut mountains, Esquel unlike most ski mountain towns has little signs of tourism. Instead Esquel exemplifies the look and lifestyle of an average Argentinean town. The architecture is modest, concrete buildings align dusty streets organised in a grid system that shows little sign that La Hoya lies a mere 13km away.
The great spring conditions of La Hoya made it an ideal place to hold the seasons 5th freestyle jam event which attracted Argentina’s most prominent riders. Mariano Gibert, Santiago Gamen, Hugo Mena, Jaun Martin Pugliese, Joaco Bosch and Jose Gutierrez Arana, who ride for the Argentine brand Duke, congregated for the jam along with more of Argentina’s finest snow talents including Nico Fuentes and Santiago Guzman.
The grey and brown hues of the resort’s rocks coupled with moody, stormy skies created an edgy atmosphere in the mountain. The sounds of skis and snowboards clanging against parks obstacles was intense and as riders launched themselves at the metal the air had a hardcore, anarchistic feel. Cheers and techno music added to the mix and the closing moments of the South American season had a true sense of the wild and free, enjoyed by all and celebrated well into the night after the terrain park closed along with the resort until next year.
The after party in Esquel in a bar decorated with more car wrecks marked the beginning of spring, to be enjoyed for a short time by all the skiers and snowboarders before they migrate to the Northern Hemisphere for the forthcoming season.
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