Claudio Andrade
02/09/2020 - 17:03
Clarín.com
Society
The scene where businessman Carlos Agustía Cripi (39) was trapped by an avalanche on Tuesday afternoon is internationally known as the main "alternative center" for skiing in South America.
It is located 80 kilometers south of Bariloche.
Baguales (wild animal) is promoted as a high-end experience accessible to high-income people.
Those who wish to spend the day enjoying their programs and their geography must pay between USD 500 and USD1000 per day.
Access is limited to 4x4s
that must also cross the Villegas River to reach a lodge where visitors find their first rest.
The center is owned by the Qatari millionaire Abdulhadi Mana Al-Hajri who acquired between 2017 and 2018 around 15 thousand hectares from the
Río Villegas company
, located in the foothills for a millionaire figure that never transcended.
The visible face of the tourism project is the former tennis player Gastón Gaudio.
Gaudio has been in Bariloche since the first week of July with his partner Helena Eyerza.
The former athlete and the young woman traveled on a private flight to the city covered by work certificates, according to reports.
Skiing with deer in the Los Baguales area, Río Negro
The center has two programs:
"Catskiin and Ski de Travesía"
.
The CAT is a tracked vehicle that allows skiers to be transported up to the high mountain areas.
It has benefits over the helicopter since it can work with any weather front, professionals in the field explain to Clarín.
The administrators emphasize that they have two German 300 Kassböhrer Pistenbully units as means of transport.
The CAT has a capacity of 12 passengers.
As a rule
the seats are divided into 10 athletes and 2 guides.
In 2019 the cost of the program for the day reached USD 500. Baguales also offers a variety of accommodation options in its 5 accommodations (one lodge and four high-rise shelters) with full board, at values of around USD 1000 per day per person. .
Its maximum capacity is 30 tourists.
The accommodations are austere, built in wood, but warm and very comfortable.
They are built in key areas with privileged views.
The lodge is located at 1000 meters high, while the La Mesada refuge is at 1700 meters high.
Last year the Qatari millionaire was in the area to see his new acquisition.
According to the account in the city, he arrived with an important delegation in a private plane at the Bariloche airport.
Tourists who hire their services come from Argentina, Europe, the United States and especially Canada.
These are people who seek extreme moments in wild spaces and in which there are no masses of tourists.
In other words, the increasingly rare combination of nature and exclusivity that few can afford to pay for.
In summer Baguales offers trekking and horseback riding programs, and in winter skiing practically alone on the slopes of the mountains.
As the groups are generally made up of businessmen, successful professionals, and broad-based millionaires, the place has a satellite telephone communications system, VHF with its own repeater, and all-terrain vehicles that allow them to evacuate any emergency in a matter of minutes.
The center is also used to make advertising shorts, films, among other multimedia productions.
For instance, in October 2016 the Peugeot 2008 THP was presented there.
GS
