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Donations sought for Argentian mountaineering club

Fernando Shamah is looking for used backcountry ski gear for mountaineering club in Argentinian Andes
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Fernando Shammah. ~ Photo by Alex Cooper, Revelstoke Review

When Fernando Shammah was growing up in Buenos Aires, he and his family would drive 17 hours to go skiing in Las Lenas — the closest resort to the city.

That’s where he first learned about ski touring, but the dream of taking part was out of reach.

“As a kid I used to talk to foreigners and they showed me their one line ski day, going up and ski touring,” he said. “That was at 16. When I was 33 I managed to buy my first touring set up.”

Shammah is now training to be a guide and he spent last winter in Revelstoke ski touring.

He is returning to Argentina shortly and one of his goals is to help support the local mountaineering club in his home of El Bolson, a small city in the Patagonian Andes.

“There’s regions in the south in Patagonia where they don’t have money,” he said. “They just want to have gear so people who want to try the sport, they can just do it.”

The club is called Club Andino Piltriquitron and their goal is to have 10 sets of touring gear, including skis, bindings, boots and avalanche safety equipment, available for locals. They also provide avalanche awareness courses.

Shammah is hoping people in Revelstoke can donate their old equipment to the club. They are looking for beacons, probes, shovels, packs, skins and non-tech touring bindings.

If you have something you can donate, contact Shammah at fernando@eladventurer.com.

“The best thing would be if people when they travel could leave something because I can only take so much,” he said.