Pro snowboarder and Roark Revivalist, Alex Andrews, aka “Froth Puppy” on his favorite moments in Argentina
By: Beau Flemister
Plug “froth” or “stoke” or “psyched” into a Google Search and the mug of the perpetually positive pro snowboarder from Utah, Alex Andrews, should pop up. With a smile that no hail storm could scrub off his face, the “Froth God” reminisces about the recent trip to Patagonia.
Alex Andrews: “It might sound cliche, but this was one of the best trips of my life. When we arrived in Bariloche, I honestly felt at home and couldn’t wait to take on the adventure with the Roark family. We started by riding horseback for 3 days into the mountains camping out, drinking whiskey, talking shit and taking in the beautiful scenery. The landscape was unreal with a mixture of light snow, sun, and rain. We ended up at a bare-bones hut in the mountains where we cooked a goat over a fire. Jeff Johnson told us out of this world stories: homie has seen and done some insane shit. His stories are more entertaining than anything I’ve ever encountered. This is all accompanied by some vino, amazing food, and a warm fire, by the way.”
“One of the days we decided to build a DIY sauna next to the river and found a tarp to use as the shelter. It was a rad little project to keep us busy and warm. We made our way back to a beautiful ranch that we were able to call home base, and had an unreal couple of days fly fishing, skating, climbing and experiencing the culture of Argentina. During the tail end of our trip we did a 10-mile hike with all of our camping gear and split board gear into the mountains of Patagonia to a place called the Frey hut. The hut sits right at the base of a breathtaking mountain range. This was a dream come true since the part of snowboarding I love most is the adventure aspect of just being in the mountains. The hike started under a hot spring sun followed by beautiful lush forest which eventually turned into high alpine rugged mountains covered with snow. The mountains there are like nothing I’ve ever seen: big spires with steep chutes that all funnel into a lake bed. It’s a split boarder’s paradise.”
“We were actually there in late spring, so conditions are a bit different that time of year, slushier glacier snow and warmer temps, but still so fun and good for touring around the mountains. Patagonia is intimidating in the sense that the mountains have so much power to them, they are so big and rugged with steep couloirs and epic features speckled all over the mountains. It definitely puts you in your place a bit and reminds you to treat them with respect!”
“One of my favorite things I got to witness, though, was Parker Coffin, who lives at the beach, completely out of his element. It was awesome to see him so hyped on the experience and how different it was from his usual waterman’s day to day. He absolutely crushed it!”
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