Luli has been teaching with us in Verbier for several years now. Originally from Argentina, she also has an Italian passport. She speaks Spanish as her first language, as well as English, French and Portuguese. She is happy in the park and is also a freeride competitor in winter then enjoys taking to the waves for a surf in summer.
At the moment Luli is in Indonesia on a 5 week trip, travelling around mostly by motorbike and staying in remote parts of the country to surf and explore. She stops wherever she finds something interesting and gets to meet the local people, buying gas and food from their Warungs (these are little family run cafés by the side of the road). The food is mostly rice, chicken and vegetable based.
She has been most impressed by the way that everyone lives together in harmony in Bali Island, and how the people smile at any situation.
In a remote area where surfing is all you can do (sleep, surf, eat), Luli has been amazed by the Balinese culture, and went to a typical religious dance show where they were using masks and colourful clothing, making moves which imitate dragons and good and evil characters.
The surfing is perfect, mainly point breaks, which means the wave starts pretty much always at the same spot, making it easy to get back to the peak without getting washed out. The only drawback is that it is reef underneath so you have to be very careful when falling and avoid surfing when it is low tide and shallow.
In Bali she is visiting Canggu, Bukit and Ubud. Canggu is a black sand beach well known for surfing. It is surrounded by rice fields and has a gypsy market as well as a temple where you can worship the Balinese sea gods.
Bukit peninsula is known for its cheeky monkeys guarding the temple, and Ubud is in the mountains, in a region known for its crafts and woodcarving.
She is also visiting Sumbawa island, which is a large volcanic island to the East of Bali and Lombok, famous for its waves, sandy beaches and wild terrain. It also has spectacular coral reefs.
The Nusa islands are also a destination; 3 quiet islands near Bali visited for surfing, diving and trekking. Here they also have seaweed farms, and you can visit the mangrove forests.
With 5 weeks to travel, she has plenty of time to slow down and explore. In Luli’s own words: “This is my first time in Indonesia, but not my last!”
After finishing her trip in Indonesia, Luli will be moving back to Verbier for some more summer time, then on to Esquel, just near the ski resort of La Hoya in Argentina.
Esquel is Luli’s home town, and it is a small city, pretty quiet with great surroundings. It is in the south of Argentina, in Patagonia and there is a beautiful national park 20km away, Parque Nacional Los Alerces, which is great for camping, hiking, rafting and fly fishing.
Luli will then work at a ski camp in La Hoya later in the summer. La Hoya has great off piste and the only drawback is that it can be windy at times.
Many of our ski instructors head south for winter, chasing the snow all year round. As our European ski resorts wrap up for winter the snow cannons start blowing in places like Argentina, Chile, Australia and New Zealand. If you would like to find out more have a read of our Skiing Down Under blog.