The upscale resort town in Argentina’s Andes, popular with jet-setters for nearby skiing and jaw-dropping scenery, is distraught digging out of a thick blanket of volcanic ash and facing an uncertain future.

Chile’s nearby Puyehue volcano, which on June 4 burst into eruption after decades of silence, disrupting air traffic in South America, Australia and New Zealand.

It also turned the lush green local landscape – where the heavy snow has yet to begin – and its crystal blue lakes, into 100 shades of gray.

It is not yet known how serious the effects will be on lake fish, river fish and the local environment more broadly. If the effects turn out to be lasting it could rock the largely tourism based local economy.

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