If you love skiing and it is the month of July in the Northern Hemisphere, then it is time to go to the infamous Andes Mountains in South America. June to October is the best time for skiing south of the border.
Both Argentina and Chile are really good locations, with the resorts catering to wintertime activities and serving their guests in many wonderful ways.
There are more than 25 ski resorts located in South America. Some are multi-million dollar accommodations while others are smaller, more rustic-type accommodations. Landing in Santiago from anywhere in the world places you close to several ski areas and various mountain resorts.
The Chilean Ski Resorts:
• Nevados de Chillan sits near the village of Las Trancas in south-central Chile. This mountain resort is found at the base of the Volcano Chillan which is currently an active volcano that provides hot spring experiences to the vacationer that come here to play and relax.
This particular resort is five hours from Santiago but can be reached by car, train or plane. The snow is many feet deep and always provides the best of skiing experiences.
• The Portillo Ski Resort is located close to the city of Los Andes and is likely the best-known resort in all of Chile. With over 80 feet of snow in a season, it is truly a great place to ski, explore the back woods areas, snowboard or possibly dive directly via heli-skiing right from the door of ‘ski-in ski-out’ lodging, possibly 12,000 or more feet up and high into the Andes.
Inca Lodge near Inca Lake and Octagon Lodge are available to accommodate the many visitors’ needs for lodging.
The Resorts of Argentina:
• Skiing and snowboarding can both be done right there at the Chapelco Resort near the town of San Martin de Los Andes. This sits squarely in the famous Lake District of Argentina. With a hundred feet of snow every year in this region, conditions for skiing and snowboarding are ideal.
The powder looks and feels like silk as the sun glistens off the surface of the newly fallen snow. The Resort offers 31 runs with 40% of them designated for beginners.
• Resort Catedral Alta Patagonia sits near Bariloche, Argentina and is a beautiful European style resort that opened its doors to the public in 1938. The powdery slopes, continuous snow depths, good accommodations, experienced guides and just the Andes themselves make this one of the world’s best sites for many thousands of skiers each year.
Many slopes throughout South America represent both a challenge and a comfort to most who ‘take them on’ every year. The opportunity to ski or snowboard or just explore the slopes and the back country repeatedly draw thousands of wintertime visitors to South America for some of the best skiing in the world.
As time passes and word spreads, the Andes are considered by some to be the best challenge there is. Beautiful accommodations, South American food, hot spring spas and the thought of relaxation also bring people back to this region.
Isaac writes on for St Martins Chalets a business based in the St Martins, Austria specialising in Holidays to Austria, St Martins are a great choice for a ski holiday in Austria at a beautiful eco lodge in the heart of the Austrian Alpes.
Nice Isaac, always good to see South America getting more exposure online. It truly is a must do on any skiers bucket list. One Argentina ski resort not mentioned in Isaac’s article is Las Lenas.
As far as terrain, it might be the best ski area in South America. It often gets ranked as one of the best places to ski in the world, especially for experts looking for steep, lift accessed off-piste terrain.