Chile

Take a ski vacation in Chile in the middle of your summer. The skiing season runs from June to October and the lovely resorts nestling in the Andes make a perfect getaway from the heat. Most hotels offer excellent weekly packages that are very reasonable, and the warm, friendly people will make you feel instantly at home.

Portillo, Chile, located about 100 km north/northeast of Santiago, is South America’s premier snow ski resort. The spectacular Andes surround this exclusive little resort. Excellent skiing conditions, abundant snowfall and no queues for lifts makes Portillo one of the premier ski vacation resorts in South America. Portillo has been delighting skiers for over sixty years with its first chairlift built in 1946! Both skiing and snowboarding are popular here with 80% of the trails being groomed daily, while the more difficult terrain is left untouched as natural snow pack. Experts will delight in the challenges the steep terrain offers. The Roca Jack and Condor runs are so steep they require a special, one-of-its-kind lift. Night skiing is also a popular activity here.

A ski vacation in Valle Nevado in South America rivals one in the Alps! Just sixty kilometers form Santiago, this lovely resort in Chile is the largest ski area in South America at twenty-two thousand acres. It has over a 100 km of trails and forty-one ski lifts. The widely varying terrain is suitable for everyone from beginners to experts. The orientation of the resort ensures abundant snow and sunshine. Snowboarding is very popular with a half pipe run that has been the location of Snowboard World Cup competitions. There are facilities for heli-skiing and heli-boarding from an elevation of almost fifteen thousand feet! Night skiing is permitted here. There is wide range of accommodation to suit every taste and budget.

It is possible to take a ski vacation package of a fortnight and ski at several of Chile’s ski resorts including Portillo, Valle Nevado, Termas de Chillan and Pucon-Villarrica. This presents a wonderful opportunity to see different cities in the country and to ski under different conditions. Delight in South American cuisine and culture while you have a ski vacation of a lifetime.

Chile Resorts: