The ski resorts in Chile operate from mid-June into October, with the best powder conditions in July to mid September. Chile has recently been praised as one of the greatest places to ski on the planet.
Snow Magazine ran an article where well known American ski instructor, Greg Harms, was quoted "If I had to pick only one place in the world to ski, I would pick Chile. I would give up skiing in North America for that."
Other reviews of Chile ski resorts have been recently featured in
Ski Magazine.
There are more than 15 Chile ski resorts dotting the mighty Andes Mountain range stretching from just north of the capital city of Santiago all the way south, deep into Patagonia. While
Ski Portillo,
Valle Nevado, and
Termas de Chillan are the most well known Chile ski areas, there are many others worth visiting this summer. Check out this
Ski Chile Video.
The Best Ski Resorts in Chile
Most skiers and snowboarders think of Portillo as the
Best ski resort in Chili. Portillo receives plenty of media attention and should certainly be on your skiing or snowboarding "bucket list". However with great skiing to be found throughout the country, why just visit one ski area in Chile?
The "3 Valles" combines Valle Nevado,
La Parva, and El Colorado ski resort. These ski areas offer amazing in-bounds skiing and snowboarding and a great access gate to backcountry exploring. You can be skiing these resorts by noon on the day of your arrival to Santiago!
Looking for something more unique? Don't miss the remote adventure cat skiing of
El Arpa. Chile's first cat ski operation.
Further south are the majestic snow-covered volcanoes and hot springs. Termas de Chllan is the most well known with amazing terrain, old growth forest, and thermal pools. To get further away from the crowds, be sure to visit Corralco, Las Araucaria, Pucon and Antillanca ski resorts. All at the bases of stunning volcanoes surrounded by monkey puzzle old growth forests.
Snow skiing in Chile cant be missed!
Getting to Chile
Flights into
Santiago, Chile arrive daily from North America, Europe, Australia and South Africa. Several of the ski resorts in Chile are close enough to the airport where you can be skiing by lunch! Since 1999, PowderQuest has been offering both guided snow tours for intermediate, advanced and experts, and non-guided ski vacation packages for groups, families, and single travelers.