South America 2026

[ChrisC]

I am still coming to terms with everything not going to plan for Winter 2025-26.

Might to try to add something over the summer.

NZ (and Australia) must wait until July, and/or 100 cm+ snow bases, before it's worth booking.

However, Southern Chile might be worth considering. It likely gets the most reliable snowfall in the Southern Hemisphere (300"/year?):

• Corralco,
• Nevados de Chillán, and
• Pillán
• Bonus at 3 Vallees (El Colorado is getting integrated into Valle Nevado and La Parva) or Ski Arpa Snowcat

This inspiration stems from last year's reports/trips to Nevados de Chillán - especially when everywhere else in South America was dreadful.

Looks like an interesting itinerary with downtime buffer for volcano storms:

Chile Ski & Road Trip 2026 | South American Group Powder Adventure with PeakHouse — PeakRankings

www.peakrankings.com

 

[Skieric]

El Colorado is getting integrated into Valle Nevado and La Parva

I hadn’t heard about this. What have you come across regarding this merger? 1 pass?

 

[ChrisC]

I hadn’t heard about this. What have you come across regarding this merger? 1 pass?

IDK. Maybe I was not reading carefully. Skimmed some improvements...looks like it's still Valle-Parva...

However, El Colorado is rather disappointing terrain-wise except for its backside. And if you can read a map, you can access some of its better terrain, but crossing back and forth from Valle Nevado and using its lift system.

Nothing on the websites of Valle Nevado/La Parva about joint lift tickets - who knows? They have all been separate since inception in the 1980s, why rush into things...

MCP Announces Intent | MCP

Discover how Mountain Capital Partners is investing over $15 million in resort upgrades for the 2025/2026 season—plus record-breaking milestones, extended operations into May, and what’s new with the Power Pass.

www.mcp.ski

Mountain Capital Partners to Acquire 4 More Ski Areas in Chile, Including El Colorado

Transaction would make MCP the largest U.S.-based operator of ski areas outside of North America, set stage for largest ski resort in western and southern hemisphere

www.stormskiing.com

Valle Nevado and La Parva, Chile, are slated for more than $17.5 million in upgrades that include lift modernizations and continued snowmaking expansion as well as the addition of 39 new Aconcagua Ski Residences, a luxury apartment offering with hotel-style service.

Lift upgrades at Valle Nevado include a new drive and electronics on the Valle Gondola, new control upgrades on the Andes lift, and a new drive and controls on the Prado lift. At La Parva, lift modernizations include a full motor rebuild for primary and auxiliary motors for the Tortolas lift, new haul ropes for the Alpha and Vegas lifts, and a new electronics interface for the Aguilas lift.

 

[MarzNC]

TGR had an article about what to expect at Valle Nevado in 2026. No mention of El Colorado.

March 2026

Valle Nevado Unveils 2026 Opening Date and Major Upgrades

Valle Nevado 2026 opening is set for June 14. Explore exciting improvements planned for an amazing ski season ahead.

www.tetongravity.com

" . . .

Unlocking the Tres Valles Interconnect​

The integration with neighboring La Parva is reaching a new level this season. For the first time, guests at Valle Nevado hotels or Aconcagua Residences can ride both mountains on one ticket. This creates one of the Southern Hemisphere’s largest lift-served areas, with over 4,000 acres, 87 trails, and 30 lifts. It’s a variety of terrain that allows riders to follow the sun across the ridgelines of the central Andes.
. . ."

 

[MarzNC]

Didn't remember that Valle Nevado has been on the Mountain Collective since 2014. The MC website has closing dates for 2025-26 that also includes opening dates for the southern hemisphere. For Valle Nevado, it says "2026 OPENING: June 14, 2026 (announced target);
June 19, 2026 (operational schedule)."

 

[ChrisC]

It looks like all the South American ski areas are starting from Zero.

What I am more interested in tracking/observing is how ski areas farther south perform in terms of snowfall (red) - specifically Nevados de Chillan Corralco and Pilan/Pucon (name change) versus the more well-known mountains (yellow). These areas have been the most snow-sure in recent decades, and even storm #1 seems to favor them.

If heading further south in Chile to Concepcion, one can always take an extra day in Santiago to ski Portillo, Valle Nevado, etc.

The road trip looks manageable. However, the ski areas are all volcanoes, and terrain would be severely limited or closed 33% of ski days.

 

[ChrisC]

I do not know if El Niño will impact this ski season.

https://wapo.st/4odAcA8

 

[ChrisC]

And after a bunch of really poor snow (cancellable?) trips over the last 12 months (New Zealand 2025, Austria 2026, Southwest Colorado 2026, etc), this seems like a decent strategy to deal with the Southern Hemisphere:

Chile Ski & Road Trip 2026 | South American Group Powder Adventure with PeakHouse — PeakRankings

www.peakrankings.com

 

[ChrisC]

Unfortunately June is looking like the usual slow start for South America.

(Does it really snow in New Mexico or South America any more? Been almost 2 Decades of mediocrity)

One previous storm (and not an impressive one) for the majors (Portillo/3Valles/LasLenas/Bariloche) and not much in the future

Maybe the Southern Chile/Argentina Patagonia (really mid) is worthwhile.

However, the below could just be a standard OpenSnow “Hallucination” …. Need to verify what’s going on...

 

[ChrisC]

The southern Chilean volcano resorts look good. Let's see if they update anything snow report-wise or bother to open by July 1st.

Pillán/Pucón seems to be a bit of a classic Latin American operational mess. Historically, they’ve struggled to maintain proactive lift maintenance during storms, often resulting in heavy rime icing that forces them to shut down operations prematurely. Many reports note that skiers typically tour under closed lifts. Supposedly, El Colorado's parent is operating Pillan, so things might be marginally better...



Nevados de Chillan (BTW - Someone bought their marketing team a drone, and they decided to use it! On Socials...)

Corralco

Pillan

 

[Tony Crocker]

Pucon lift served looked very marginal when Liz and I were there for New Year's 2018. It's mostly attractive to backcountry skiers who climb the Villarrica volcano above the lifts.

Corralco has Amercian management, bought a high speed quad from Holiday Valley and shipped it to Chile. Stuart interviewed GM Jimmy Ackerson last January and I listened to that podcast on my road trip the next month.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Unfortunately June is looking like the usual slow start for South America.

More unfortunately long term data concentrates Central Chile precipitation in June/July with decreasing amounts in later months. So a dry June is a bad indicator. Offsetting might be the strengthening El Nino, but it's only at +0.5 at end of May.

 

[ChrisC]

Pucon lift served looked very marginal when Liz and I were there for New Year's 2018. It's mostly attractive to backcountry skiers who climb the Villarrica volcano above the lifts.

Pucon = Pillan = Ski Pucon Villarrica = Ski Pucon (now called Pillan)

Yeah. Seems like it would be just a frustrating visit. I'd rather spend time at Chillan and Corralco, and maybe a stopover in Santiago (required anyway), and deal with a few rocks at La Parva or Portillo. Faces North too! Meh. Although Pucon town seems like a great place to get stuck, like Queenstown, NZ.


PowderQuest essentially says it's for touring.

I was wondering why the Peakrankings guys want to include it as a stop on their upcoming trip; I don't know if they skied it last summer.


Powderhounds

Pucon

Ski Pucon is a ski field located on the Villarrica volcano in Chile. This Pucon Villarrica ski resort is largely for beginners but there are hikes for experts.

www.powderhounds.com

Pros & Cons of Pucon Ski Resort

Pros ​

The Pucon ski resort is very well suited to beginners (so it’s popular with Brazilians learning to snowboard) and local families.​

Ski Pucon is great for riders who are happy to earn their own turns, with some interesting terrain in the upper parts of “the resort”.​

Villarrica Volcano is fantastic for adventure skiers who can head to the top to see a volcano in action.​

The vistas from the Pucon Villarrica ski resort are spectacular and a little addictive.​

Staying off-mountain in Pucon is a highlight. The town has a great vibe. ​

Cons​

Pucon commonly gets puked on! The volcano gets plenty of snow but the north facing slopes of the ski resort are not conducive to reliable snow quality. The frequent rain and gale force winds don’t help the snow quality either.​

The presence of the lifts just taunts you and makes you wonder “if only”….. if only the chairlifts actually ran during winter. It seems a little criminal skinning up next to a chair lift to access terrain that could be lift accessed. Commonly the only terrain that’s lift accessed is the bunny slopes. And that’s if the ski resort isn’t closed completely due to foul weather. ​

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The top lift is very rarely open and is largely for the summer climbing trade, which explains why the resort would consider installing a chair lift in the upper reaches of a ski area renowned for its incredibly windy conditions, rather than surface lifts. Shame really….​

​

 

[ChrisC]

Pucon Snow and Weather Conditions​

The weather is not kind to the Villarrica Volcano during winter and it’s particularly unfriendly to the ski resort which seems to be situated on the windiest part of the volcano. The ski resort slopes also have a northerly aspect so the sun gets baked by the sun, so whilst Ski Pucon gets large volumes of snow and lovely powder sometimes, the quality of the snow is highly variable. It also rains at the ski resort not infrequently, and if the puelche winds hit (warm easterly winds), the snow becomes cactus!

So between the wind and foggy weather, it’s easy to see why the ski resort is often closed, and of course sometimes it has to close due to a bit of occasional volcano rumbling!


Oh well, Villarrica Volcano looks impressive, 2840m/9317ft. About the size of Mount Baker WA.

But....

 

[Patrick]

Pucon: so flat. Amazing scenery and setting.

Ski Pucon CL – 6 September 2010

Full corn cycle in Pucon today, unfortunately the liftserved today lacked any kind of slope. Only lifts 1,2, 7 and 9. Sin por numero 3 although it was running yesterday according to someone. At lea…

madpatski.wordpress.com

Volcano Villarrica/Pucon CL – 7 Sept 2010

Day 9 out of the last 10, not bad for landing in Santiago on Agosto 27. To make sure I was going to suffer a bit more, I decided that the main reason why I was in Pucon was to try to ski the volcan…

madpatski.wordpress.com

Pucón, CHL – August 30, 08 : Argentinian Adventures 1

Well, this is pretty pathetic. Here is a rundown of my Argentinian Adventures. This Argentinian Adventures started in Santiago, LAST year. One trip down here and I wanted to come back. I decided to…

madpatski.wordpress.com