South America 2026

It took mattadv 4 days to get from Denver to Concepcion which does not seem like the part of Chile you want to try to ski now. He leads tours.
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International (Europe/Japan/Southern Hemisphere) - 2026 Chile Trip - Nevados de Chillan

2026 Chile Trip -The Journey Begins Hola amigos, I'm off on the next adventure, this time it's Chile and then Argentina. I have a month in Chile with 3 sessions, starting the 1st of August in Nevados de Chillan and then on the 1st of September, I'm heading across to Argentina for the first...
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tseeb said:
It took mattadv 4 days to get from Denver to Concepcion which does not seem like the part of Chile you want to try to ski now. He leads tours.
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I had to see this....

He booked a ticket (Denver-Houston-Buenos Aires-Santiago-Concepción) with 3 different airlines, so he could base himself in Buenos Aires and take trips afterward. That itinerary is hell. Self-inflicted (4 connections-3 airlines-3 tickets?)

I met my brother and friend (both starting from Denver) in Houston to fly to Santiago on United. Maybe a 12-16 hr red-eye. SFO-Houston-Santiago was the same. Concepción is simply a one-hour/hourly shuttle between Chile's largest cities.

It's generally not a bad trip.
 
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I have zero interest in skiing during the northern hemisphere off-season; however even if I did, you guys (and Patrick, with his luggage theft) paint a convincing picture of why I'd never want to go there for a ski trip, no matter how good the terrain may be. It sounds like a monstrous PITA with so many opportunities for things (including extreme snow volatility) to go wrong.
 
Only ChrisC has actually heeded the logical advice of taking South America ski trips on short notice. Mine were with notice of an adequate snowpack but still at least 6 weeks in advance so no real read on conditions. All of my NZ trips were scheduled well before the ski season began.
 
I was giving serious consideration to going to Santiago areas next weekend, however I have abandoned that plan. Family obligations would have left us with a maximum of 6 days in Chile, including arrival day after red eye. This left little leeway for the PITA issues, road limitations and potential write off days due to weather.
 
jamesdeluxe said:
however even if I did, you guys (and Patrick, with his luggage theft) paint a convincing picture of why I'd never want to go there for a ski trip, no matter how good the terrain may be. It sounds like a monstrous PITA with so many opportunities for things (including extreme snow volatility) to go wrong.
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This year is interesting to watch, since the Andes are going from historic near-zero YTD snow to receiving 200-300 inches in the span of 2-3 weeks. Portillo's issues are unprecedented for recent times.

Again, the Andes are perhaps more similar to the Himalayas than the North American Rockies. They are big, rugged, and brutal. Plus volcanoes.

However, skiing in Chile is very straightforward (non-stops from NYC, Miami, Houston, LA) with stability and decent roads/driving.



Personally, you likely do not get to see 'the hate' that Palisades gets over operations during big storm cycles. It's extensive. Both Alpine Meadows and Squaw have lifts that go down for days. And an interlodge at Snowbird/Alta seems epic until no lifts open.

In Europe, things do not function well with 200 inches in a short time period. In January 2018, the trains to Zermatt stopped 2x for days that month. The only way in/out was by helicopter (until days before we arrived). Also, rock slides/snow slides closed the major road between Chamonix and Martigny/Verbier, so one had to backtrack to almost Geneva to get to Central Switzerland or Zermatt.
 
Mammoth has these same issues with big storms and I think most skiers there understand delayed openings. One interesting criticism I’ve heard is that Mammoth is a bit too aggressive blasting in early season, and often an entire face will slide down to the rocks. Some say better to keep closed a few days and let the snowpack cure. This is more the way Alta and perhaps Snowbird handle the first big dump of the season.
 
jamesdeluxe said:
however even if I did, you guys (and Patrick, with his luggage theft) paint a convincing picture of why I'd never want to go there for a ski trip, no matter how good the terrain may be.
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Skieric said:
I was giving serious consideration to going to Santiago areas next weekend, however I have abandoned that plan. Family obligations would have left us with a maximum of 6 days in Chile, including arrival day after red eye. This left little leeway for the PITA issues, road limitations and potential write off days due to weather.
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This is once per 25 year storms cycle (see PowderQuest post). Again, patience.

Portillo has received almost 300 inches in 2.5 weeks. This is more snow than 95% of North American resorts received over 25 weeks for winter of 2025-26. Of course there will be a few logistical issues. What are reasonable expectations? I knew its road would be closed for a while since the Chile side was closed for a week/Argentina side 2 weeks after 6-8 ft in September 2023.

So August 1st is here:
  • The Santiago resorts (Valle Nevado, La Parva, El Colorado) are now 100% open with solid snow bases and new snow incoming.
  • Portillo was operational today. Assume the road opens soon.
  • Las Lenas is approaching decade high snow bases. Hopefully, there is an update/outlook about Marte.
  • Even the Southern Chile resorts are now getting snow and approaching a 250cm / 100in summit base.

It's finally coming together, with lighter but significant snowfalls (20 inches per week) to continue...




Again, this type of disruptions occur all the time at North American Coastal Mountains resorts.
  • Whistler - Always a couple of alpine cluster f's per season due to rain.
  • Mt. Baker -it's access road closed for days/weeks in big winter like 99-00 and 00-01.
  • Stevens Pass - The access road was closed both ways for weeks during ski season 2025-26.
  • Crystal - numerous road closures at times.
  • Mt. Hood Meadows/Timberline - Upper lifts/canyons/off-piste do not open until Spring.
  • Mt. Bachelor - Summit not open reliably (50%+) until March/April.
  • Tahoe - Many severe storms with multi-day closures. Silverado lift? Lol.
  • Mammoth - the upper mountain was closed for almost 2 weeks around January 1st when ski patroller dies in an in-bounds avalanche.
Europe - High Alps
  • Many multi-day closures throughout the French Alps in January and February due to snowfall.
  • La Grave was maybe open 30-40% of days due to excessive snowfall and an avalanche death in February.
  • Zermatt semi-restricted Hotalli-Stockhorn due to instability
 
Per the Portillo and Las Lenas data the last huge season was 2002. The first year I went to Las Lenas in 2005 it got over 100 inches in both May and June plus 80 in August.
 
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Seems to me having watched this each year and now getting shut out of Portillo the only real solution seems to be booking a late august trip well in advanced which gives you until basically the end of July to take advantage of their 30 day cancellation window. They still charge a fee but you can get out of it if you cancel 30 days out. This gives you enough time to see if July storms materialize and still gets you access to a reservation. Perhaps if I pounced when the forecast first started to come together I may have been able to lock in dates. But its a bummer, I could totally go the week of the 15th and just cant get in.
 
skiandgolfnut said:
Seems to me having watched this each year and now getting shut out of Portillo the only real solution seems to be booking a late august trip well in advanced which gives you until basically the end of July to take advantage of their 30 day cancellation window. They still charge a fee but you can get out of it if you cancel 30 days out. This gives you enough time to see if July storms materialize and still gets you access to a reservation. Perhaps if I pounced when the forecast first started to come together I may have been able to lock in dates. But its a bummer, I could totally go the week of the 15th and just cant get in.
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Same here. I cannot secure a bed, regardless of room type, at Portillo. ChrisC has encourage day tripping from Los Andes, but also indicated that it would amount to daily LCC shit show😩. What’s a powder hound to do???!
 
There are few other powderhounds commuting from Los Andes. The road is just slow with the truck traffic. We had a driver in 2007 so not paying much attention but I doubt the drive was as much as 2 hours.

The drive from Santiago to Valle Nevado is much worse. It’s so narrow it has to be one way up in the morning and one way down late afternoons on weekends and holidays. It’s easier to score lodging in Valle Nevado though.

I agree that it’s not worth the trip unless you get some of the ski time at Portillo.
 
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snowbird surfer said:
Same here. I cannot secure a bed, regardless of room type, at Portillo. ChrisC has encourage day tripping from Los Andes, but also indicated that it would amount to daily LCC shit show😩. What’s a powder hound to do???!
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There are a few places in Rio Blano to rent. This would be a shorter commute than Los Andes.
 
snowbird surfer said:
ChrisC has encourage day tripping from Los Andes, but also indicated that it would amount to daily LCC shit show😩. What’s a powder hound to do???!
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Tony Crocker said:
There are few other powderhounds commuting from Los Andes. The road is just slow with the truck traffic. We had a driver in 2007 so not paying much attention but I doubt the drive was as much as 2 hours.
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Portillo has ZERO crowds or liftlines, since there is almost no lodging base, and negligible day trippers. It functions almost as club skiing.
Issue: Trucks on a well-maintained but super wide road with switchbacks. Not really traffic. Like zero traffic. More like hazmat trucks ascending Rte 6 over Loveland Pass.

Visiting in September 2023, Portillo was effectively a dead end.


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Paso Los Libertadores Ruta 60CH SICR. Coordenadas Latitud Sur 32º 49’ - Longitud Oeste 70º 04’. informaciones NCFLL 6000061990
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The cliffs below the Plateau Chairlift at Portillo are filled in, and lines are becoming skiable in the once-per-decade category. These are visible on the webcams.

I assume traverses off all the 'Sling-shot' surface lifts will be in excellent shape for the season.

ChrisC said:
Portillo - typically the below cliff band is impenetrable except the main chute in center/left of chair. Looks like lots of lines might become skiable.

Note: Inca Lake is so deep (like Tahoe) that it never freezes anymore despite 10k elevation.
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There are two slingshot lifts serving those long fall lines on the Roca Jack side. That’s the area inaccessible in 2007, should be good for quite a while now.
 
snowbird surfer said:
Nice conditions! Is a guide necessary for these lines? Looks line 500 vert ft at 30-45 degrees with reasonable line of site and then skiers left run out back to lift. Hidden hazards?
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No. You are just scoping almost all the expert terrain from either above or below, and sometimes a chairlift. It's very self-explanatory. But mentally tag a chute, entrance, rock, etc.

The issue: due to the type of skier Portillo attracts during the summer, you don't always blindly follow a set of tracks or two. They can lead to decent-sized mandatory air.
 
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