Where to go in Chile?

feodor

Member
Hi,

We are 5 skiers going to Chile for a month in August. Any suggestions on where we should go to find great backcountry and park as well...

We wanna rent a car and drive a bit around to different resorts.

We have looked a bit at www.powderquest.com and www.mysnowparks.com but are there some places we definitely dont wanna miss out on?

Any other tips about going to Chile?
 
if u want good BC and pretty good park u should check valle nevado, and el colorado over there it should be very good but it´s really expensive. if u can go to las lenas or catedral in bariloche, also excellent BC, and park ok.. but hell cheaper, and a lot of party specially in bariloche.
 
I'm plannin on hitting chile next June 27th-July 2nd. Is that gonna be too early season? Does anyone know how the snow is? ie I'll be pretty bummed if there isnt a base.

 
I hit up 3 resorts in Chile last year. I think for what your looking for go to Valle Nevado or El Colorado. Valle had some sweet big mountain, and what looked like a pretty nice park. I never went in it though. El Colorado also had very nice big mountain and a pretty good with 2 or 3 good sized jumps. Don't know too much about backcountry access though. Portillo also has some sick terrain. Hit up NicoChile and hell tell you alot about Chile.
 
Just checkin back to the thread to let anyone interested that we got shafted...we were standby and due to congestion, couldn't get on a flight to Atlanta, which was our hub to Santiago. So drove immediately up to the lake to wakeboard. My cousin broke his foot on the first day.

In addition, Delta lost his skis (barely used 2008 Line Prophet).

If that doesn't set us up for some sick Karma for the upcoming winter, I don't know what does.

SOOOO anyone who did hit Chlie or plans to....kill it for us.
 
that sucks man. we barely got to atlanta on standby. we had to leave at like 4 in the morning. even getting into santiago was a little sketchy.
 
Alright, so my question is, how far is portillo from el colorado/valle nevado, and if I plan on going to the three valley area, is it good to get the connected pass? How easy is it to get from one area to another?
 
i think its about an hour an half drive. Its pretty easy to get lost on those freeways and in santiago but if you have a gps then youll most likely be fine. If it just snowed then getting up to Valle Nevado and el colorado is pretty sketchy. If you want a cheap hotel then from my experience your best bet would be to just stay in Santiago, but i dont know the area too well thats just from my experience.
 
It is possible to ski Valle nevado, El Colorado, and La Parva, but it is not super easy, it's pretty spread out. You can buy a pass good for all 3.  Valle Nevado is the most modern and if you stay there they seem to want u to stay in their area, the passes u get w/ lodging are not good at all 3 places. only V.N. Staying in El colorado or la parva is a bit cheaper but not a ton of choices. Mostly condos in La Parva. 

Portillo has some sweet terrain especially if you don't mind a little hiking. Like being on a cruise ship tho and gets a little too small after a week. All roooms super small and $$$s. best choice if you have 3or 4 ppl is to stay in the Octagon lodge about 200 mtrs. from the main hotel. Inca lodge to rough to even consider unless your way strapped for cash. 

 Termas de Chillan is way down south about a 10 hr bus ride south of santiago. Terrain is sweet all is above treeline. Like all the spots in chile. This can be a problem in if the light is flat or lots of clouds. Termas is huge if all the short  and long hikes are something your into. Lodging limited mostly about 4 sweet pricey hotels and a cool hostel kinda place about 2 miles down from the hill. Getting up there is a pain if you don't have a car. You def go down if can swing it.  Check out argentia too if you can swing it. 

 
If ypou want to go to portillo you have two choices, you can get there by your own car that would take like 2 hours cause you'll find a lot of trucks going to argentina, and also you can get a transfer and that takes like 3 hours cause they drive slower... if you come to the three valley area i would suggest to just buy one tciket for one resort one day and another day go to another resort, cause even though the connection it's not that bad i don't think it's worth the money... on another side if you want to hit good park right now valle nevado's park sucks and they sold the cat to do the pipe so they don't even have a pipe and the colorado park is better everyday cause they gave control to the park crew and they are really motivated and they take advice form me and my friends hahah... for bc portillo is really sick they just got a new lift so that helps and also vlle is sick for powder and colorado too, they have different terrain but both are good.
 
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