Valle Nevado, Chile
Andean skiing an hour from Santiago, at 3,000 m, with a season that runs June to September while the north sweats.
Best time to visit
Weather by month
Cost
Serves travellers at Mid-range→Ultra-luxury level. Typically around $260 a day on the ground.
Ranges are typical costs, not quotes. Check the real price before you book.
What's on
Snow Pride August
Ski week and parties
Worth knowing
The base is around 3,000 metres and the top lifts are well above it. Arriving off a long-haul flight and skiing hard the same day is how people spend the second day in bed.
know before · editorial
The season is the southern winter; outside it the lifts are shut and the road belongs to hikers and cyclists. Chilean school holidays in July fill the mountain.
when not to go · editorial
On the mountain at Valle Nevado for ski-in access and nothing else to do. Farellones sits partway up as the compromise. Many people base in Santiago, in Las Condes or Vitacura, and go up for the day.
where to stay · editorial
Nothing once you are up there; the linked resorts are ski-in. On the access road chains or four-wheel drive are often mandatory, which is why most people take a transfer rather than drive it.
getting around · editorial
Santiago is the airport. The resort is roughly two hours above the city, and the last of it is a switchback climb of some forty hairpins.
getting there · editorial
Cards are standard in Santiago and on the mountain. Keep some pesos for the road stops on the way up and for tipping.
money · editorial
Quests
Icon
The base at Valle Nevado
3,025 metres, and the road up here has 40 numbered bends.
Farellones
The village where Santiago learns to ski.
El Colorado
The neighbouring resort, and the view of the whole valley from up there.
The 40 bends
Stop at bend 17 and look back. That is why it has a name.
The Andes viewpoint at the base
The range across 180 degrees, without skiing a single metre.
See
Look at the Andes from 3,000 m with not one tree in sight
Eat
Eat a completo on the way back into Santiago
Hot chocolate on the mountain
After the first run down, not before.
Moment
Ski the first hour, while the snow is still firm
First run of the day
Untouched snow, nobody on the piste, one hour only.
Water
A full day on skis
From the moment the runs open to the moment they close.
Off-piste with a guide
Guide only, avalanche kit only. No exceptions.