Skiing South America - August/September?

I knew there'd be a wealth of info here -- thanks for all the advice. I'll go over it in detail and come back with some more specific questions. Zap, I'd love to hear more when you're back in town.

I'll second the recommendation for Ushuaia. I was just down there a month ago, and the terrain looks sweet. We got 6 or 7 inches of snow down to 1500 feet while hiking around there (which still was mid summer), so they've gotten get dumped on in the winter. The town is also friendly and chill. It's expensive by Argentine standards, though.

There looks to be some awesome spring touring in Patagonia and farther north in the Lakes District. I've added Volcan Osorno to my life list.

Over the past two years I have skied several resorts around Santiago.

On my last trip we flew into Santiago, Chile (SCL) and were skiing by 11am.

Day 1 Valle Nevado
Day 2 Portillo
Day 3 Las Lenas
Day 4 Las Lenas
Day 5 Las Lenas
Day 6 Portillo
Day 7 El Arpa

Driving
We usually rent a Nissan Pathfinder 4x4. most mountain roads are narrow and there are two hours of dirt roads from Mendoza to Las Lenas so it also helps to have decent suspension.
Before departing the airport make sure that you have Chilean Pesos for the toll roads.

If you rent a car in Chile and plan to go to Argentina you will need to have a permit that can be arranged through most rental car agencies at SCL to cross into Argentina. It is also advised to have an international drivers license but not mandatory to rent.

Drive times
SCL>Valle Nevado 60-80 minutes 50+ hair pin turns up a narrow road
Valle Nevado > Portillo 1 hour 45 minutes
Portillo > Las Lenas 8-9 hours this includes the slow boarder crossing
Portillo > El Arpa 50 minutes
El Arpa > SCL 1 hour 25 minutes

We slept in the car about 1/3 of the time.

Air
If you choose to fly into Chile for your first time they will slap you with a $100+ USD entry visa that is good for the life of your passport.
Most flights from the US depart in the late evening and arrive early in the morning at SCL so you can usually ski the same day that you arrive.


Valle Nevado
This is a decent resort with mild terrain. It is very close to downtown Santiago.
If you have a season pass to Summit at Snoqualmie or Boyne) you can ski for 7 days for free. www.summitatsnoqualmie.com/info/winter/club_valle.asp

Portillo
This is a fairly small resort that sits right off the main highway between the Chile/Argentina boarder. The setting of this resort is outstanding since it is at the base of the highest peak in the western hemisphere Aconcagua. They have a Eurocopter and the rates are per ride but it is much less expensive then North America. Super C is a couloir that requires a hike but offers a 4800+ ft decent. The lifts are older and they also have very unique 4-5 person palma bars that send you up the mountain at a fast rate to access steeper terrain.

Las Lenas
This resort is is in the middle of no where but it is usually worth the effort as long as the Marte lift is open. Marte is best chair that I have ever skied. The map and photos of this resort does not do it justice. The resort is very large with slow lifts. If it gets windy they frequently close the Marte lift since it is well above tree line and visibility get poor quickly. Expect great steaks, excellent Malbec, and look out for counterfeit Argentine Pesos.

El Arpa
Snow cat skiing just north of Los Andes or about 50 minutes from Portillo. Don't expect a resort. They have a small day lodge and a snow car. It is a good time but if the resorts have great powder then I am not sure that I would go back.

If anyone is interested in more information on any of these places you are welcome to e-mail me as I have saved a lot of additional information / photos from my past couple trips. Last I will be in Portillo/Las Lenas August 22nd-31st 2009.

Great info on this topic - thanks all. I'm planning on hitting Bariloche August 20-25 and Las Lenas backcountry Aug 26-31.   Seems my usual posse does not have the funds to follow.

Anyone interested in touring conmigo? 

We did the following between Oct 14th and Nov 2nd 2005:

We flew to Santiago de Chile and rented a car. We did a mix of sight seeing and skiing. The peaks were Antuco, Tolhuaca, (we did not summit), Lonquimay, Llaima, Villarica, Quetrupillan, Chillan. We drove down to Osorno, but the weather was bad. We did not go to Lanín, which was a mistake. All of these are day trips, except Lanín which would be a long day trip.
We had great weather and great corn. We didn't need glacier gear,but the crampons and ice axe were useful.

Here are some photos: www.physics.ubc.ca/~rauscher/chile/index.html

Alex

I'm a New Englander who just learned about Turns All Year. I registered to try to reach out to folks who may want to ski Portillo in August and I found your thread. Not sure if your plans are set, but I'm hoping to take advantage of a promotion offering 50% off (7 days lodging, lift tickets, meals, amenities) if 4 or more women share a family apartment during "Friends Week" August 22-29, 2009. So far there are two of us. We have a couple interested as well, so if we get one more woman or one couple and have the ladies book together, the trip gets ridiculously affordable. See women’s only promotion on www.skiportillo.com/promociones/ingles.asp#tema4 for details. Please email VTdiamondskier@gmail.com if interested.