Portillo Ski Resort

South America'S Most Famous Ski Resort, A Single Yellow Hotel On The Shore Of The Laguna Del Inca Near The Argentine Border; Host Of The 1966 World Ski Championships · Los Andes, Valparaiso

Portillo is the most famous ski resort in South America, and one of the most unusual anywhere: a single bright yellow hotel standing on the shore of the frozen Laguna del Inca, high in the Andes on the road to Argentina, with the mountains rising steeply on every side and Aconcagua just over the border. It opened in the late 1940s, hosted the World Ski Championships in 1966, the first held in the southern hemisphere, and has been the scene of speed-skiing records. Numbers are kept small, so the slopes rarely feel crowded, and the terrain runs from wide intermediate runs to steep couloirs, including the famous Super C, reached by a hike from the top. Most guests stay a week at the hotel, which has the feel of a mountain club, or in its simpler lodges. Northern hemisphere ski teams train here in August. The resort is about two and a half hours from Santiago, but storms can close the pass road and strand visitors, and avalanches are a real mountain hazard.

Ruta 60, Portillo, Los Andes, Valparaiso, Los Andes, Valparaiso, Chile

The resort operates in winter only, roughly from late June to early October, depending on snow. Lifts run through the day and close in high wind. The international road over the Paso Los Libertadores closes during storms, sometimes for days. Hotel stays are usually sold by the week.

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