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Winter may be over in the Northern Hemisphere, but that doesn’t mean you need to put your skis away just yet. In fact, you may not even need to change time zones to keep carving well into the summer months. That’s because just as resorts are closing in North America, ski season is just getting started in South America.
While there are dozens of Southern Hemisphere hills to choose from, Chile’s Valle Nevado offers the best combo of reliable conditions, varied terrain, and a culturally unique resort experience. It’s also the only South American ski area on the Ikon Pass and one of just two on the Power Pass. That makes this deep-Andes gem an easy choice for skiers looking to keep the fun going on an international adventure. Better yet, Valle Nevado is just a 90-minute drive from Santiago. That puts the hill within striking distance of Chile’s most iconic dining, history, art, and architecture.
Built by a group of Chilean and French investors in the 1980s, Valle Nevado is a delightful mashup of European resort life and a quintessentially Chilean mountain experience. The terrain, however, is in a class all its own. A true alpine resort, Valle Nevado is positioned entirely above treeline. That means high altitude and southern orientation, which naturally produce the best snow conditions in the Southern Hemisphere, plus steep chutes, long runs, sprawling Andes views, and some of the deepest powder in South America. The mountain also runs a robust heli-skiing program for folks who dream of first turns in their own private slice of winter heaven. Valle Nevado’s choppers have access to a 50,000-acre swath of the high Andes, making this one of the best places in South America to get your big-mountain fix.
All that said, you don’t have to ski hard nonstop to get the most out of a vacation here. Any downtime is an opportunity to experience Chile’s rich ski culture and vibrant après scene. Valle Nevado offers a stacked calendar of winter events, from happy hours and wellness offerings to world-class races and competitions. Bonus: Olympians and national teams frequently come here to train, so you never know who you might bump into at the lodge.
While you certainly can spend your rest days exploring Santiago, the resort is a cozy Andean village in its own right and hits all the cultural highlights. Three hotels—Valle Nevado, Hotel Puerta del Sol, and Hotel Tres Puntas—offer quintessential Chilean hospitality within walking distance of both the lifts and Valle Nevado’s exceptional dining. Sample the mountain’s French heritage with a glass of red and the beef bourguignon at La Fourchette, refuel with Italian at Monte Bianco, or savor traditional Chilean cuisine at Sur. Can’t quite decide? Try Mirador del Plomo’s globe-spanning menu.
If you’re planning to stay on-mountain (and you should), be sure to take advantage of Valle Nevado’s lodging deals and all-inclusive packages. A few of the latter bundle together your hotel stay, lift tickets, breakfasts, and dinners for maximum savings. The resort offers four-, five-, and seven-day deals, so you can drop in for a quick smash-and-grab mission or stay and luxuriate for a week or more. And why shouldn’t you? The best part of summer—winter skiing!—is right here.
Valle Nevado, high in the Chilean Andes, provides a world-class skiing and snowboarding experience with more than 2,200 skiable acres, three ski-in/ski-out hotels, and a diverse culinary scene. Valle Nevado’s guided heli-ski operation offers excursions with vertical drops ranging from 4,000 to 5,000 feet.
