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Sometimes, you need to be lucky...some other times, you need to be very lucky....this entry is about how lucky we could be weather wise...for some of the best snow ever...just for us!
Portillo is pretty well known among the wealthy Brazilians, wealthy Argentinians...and by most the top Olympic world ski teams! Bear in mind, I had never heard of the place till that July of 2010. At the time, we were in Santiago, on the way for a ski-day in El Colorado, just short of an hour of downtown Santiago. First rule....always listen to your fellow travelers....some do have amazing advises!
So back to Portillo, this is a private resort...with their own slopes, just two kilometers short of the Argentinian border....up there in the Andes on the road between Santiago and Mendoza....the hotel is somewhere around 2700 meters high.
The "hotel" is like a ski club with around 200 rooms. This pace has the reputation of having the best skiing in South America...and after a week here, I can easily say it's true. Skiing in South America is done mainly in Chile and Argentina over the Andes. You have the region around
Santiago and Mendoza....and than souther near Bariloche. I'm not a big fan of skiing around Bariloche. The Llao Llao may be an amazing place, but the snow is most of the time pretty wet (done it). On the other hand, way north, Las Lenas (Argentina) and Portillo (Chile) do provide you with "dry" snow...making it some of the best powder snow ever to ski!
Slight problem....the snow is dry...because it actually doesn't snow that often here. Making it a perfect snow...if only it is there! And guess what...that was not a given!
A week before our arrival, they had only 5cm of snow at the base of Portillo. The official season was to open on the 22nd June. On the 15th June, they decided to postpone the opening on the 29th June. Bear in mind, we were supposed to arrive here on the 29th June! On the 21st June, they decided to postpone the opening till the 6th of July. Damn it! By the 24th of June, they had re-credited my credit card. At that point, I started to look at Plan B...which was to bring the kids to San Pedro de Atacama and
Uyuni. On the 25th June...change of plan....they were opening again on the 29th...I know...confusing...and between the 24th and the 28th of June....150 centimeters of snow did fall on Portillo....that's a meter and half in 5 days!
So last minute call...you understand how lucky I am...I hadn't move on plan B...we were going to Portillo. The resort can take a maximum of 450 people...which is what happening for 5 weeks in a row from 6th of July...and on the first day, we were less than 100 people at Portillo. Amazing! I always said...I'll leave Uyuni to Leslie and Tiffany to discover on themselves, backpacker style once they are over 18....hey, I need to leave them few places to discover one day by themselves...Bolivia is one, India another...
Well, there is always a price to pay for such a luck! 150 cm in 5 days....there is always a price! We landed at 7.30am in Santiago, arriving from Buenos Aires. By 9am, the wait started...we finally left the airport at lunch time, hoping the road to Portillo would finally open that afternoon. That's not only the road to Portillo, but also the international road to Argentina, which
had been closed for 3 days now. For info, there is only 170km to Portillo, which should take no more than 2 hours and half.
We made it before 2pm to the control point at the feet of the Andes...1400 meters altitude...22km form Portillo. The road was still closed, as they were trying to clean two avalanches on the road....the road would open, but only the next morning. We waited for few hours at the control point, to finally come backward to the little town of Los Andes to sleep for the night. With us, something like 40 people (all with private chauffeured transportation), mainly from Brazil and Argentina, and with at least 50% of kids below 12! After waiting for the all day...and a good night in a decent hotel...we made it to Portillo just before 11am on the Sunday morning. Amazing place!
Now the bad news...Portillo is not cheap, it's actually seriously expensive....but there is always a but...they have the hotel...forget about it...way too expensive...and actually not that luxury....and they have the Inca lodge. Don't forget, here, a big part of the price is simply the exclusivity...no queues...even with a full resort....the
slopes are pretty empty. So, the Inca lodge...well, it's nothing else than a youth hostel, 80 meters from the "hotel". We had 4 bunk beds for ourselves. The place is actually the "dorms" of the ski instructors and some other staff. So you shower in the same place as the staff.
Next the food....not going to make friends...but let's be honest, Chilean food is pretty average. Have you ever heard of a Chilean restaurant somewhere in the world? Not me, it's either Peruvian...and Argentinian...Chile...not for the food. Guest at the hotel eat in a "fine dining" place...food...reputation is not that amazing! Guests of the Inca lodge, eat cafeteria style...in the cafeteria. The cafeteria is basically the cantine for the ski instructors...and some other staffs. So guess what....we had a pretty reasonably priced week...sleeping in staff quarters...and eating with the staff...kind of fun actually!
Good news is...they had refunded my deposit the week before, so I had paid nothing ahead. They charge you for the nights you actually stay, and they are completely flexible to the last minute...imagine this in Europe or North America...if their is no snow there...bad luck for you...Portillo...you only pay for
what you use...we had low season price and complete flexibility...pretty amazing way to deal with things from the point of view of the guest!
And for everything else...we enjoy the access to all the facilities at the resort. This means also a lot of activities for the kids. Be warned...this place is seriously kid friendly...and the little ones were at least 50% of the guests this week...so if you are single...I mean on your own...or a couple thinking that little ones should not ruin their holidays...don't come! For those who think that kids...are the joy of our lives...come...these kids have an amazing time!
So imagine our week...around 100 guests the first day....may be 150 guests by our last day. 70% are Brazilians, 20% Argentinians...so wealthy that money is not really an issue for them...and most of them in their first or second week of skiing ever...
They love to ski maybe 2 or maximum 3 hours per day...and at least 50% of them are children below 10. Guess what....that leaves the intermediate slopes...empty...and I mean empty!
They also have pretty amazing off-piste...but I'm skiing with Leslie and Tiffany...and
our insurance doesn't cover off-piste...so let's keep to the nicely groomed slopes!
We put Tiffany in 4 mornings of classes....time to work seriously on her parallel ski. During that time, it was serious cruising for Leslie and I over all the slopes. 6 days of skiing, with an average of 5 hours of ski per day, all this between 2600 meters and 3300 meters...don't ask me about the night life in Portillo...we were in bed everyday by 10pm...and who cares, it was all family time!
So that was a week! We love this place. Las Lenas is cheaper with the current black market rate of the pesos in Argentina, but no regret to have ski both places. Portillo is really an amazing place...and that ski...with empty slopes and fabulous powder snow...that' just a dream!
Next...well, in 24 hours, winter is over for us. Next entry will be the "little stop just before heaven" for us...so the fun is not over...it's actually only starting!
But Portillo....that's a place to ski...I'll just have to check Queenstown NZ in "winter" ...aka skiing mode next year to let you know which one rates
the best for south hemisphere skiing!
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