While you’re reading this in the middle of summer, with no snow on the ground and your skis gathering dust in the garage, the season is starting with a bang in Chile. Resorts have over six feet of snow on the ground, and plenty more is on the way. We caught up with Valle Nevado’s Felipe Laso Dittborn, who gave us the lowdown on what’s up at one of the best – and biggest – ski resorts in the world. Just 1.5 hours from the international airport in Santiago, Valle Nevado and its sister resorts of La Parva and El Colorado have a joint ticket, miles and miles of empty terrain and some of the sickest backcountry in the world. Throw in a heli-op, a couple of discos and beautiful, dark-haired Chilean women, and you have an Andean paradise that’s well worth the trip.
FS: I hear you’ve got a lot of snow at Valle Nevado, how are things looking?
FLD: It’s been great, you can really tell it’s going to be a very successful season, because we’ve got a lot of snow. This winter, you are not only invited to test the quality of our snow, the best in these latitudes thanks to our location (an altitude of 3,025 meters) and orientation, but also to enjoy the pleasure of skiing with family and friends.
FS: Tell us about the upcoming season. Did the resort make any changes over the summer? New lifts? New lodges?
FLD: We’ve added two lift carpets at the entrances to Prado and Mirador Lifts. This system, the same used at the most forward – looking winter resorts in the world, will help minimize the waiting time on lines, as the chair lift will always go at the same operating speed. This will allow skiers to take better advantage of the day. We are the first to use this technology in Latin America.
FS: How about events? What do you have planned for the winter?
FLD: We will be offering hundreds of activities this season to celebrate a very important event: our 20th anniversary. In these two decades, we have worked to provide the best snow, full-service hotels, entertainment and quality service to all of you.
For this winter season Valle Nevado expects to receive around 145.000 people (85.000 Chilean and 60.000 from outside Chile) which means to increase 10% with respect to the last season year. As usual, Brazilians represent a big part of our foreign visitors with a 70%, while 20% comes from North America, 5% from Argentina and the 5% left comes from all over the world.
FS: Many people in North America still have not skied Chile. Valle Nevado is a special place, what can a first time visitor expect?
FLD; Valle Nevado Ski Resort is just 60 kilometers from the Santiago International Airport, right in the midst of the Andes Mountains, the gateway to the largest ski and snowboard area in the Southern Hemisphere.
Skiing at Valle Nevado is synonymous with enjoying the best quality snow thanks to two key factors: the orientation of our resort, located on the southeast slopes of the Andes Mountains, and it’s altitude of 3,025 meters. Both these characteristics mean that the snow is conserved perfectly.
Valle Nevado is a winter resort conceived both for the unlimited practice of winter sports as well as fun and relaxation. We have the infrastructure needed: three hotels, apartments, eight restaurants, bars, a pub, a heated pool, fitness center, gymnasium, child care center and a wide variety of stores. All combine to make the winter experience here definitively unique in the world
FS: Tell us about the terrain and the mountain.
Valle Nevado offers access to the largest skiable area in the Southern Hemisphere. The climate here has no equal–80% of the days are sunny throughout the season and the quality of the snow is optimal thanks to our orientation and altitude (3,025 meters), making it a unique spot for ski lovers.
There are more than 800 hectares of skiable area covered by the best snow distributed over slopes differing in length and drops for beginning, advanced and expert skiers.
