If you go here, you can hear me talking about Valle Nevado and Portillo and their upcoming ski season. The show also talks of other subjects, such as the Ski Club of Great Britain reps (with journalist Lou Cameron-Hall), and what is going on in the ski industry.
The View from Aiguille du Midi towards Grandes Jorasses. 65 x 50 cm. In my shop here.
Start planning your next trip!
You can search for your own accommodation in the snow for your next ski holiday through our Accommodation Search tab. Or if looking to stay in the heart of the Mont Blanc Valley in the Aosta Valley, check the direct booking for Il Coure della Valdigne here. This is our own family home in the mountains, that I am renting out when not using.
Il Cuore della Valdigne. Book your lodging directly with me here.Il Cuore della Valdigne. Stay at the Heart of the Valdigne to ski in Courmayeur, La Thuile and Pila/Aosta.
Featured Image: Skier off-piste in Portillo. Photo by Liam Doran. Courtesy Ski Portillo.
Does the snow in the Northern Hemisphere correlates with the Southern Hemisphere?
As the snow season is to start in South America, we who are born and bred there – (not necessarilly all living there anymore, but many of my friends are doing double seaason- in Chile or Argentina and then Aspen or Vail usually), always tend to think that the snow in the Northern Hemisphere is correlated with the snow in the Southern Hemisphere, mostly when the season is going to start down under.
Summer what Summer?
In Southamerica, specifically in Chile there is a saying: “Abril lluvias mil” that can be translated as: “in April we will have lots of rain”, but this has changed over the last 10 years or so.
There have been lots of Aprils without any rain in the cities, and no snow up in the mountains.
In the High Andes, due to the rocky formation of the mountains, you need a good month of natural snow to cover well all the mountain. Lately, all ski areas have been proactive and started installing snowmaking cannons and guns as Mother Nature is not reliable.
Valle Nevado picture on 14 June. Does the snow in the Northern Hemisphere correlates with the Southern Hemisphere?
Chile had the driest start of the year from January to May so far in the last six decades. If there is no rain, there is no snow. There is a front coming now, not sure how much will leave at the high Andes and how much at the lower ones – Accuweather does not show too much in this respect.
Snow-Forecast is a bit more optimistic! I As per Snow-Forecast, Las Leñas has received 42 cm in the past week and is expecting 19 more cm in the next three days. Others that benefited are Puma Lodge with 59 cm, Nevados de Chillan with 56 cm, Corralco with 55 cm and Villarrica-Pucón with 47 cm. Antillanca also got 32 cm, Volcan Osorno 30 cm, Caviahue, in Argentina got 19 cm, Catedral 16 cm and Valle Nevado 16 cm.
This winter season in the Southern Hemisphere in Argentina & Chile has been weird. Unfortunately for some of the resorts of the High Andes, the season has not been good. This is the case for Las Leñas in Argentina and Portillo in Chile. Valle Nevado seems to have a better snow base – maybe due to its altitude, as today was having all lifts opened but one, and only 9 pistes and the boarder cross park are closed.
Las Leñas view from the Piramide shopping center – 6th September 2018.
More in the south, Chapelco and Bariloche seemed to have got better luck and got snow.
Ski Portillo is opening on June 23rd having received 16 inches of fresh snow over the weekend (nearly five feet to the date).
The recent storm that covered Portillo’s iconic ski runs is stirring anticipation and excitement amongst skiers and boarders across North America. An all-inclusive Ski Portillo vacation is something special, nothing to compare to other ski resorts experiences. It is like you are going to a private ski mountain, and is a perfect summer getaway for guests of the Northern Hemisphere to enjoy with family and/or friends.
Ski Portillo. Photo by Adam Clark. Skiing as if you were in your own private ski resort. Ski Portillo is opening on June 23rd.
South American Ski Resorts: High Andes: Valle Nevado, Portillo and Las Leñas – Chile and Argentina
The ski season is about to start in the Southern Hemisphere – In this post I’ll focus on the South American Ski Resorts in the High Andes. Located in Chile and Argentina, all the resorts are in the Andes Mountains, home of the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere – the Aconcagua.
Las Leñas, the biggest terrain ski area in South America – if we count it’s off-piste. Host of the South American Ski and Snowboarding Extremes for many years, for a reason. Photo Las Leñas ski resort.South American Ski Resorts.
At the altitude of Buenos Aires and Santiago, going to the Andes, you have what is called the High Andes – high altitude resorts – what the Brits would called ‘snow sure resorts’ (even though there is nothing like that really in the world – I’ve had some seasons down under with no snow at all, but usually you do get a very good season). A snowstorm can last one week and bring 3 meters of powder snow.
Snow here is very light and dry – amazing really, and the Andes mountains bring you very dramatic landscapes – think Dolomites, with rugged peaks, but no trees – this is above tree-line county.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
You must be logged in to post a comment.