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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 มิ.ย. 2024
- If you want to ski or snowboard at a resort in South America, you basically have to choose between Chile or Argentina. Which one is best for you? Here are some factors to consider:
1) Ease of Travel to the Resorts - Chilean resorts tend to be easier for international travelers. Valle Nevado, La Parva, El Colorado and Portillo are a short drive from Santiago. Of course, there are other Chilean resorts that require a connecting flight or longer drive, but every resort in Argentina is full travel day from Buenos Aires, which can be more difficult for international travelers. So Chile offers more convenient options. Las Lenas and Cerro Castor in Argentina are pretty remote and require even more travel time.
2) Stopover in Buenos Aires or Santiago - Whether you travel to Chile or Argentina, you may want to consider spending a few days in Buenos Aires or Santiago. There is a lot to do and see in each city, so spending time there can be an ideal way to deal with the long travel time from your country to the resort.
3) Travel Expense - It tends to be less expensive to travel to Chilean resorts. This is mainly due to the proximity of Valle Nevado, La Parva, El Colorado and Portillo to Santiago. Even if you consider Nevados de Chillan, which requires a flight from Santiago, some of the travel expenses at Cerro Catedral (like rental car) or Las Lenas are so high that they remain more expensive in terms of travel costs.
4) Mountain Size - The largest resort in Argentina is Cerro Catedral, with 1150 meters of vertical drop and 3000 skiable acres. This is larger than the largest resort in Chile, which is Valle Nevado, with an 810 meter vertical drop and 2224 skiable acres. You can certainly find resorts in Chile that are larger than resorts in Argentina and vice versa. So it's a matter of comparing statistics to know what you are getting. Valle Nevado is bordered by two other resorts - La Parva and El Colorado. When the snow conditions are good, you can ski between all three resorts. But you must buy a ticket for each resort separately, and it can be expensive - up to $260 USD per day. However, if you do, you have access to a combined 4312 skiable acres, which is more than Cerro Catedral.
5) IKON Pass - Valle Nevado in Chile is the only South American resort available on either the IKON Pass or Epic Pass. So if you have an IKON Pass, you can ski or snowboard at Valle Nevado for 7 days. If you have the IKON Base Pass, you get 5 days with blackout dates.
6) Nearby Resorts - As mentioned above, Valle Nevado has two resorts that are connected to it. You could go to either one of these resorts independently or ski or board all of them. Portillo Ski Resort is a 3.5 hour drive away. In Argentina, Cerro Bayo is a 1.75 hour drive from Cerro Catedral, and Cerro Chapelco is a 3 hour drive away.
7) Lunch Options - Cerro Catedral has more lunch options than Valle Nevado. There are food trucks at the base, numerous restaurants at the base, including in a mini shopping mall, and several restaurants on the mountain itself. Valle Nevado only has one restaurant on the mountain. The remaining options are at the hotels at the base. Cerro Chapelco has dining options on the mountain and at the base. La Parva has options on the mountain, but they are sometimes closed.
8) Chairlifts - Argentine resorts like Cerro Catedral and Cerro Chapelco have more chairlifts than Chilean resorts like Valle Nevado and La Parva. So if you prefer chairlifts, you may want to focus on resorts in Argentina.
9) Towns - Valle Nevado and La Parva are examples of Chilean resorts that have essentially no town. They are a collection of accommodations with one small store for food and a few restaurants and bars. Argentinian resorts like Cerro Catedral and Cerro Chapelco are near San Carlos de Bariloche and San Martin de los Andes, respectively. Much larger towns.
10) Accommodations - Because Argentine resorts like Cerro Catedral and Cerro Chapelco are near larger towns, there are more accommodation options. In Chile, resorts like Portillo, Valle Nevado and La Parva have fewer options, but there seem to be a larger number of ski-in, ski-out accommodations. Las Lenas in Argentina is more isolated than Cerro Catedral.
11) Nightlife - Obviously, the smaller the town, the less options for apres ski activities. Argentine resorts like Cerro Catedral and Cerro Chapelco have numerous restaurants and bars, and activities like ice skating and museums to explore in their neighboring towns. At Chilean resorts like Valle Nevado and Portillo, you're really limited to whatever activities there are in the hotels and rental apartments.
12) Views - The views in Argentina and Chile are incredible. You can find lake views at Cerro Catedral, Cerro Bayo and Cerro Chapelco in Argentina. Portillo in Chile also borders a lake. La Parva offers a view of Santiago, and Valle Nevado offers rugged mountains.
Nice video. Here is an update, nowadays is cheaper Catedral for Argentina economic crisis. Also has new six seats New extra chairlift and new groomers. Cheers mate!
Awesome! Thanks for the update!
This is the EXACT video I was looking for!
This was exactly the topic I was looking at some days ago. Cheers, mate :)
Hope it was helpful!
Que buen video explicando hasta el último detalle en la comparativa y que suerte terminar el invierno en el hemisferio norte y continuar esquiando en el hemisferio sur
¡Muchas gracias! Sí, es una experiencia increíble viajar al sur, ya sea a Argentina o Chile, y disfrutar del invierno allí. ¡Vi a algunos argentinos con camisetas de Messi haciendo lo contrario en Austria este invierno!
Thanks for sharing! You made a really good content!
Thanks so much!
Excelent video my man, congrats!
Make a review of Cerro Castor please, if you been there already
Awesome video mate! Greetings from Argentina
Thanks so much! Glad to see some snow already at the top of Catedral. Hope you make it up there!
Great production quality, nice work - thank you! One thing I'll offer up tho is that it was a little hard to keep track of which resort was which as you went over each aspect.
great videos!! saludos from Chile!!
¡Muchas gracias!
THANK YOU!
Hi I'm from Argentina and I love your content. But, in fact you do have flights from Ezeiza to Bariloche. I'm flying myself this season. Cerro Bayo it's really small but it has the best views of all the resorts.
Thanks for the information! There weren't any flights when I checked earlier this year and there weren't any when I was there. Glad to know it's more convenient now!
Glad this video came up after the valle nevado video. Argentina seems like a much better resort vibe, worth the extra travel hassel. Once again, great video!
Love your videos. We are finishing up our week at Bariloche, heading to Santiago tomorrow. Agree with everything about the resort and the town of Bariloche. Regd travel, we can avoid switching to domestic airport if we flight through Santiago. This is what we did. We had a stormy day on Tuesday, powder day on Wednesday. This is a great resort. We plan to come back. Rental car is cheaper if you book small car (~$50 per day). We can leave the skis at one of the rental places at the resort.
Thanks for adding up to date info! Glad you had great snow. I'm at Portillo now and the mountain hasn't been fully open all year. Great tip on connecting through a different country to avoid the domestic airport transfer!
@@SkiBoyNY. how long are you in Portillo? Watched your first Portillo video. Our bad luck with the snow. Are you visiting Valle Navado? Our Portillo dates are bit uncertain but we will be staying near La Parva from Tue-Fri. Would love to if dates coincide. Our kids are your fans too.
@@raghua1111 In Valle Nevado now until Sat. DM me on IG (same name)!
Great video!
Great vid !
Thanks so much!
Great rundown of the features of these two. Have you been to Termas de Chillan? I went there years ago and the hill was great but the lifts were outdated.
Thanks! I haven't been that far south of Santiago yet. But it looks good - maybe couple it with Nevados de Chilan?
Going to Valle Nevado next month. Thank you for the overview!
Let's hope the snow keeps coming!
Great video im also from the East coast wanted to look into spending a winter (or couple months) in argentina .. I basically narrowed it down to Catedral or Las Lenas.. Seems like catedral has the opportunity for more life/ culture outside of skiing compared to las lenas but las lenas ive heard some epic stories of their skiing there.. Have you made any videos on Las lenas ??? Would love to hear your opinion of which of the two you would prefer if u were to go for a winter.
great content! thanks
Thanks so much! I'm actually headed to Las Lenas in a couple of months, so no videos yet, but I agree that it seems much smaller than Catedral. Unless you're going hors piste. Catedral is known to be the largest resort in South America. And it's certainly easier to get to Catedral than Las Lenas because there are multiple daily flights to Bariloche while the closest town to Las Lenas, San Rafael, seems only to have one flight per day. And San Rafael still requires an additional drive to get to Las Lenas while Bariloche is very close to Catedral. I'd assume that Barlioche is far more lively than Las Lenas. It's an actual developed independent town with tons of restaurants, bars, etc., while Las Lenas looks like it's just a collection of buildings at the base of a ski resort. So if I were to go for an entire winter, thinking about having diversions and other things to do in addition to skiing or boarding, and I wanted access to a larger mountain, I'd choose Catedral. Hopefully you're right about the epic stories of Las Lenas, though!
@@SkiBoyNY. ya i have to agree with u 100% there.. and I figure if I’m in cathedral I can always take short trips to las Lenas to check out what they have.. hopefully have made some friends by then 🤣🤣 again thanks for the help and info, perhaps we’ll link up one day out there . Keep doing what ur doing 👍🙏
Awesome video
Thanks so much!
Great video! There's just two things missing for the comparison: how snow sure the resorts are and the quality of the runs.
The snow has unfortunately been all over the place the past 5 years. Different year to year. Catedral in 2019 didn't have much snow until early August, when they got 3 feet in one storm. Then nothing for a few weeks and another big storm. Both Chile and Argentina got tons of snow in 2020 but nobody could enjoy it due to Covid. 2021 seemed to be decent as well. 2022 at Valley Nevado was a light snow year until mid July, when there was a a major storm, but then nothin for nearly a month. This year, Argentina resorts like Catedral and Chapelco only seemed to be fully open for a couple of weeks. Portillo wasn't fully open until late August. But then they got so much snow over the next few weeks that the road was barely ever open. Valle Nevado had similar snow, but the road was more passable.
For run quality, they are great for intermediates and beginning experts. For those who want extreme terrain, Portillo is probably best, though it's pretty small.
Hey i love the video i was planning to go on a ski trip to ski in South America in July and was wondering in your opinion which is the best place to go to find expert terrain.
Thanks! Between Cerro Chapelco and Cerro Catedral in Argentina, and Valle Nevado, La Parva and Portillo in Chile, I think you'll find the steepest terrain at Portillo. But Portillo is extremely expensive and it's a pretty small resort. So the steep slopes are pretty short and you're paying a lot to be there. But if the snow is good enough for it to be fully open, you can find some pretty good terrain, particularly off the El Cara Cara lift. And it has the most beautiful scenery, in my opinion. Valle Nevado is predominantly intermediate terrain by US standards. La Parva is pretty similar. If Cerro Catedral is fully open, you might be able to find a few more difficult slopes there than at Valle Nevado or La Parva, but we're talking about only one or two slopes. From what I've heard, Nevados de Chillan in Chile may be a better option for expert terrain, but it's not as big as Catedral or Valle Nevado. And perhaps Las Lenas in Argentina, though it's apparently very difficult to get to.
Im currently on exchange un Buenos Aires, its was actually cheaper for me to book a flight to santiago (155$) roundtrip and go toba resort than to fly to Bariloche (215$) on the same dates. Prices are crazy down here.
Wonderful video! Brings back memories of me skiing at Cerro Catedral (except for the super slow chairlifts that almost made me fall asleep after lunch). I wonder if you prefer skiing in NZ or South America?
Thanks! I was planning on returning to NZ next year to make a video about that very subject! Really tough to say. Scenery and people are awesome at both. Skiing is great at both. It may just be that one requires less travel time!
@@SkiBoyNY. I'm heading to Queenstown this August, so it's reassuring to know the skiing is on par with Cerro Catedral!
Looking forward to your videos as always!
@@lawyh1506 Catedral is definitely larger than each of the Queenstown resorts, but Cardona is opening a chairlift this year on a new face of the mountain, so you'll be among the first to gain the benefit of that! I think the views at Treble Cone and Cardrona are stunning. Excited for you - it'll be a great time!
@@SkiBoyNY. Thanks. In that case I must visit Treble Cone even though it is the furthest one from Queenstown.
great content! what months would you suggest?
Thanks! Late July and early August usually have the best snow conditions, but the snow has been unpredictable the past several years. Sometimes big storms arrive earlier or later. So you just have to cross your fingers!
Gracias for the run down. Want to do it someday. 🏂
Hey man, great videos on Argentina skiing. I’m actually headed to Catedral Aug 21-22. Been hard to find good content on how to plan this trip. Your vids are great and getting me pumped for the trip. You mind if I ask you some questions? Or could you point me to some resources that could help me plan this out? I don’t know anyone who’s actually been there so your perspective is so helpful.
Flying into Bariloche and staying at a lodge about 40 min from the mountain.
- what do you think the snow cover will be like?
- where did you rent a car? Would it be easier to get a private driver?
- where did you rent skis?
- did you buy lift tickets in advance for when you got got the mountain?
- where was your favorite apres ski place?
- do people at the mountain speak English pretty well?
- any other recommendations?
Thanks so much! It looks like it may be a great year for Catedral because they currently have snow all the way to the base!
The snow is so unpredictable now that it's hard to be confident about what to expect. I would expect the worst, where they won't have snow all the way down and you'll have to take the tram or gondola up to where there's snow. Hope for the best, where they'll have snow all the way way down like they do now. It's really hard to predict.
We rented a car online in the US. They have counters at the airport, so it was pretty easy. Problem is that the rentals in Bariloche are really expensive. It was worth it to us so we wouldn't have to wait for a bus to the resort, and we also went to Cerro Chapelco. But my friend went before me and took taxis to the resort from Bariloche. I'm sure you can get a taxi from the airport to your lodge.
We brought skis/boards but I did lose a ski in some deep snow that we couldn't dig up, so I had to rent for a few days. Found a place just outside the entrance to the resort that was reasonable and cheaper than at the base. Also had more selection than Bariloche itself. I don't have the name, but it was on the right as you approach the resort.
We bought lift tickets as the base. My girlfriend spoke Spanish and I don't. So she handled it. The woman who served us didn't speak English, so I'd learn a few key phrases like how many days you want, how you want to pay, etc. You can always use Google Translate. It should be okay. There were a lot of people on the mountain who spoke English. Instructors in the gondola. Kids on the chairlift. A Brazilian guy I rode a lift with...
We stayed at a hotel outside Bariloche and didn't do much apres ski, so I unfortunately don't know the best places. But the base has a lot of options for immediate apres ski.
As far as other recommendations, Rapanui is a great spot for chocolate/sweets. There's one at the base and in Bariloche. Don't get the empanadas in the mini mall at the base! They were the worst when we were there.
I am finishing up our week at Bariloche. I can address some of the above.
- Snow cover right now is very good, especially top 75%. Just today a warm storm is starting to hit and snow was bit slushy. It could change back to good snow if the weather improves. Wed was a great powder days (snow comparable to Lake Tahoe storm snow).
- Renting a car: We could only get small stick-shift car. Our AirBnB host arranged the rental after we got here. The prices at the airport were the same (~50). Driving is like in the US, so don't really need a driver. Call in advance for automatic car. Hertz had one automatic available a day later.
- There are lots of rental shops right at the resort. You can just go with that (especially if you don't have space to carry equipment)
- Buy tickets on the day at the resort. They have 14 counters and line moves fast.
- Apres : I didn't do much, but like the video says, you have lots of options.
- Language will be an issue. we got by a bit with Google Translate app. I found that ski instructors typically speak pretty good English.
- Other: Take dollars and convert directly at some counters or on the Mitre street (500+ pesos). Our Visa card transactions converted at 465 pesos.
Have a great trip. Good luck for nice snow. 2 days seems a bit short.
Nice, I think I go to Bariloche!
Chile because its topo and geographic position gets better and dryer snow....
Just an update for you Valle Nevado does not have any Blackout dates for the base pass. It didnt in 23 and still doesn't till 2025
Which resort would you say has better expert terrain?
That's a tough call because they're both pretty intermediate in my opinion. If the both have full snow, I think you might find more "advanced" features at Catedral by venturing off the groomed slopes (still staying in the ski area boundary). What I mean by that is more chute-like terrain and maybe more steep terrain. But if you visit Valle Nevado and ski over into La Parva, then maybe the balance shifts to Valle Nevado/La Parva. I think Portillo, which I didn't talk about in this video, has more advanced terrain than Catedral and Valle Nevado, but it is MUCH smaller, and apparently hardly ever fully open due to lack of snow. And more expensive.
Portillo. In chile🎉
what is the best month to go skiing in Chile or Argentina?
That's tough to say because the snow is inconsistent. Generally, late July through mid-August is the height of winter, so those weeks give you the best chance for good snow, but last year, there wasn't complete snow coverage until the end of August, when it snowed for weeks in a row. The year before, the end of August had little snow.
La nieve es de mejor calidad en Chile 🇨🇱🇨🇱🇨🇱🏂🏂🏂❄️❄️❄️☃️☃️☃️
Looks like you have forgotten where the best skiing is to found? Number of slopes in different color grading?
Good point, and it's tough to say where the "best" skiing is because there are multiple resorts in each country, and what's best may vary from person to person. So best for beginners overall may be El Colorado in Chile. Between Catedral and Valle Nevado specifically, Catedral may be better for beginners. Intermediates and experts may not view the skiing better at Catedral or Valle Nevado. Both are pretty much groomer resorts. So the skiing is largely similar, with Catedral being a little larger and perhaps more advanced options here and there. If you view the "best" skiing as more extreme, Nevados de Chillan in Chile may be ideal (though I haven't been to confirm), or hors piste at La Parva or somewhere in Argentina.
@@SkiBoyNY. thanks a lot
10min and no comment around terrain? I want to know the difficulty, if they compare to an Alta or more like Killington when it comes to blacks and double blacks
Good point. Neither Cerro Catedral in Argentina nor Valle Nevado in Chile have much extreme in-bounds terrain. You can find little features here and there that are difficult, but certainly not the amount you can find at Alta. You can hike a bit to an hors-piste peak at Valle Nevado by the Ankla T-bar, but it's not that long a line. Nevados de Chilean may have more difficult terrain, but I haven't been. A lot of the most extreme terrain seems to be hors piste, so you need a guide if you don't know where to find it. For the Super C Couloir in Portillo Chile, the resort won't even provide a guide, so you'll have to find your own or link up with others who know how to get there. Hope that helps!
@SkiBoyNY nice, thank you! From your vids both resorts looked fairly mellow so that's good to know
@@LeonardoSaraceni That's just my opinion, but even as a very good skier (I do both resort and backcountry skiing) I prefer not to go in double blacks and very hard places when skiing outside of my country (Canada) because the last thing I'd want is to hurt myself while not in my country 😅 I never had any injury while skiing but we never know what can happen
Just goto Japan man
i have two kids - one four one 1. were going, Argentina seems better because there's more to do? four year old rips
BA is not for skiing. Nor is Santiago. I did both countries last two years and even thought Chile was more expensive (not that much anyway) is way way better. Resort Variety, facilities, accessibility, lodging, etc are all better. Also, in Chile people respect lines and are more organized overall; not to US standards but still years ahead of Bariloche which was by far my worst ski experience. Even my local friends were ashamed by how people do lines in Bariloche. Avoid.
Argentina for anything not ski related is beautiful and a must visit. For sure. BA is just beautiful.
Geesch, you would be insane to book a journey south of meh-hee-co...
Car rental in argentina is expensive due to taxes... we LOVE high taxes
Chile is way better to sky…
🇨🇱😏💪
Why not go to the canadian rocky mountains?
Chile todo el rato grande Chile 🇨🇱 🇨🇱 🎉🎉🎉
¡Me encanta Chile!
Argentina > chile
I actually love both!