All activities / Skiing & Snowsports / Portillo
Skiing & Snowsports in PortilloCL
The southern hemisphere's most storied ski resort: one yellow hotel on Laguna del Inca in the high Andes, where national speed teams train during the northern summer.
Why here
Portillo runs on a model no other major resort uses: one hotel, booked Saturday to Saturday, which caps the number of skiers on the mountain, so the pistes above Laguna del Inca stay close to empty even in peak August. The US, Austrian, and Norwegian speed teams train here every northern summer for the same reasons visitors come: reliable Andean snow, steep terrain served by the famous va-et-vient slingshot lifts, and couloirs that conventional chairs cannot reach. For a northern skier it is July powder with a lake the color of ink at the bottom of every run.
Best months
The 2026 season runs June 20 to September 26, with mid-July to mid-August the most reliable snow. Storms arrive from the Pacific and can close the mountain road for a day; the hotel week absorbs it. Weeks sell out months ahead.
Getting there & around
Fly to Santiago (SCL), then about 2.5 hours up the Los Libertadores pass. Book the hotel week four to six months ahead for July and August. Guided multi-resort ski tours also pair Portillo with Ski Arpa cat-skiing and Nevados de Chillan.
Skill levels: beginner, intermediate, advanced
Schools & guides (1)
Ski Portillo
SchoolThe resort itself: hotel, lifts, and the official ski and snowboard school, running the one-hotel week that keeps the mountain empty.