Closing dates

johnnash

johnnash

New member
There's a good chance I'll be in Chile and/ or Argentina on business the last week of Sept or first week or 2 of October. I'd love to plan a side-trip skiing, but I suspect that is around the end of the season. However, I figure their October should be analogous to our April, and we've had some good trips in early April. Does anyone know what are the normal closing dates for the mountains down there? I've looked on several websites and googled it, but can't find any information.. And do the resorts usually close because the conditions are lousy, or because of lack of business, like many in the US? If the latter, I would infer that it might be worth going right up to closing day.

Thanks for any info.
 
It's definitely due to lack of business. First or second weekend of October is the usual time, and should be posted online somewhere as it's a fixed date.
I figure their October should be analogous to our April
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Not necessarily. Average snowfall declines from July to August to September, unlike most of the US Rockies. Combine that with LA/San Diego latitude and you can expect spring conditions analogous to 2-4 weeks later than here. Also, based on what I saw in 2007 you can expect some loss of cover in exposed areas at the Valle Nevado group. And 2007 was an average year while 2010 is well below average so far, not to mention the strengthening La Nina. What all of this means is that if you have any flexibility in timing that trip, try to push it as early as you can.

All of the above might be totally irrelevant due to the extreme volatility of Andes snowfall. All you need is one of their 8-foot dumps between now and when you go. And remember to take at least your own boots this time.
 
Thanks, this is useful information. I haven't been able to find closing date information, but I'll look again at some point. Portillo doesn't have this on their calendar of events, but the events stop at Oct. 1, so I guess we could infer that''s when they plan to close. In any case, given your point about the high uncertainty -- I guess even more than spring skiing in the US -- I'll try to preserve flexibility as much as possible. Looks unlikley that I could go earlier, but I'll see.

And you can bet your sweet bippy I'll take my own boots this time around!
 
It is my limited experience that information on SA ski area website aren't that informative on a few aspects on the skiing info. Soulskier would definitely have better info regarding ski area season shutdown.

Ah yes, I was surprised to learn that Las Lenas offered limited summer (our winter) skiing on the Iris lift (above of Marte).
 
Patrick":29jkxdfv said:
Ah yes, I was surprise to learn that Las Lenas offered limited summer (our winter) skiing on the Iris lift (above of Marte).
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Huh. I didn't know that either.
 
Admin":2s3myl6n said:
Patrick":2s3myl6n said:
Ah yes, I was surprised to learn that Las Lenas offered limited summer (our winter) skiing on the Iris lift (above of Marte).
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Huh. I didn't know that either.
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YEah, that was my reaction. I was looking at brochure when we were snowed in (not sure how long or accurate that was, but someone told me it was true)...There wasn't much else to do but drink, play card, especially the cable was out and it's pukking outside with zero visability and the lifts aren't running.

I looked more like a tourist thing. I believe I was told that they drive people up there.
 
I'm seeing Oct. 1-2 as possible closing dates for both Portillo and Valle Nevado. Given the snow situation you had best push that trip into September if you want to ski.
 
Further south, in places like Cerro Catedral and Cerro Bayo, you can expect the ski resorts to be open until mid October.

If Portillo is anything like Las Leñas at the moment, I wouldn't expect it to be open much past mid September.
 
That report should help people understand why I :dead horse: about holding off booking as late as possible, and being more picky when more $$ are at stake. Let's hope conditions are indeed better for Patrick at Catedral and farther south in the Argentine Lake District. I saw a recent report from a nice powder day at Catedral. However, thin coverage still required downloading the bottom third of the mountain. This is common so I think they are prepared for that in terms of lift capacity.

It also explains why I'm fairly upbeat in my reports like 2007 and the recent time in New Zealand. Conditions may not have been ideal, but they did have their highlights and I know that it could have been much worse.
 
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