Industry News
Could Nevados de Chillán soon be open to skiers and riders? The city remains in quarantine and with a curfew, which makes the panorama difficult for powlovers in the Ñuble Region. Currently, the Ski Resort is closed and is guarded by Socorro Andino and the police.
Last Wednesday, NevaSport Chile exclusively interviewed the CEO Manuel Dinamarca of Nevados de Chillán to know about the situation of the Ski Resort and its possible opening.
Would it be possible for Nevados de Chillán to open now as it happened with some centers such as La Parva and El Colorado?
It is difficult, there are many factors that we have evaluated in the last weeks. The Ski Resorts of the Metropolitan Region have many benefits to having a large city close to the Ski Resorts, due to the volume of skiers who could visit them. In the case of Nevados, the restrictions affect us a lot since we could only open for the commune at first. Which means opening only for Pinto and Las Trancas, which would greatly limit the flow of visitors.
Add to that the fact that we have workers from other places. In the best of scenarios, skiers from Chillán could come, but visitors from Concepción, Talca, Los Angeles and other cities that usually provide a significant flow of skiers would be left out.
In what condition is the Ski Resort?
We have a lot of snow at the Ski Resort. I think it was about 10 years since we had so much snow in Nevados de Chillán. Actually to open it you would have to dig it. At the Novicios base we have about 16 feet of snow.
Given how the pandemic was evolving, no work was done at the Ski Resort, now there are lift towers that are under deep snow.
Could we say that there will be no season this year in Nevados de Chillán?
I think there is a 90% chance that we will not have a season. If there is something, it would be some specific tourism with some chairlift rides and starting in September.
What happened with Valle Hermoso?
Our idea was to initially open Valle Hermoso and the lift that is there, as a type of pilot plan, making people take up tourism gradually and responsibly, but the local authorities of Ñuble, specifically the area of health, haven’t authorized us to open Valle Hermoso.
How many people were affected by the closure of Nevados de Chillán?
There are around two thousand direct and indirect jobs, not counting all the businesses associated with our infrastructure. We understand that the situation has not been easy, and that in this covid scenario mistakes could be made. For example, it was never understood that the Chillán mall was always open while outdoor activities and national parks were closed.
Tourism in Chile is a great power of monetary financing for many provincial and local businesses. The Ñuble region is known for multiple outdoor activities and especially for its mountain range that separates the central valley from southern Chile.
We hope that Nevados de Chillán finds the necessary resolutions together with the municipality of Ñuble to be able to operate with peace in their minds.
You can find the complete interview with all the details at NevaSport Chile
