Big Mountains, Decent Snow and Skiing in July | Portillo, Chile Trip Report Skiing in the Southern Hemisphere is an experience. There is something about skiing fresh snow in July that doesn’t compute in your head…its supposed to be sunny, I’m supposed to be at the beach or something, but rather I’m skiing 5″ of fresh snow in late July in Chile…weird. Once you get over the mind block that says this isn’t right, its nothing but good, muy bueno. If you want to ski in the Southern Hemisphere during the North American summer you have two […] Conditions Report Jesse Cassidy | August 4, 2015 3 Comments
Portillo, Chile Conditions Report: Chalky, Variable & a Whole lot of Fun Despite a severe lack of snow, and a opening date that kept being pushed back, Portillo is skiing great right now. Two weeks ago Portillo saw almost 6.5 feet, allowing the resort to open for the first time all season. Since then snow has been scarce, but what is left is holding up well. The groomers are fast, and certain […] Conditions Report Jesse Cassidy | July 29, 2015 0 Comments
Portillo, Chile Conditions Report: Flipping Good The snow is really fun right now. The groomers are in great shape. Garganta is a blast. It’s nice and chalky and really edge-able. You have to step over some rocks to get into it, but after that it’s great. Roca Jack and Caracara have good coverage but the north facing aspects are very sun affected from the warm temperatures lately. Their is some really fun skiing to be had off the traverse on the south facing aspects. You can still find some soft nice snow. The Lake Run is also skiing really well. I talked to some people who went heli skiing on Saturday and they said it was “awesome!” […] Conditions Report Andrew Rumph | July 27, 2015 0 Comments
Portillo, Chile Conditions Report: 90% Open After 6-Foot Storm A week and a half ago a massive storm hit Ski Portillo. The storm dumped 180cm/5.9ft of snow and made it possible for Portillo to open it’s doors for the sixty fifth time. The conditions are great at the moment. Approximately 90% of the skiable terrain is open. The groomers are in great shape and perfect for laying over some carved turns and the off-piste skiing is awesome. The south […] Conditions Report Andrew Rumph | July 20, 2015 0 Comments
Portillo, Chile Just Got 6.5-FEET of Snow “Over the last seven days we received six and a half feet of snow, and half of that came in the last 48 hours,” Ski Portillo via a press release this morning Portillo, Chile is arguably the most famous ski resort in South America and it holds some of South America’s best terrain. They literally had 0.00″ of snow on the ground last week. This week, they have 6.5 feet of snow on the ground after a huge snowstorm clobbered the place this past weekend. Just up the hill from Portillo is the border between Chile and Argentina and a high mountain pass called Libertadores. The border patrol is claiming they received 9-feet of snow this past week on […] Industry News SnowBrains | July 13, 2015 5 Comments
Portillo, Chile Has No Snow, Pushes Back Opening Date to ??? Portillo, Chile still doesn’t have a flake of snow right now. They hoped to open by June 20th, then July 9th, and now they’ve pushed their opening date back to To Be Determined since there is still no snow and no snow in the forecast. Portillo isn’t alone in its lack of snow. Valle Nevado, Farallones, El Colorado, La Parva, and Ski Arpa are all currently without snow. Northern Chile has been experiencing a drought since 2007 and it appears to be continuing. Southern Chile is doing better. taking into account the most recent weather forecast and absence of snow for the […] Industry News SnowBrains | July 2, 2015 2 Comments
VIDEO: Portillo, Chile 2014 Season Highlights I spent my fourth season ski instructing, coaching, and freeskiing in the legendary Ski Portillo, Chile. It sits along the edge of La Lugana del Inca surrounded by jagged and awe inspiring 13,000 foot peaks. The views are amazing and the skiing is even better. Portillo offers some of the best off-piste skiing in the world. There is everything from steep technical chutes to wide open bowls. With a little bit of hiking the possibilities are […] Andrew Rumph | June 3, 2015 1 Comment
Portillo, Chile Conditions Report: From Bone Dry to Powder Fly This video proves, once again, that Portillo has incredible terrain. Wow. Northern Chile has had a dry winter this year. Portillo is the furthest north ski resort in Chile that we know of. It sits at the same latitude as San Diego, CA. Just last week Portillo released this statement on their Facebook page and their website: “Most of our lifts are functioning and all of the major slopes have adequate snow […] Conditions Report SnowBrains | August 27, 2014 3 Comments