Ski Resorts in Argentina
The Andes of Argentina have some world class ski resorts. There are no huge Alpine resorts here, but several resorts will provide even the best skiers with a few days of satisfying downhill skiing or snowboarding. Amongst the best are Las Leñas which is about a four hour drive south from Mendoza, and Cerro Catedral and Chapelco just outside the southern city of Bariloche. All these resorts give some very good skiing, with Las Leñas in particular having some very good powder snow and off-piste conditions in mid-winter.
Further north near Mendoza are the two small resorts of Penitentes and Vallecitos
'Andes' run scheduled downhill holidays to some of the resorts in Argentina and over the border in Chile. Please visit their main Skiing Holidays Page
Penitentes & Vallecitos
These two small resorts lie near the city of Mendoza in central Argentine Andes.
Penitentes is the larger of them with several chairs and a good number of runs, but not much to last a good skier more than one day. It's about 2½ hours drive from Mendoza, near to the giant Andean mountain Aconcagua.
Vallecitos, which is nearer Mendoza, (about 1½ hours drive) has just one chain of chairs running up a valley, but probably has the nicer scenery of the two
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Las Leñas
Skiing the slopes of Martes, Las Leñas
Las Leñas is an excellent but remote resort, some four hours drive across the desert from the nearest big city, Mendoza. There are 7 modern lifts giving access to a huge skiable domain, with an incredible 800m black couloir near the top of the resort - wild skiing!. The resort lies between 2200m and 3400m. Though we don't have any scheduled departures we can organise tailor-made trips to Las Leñas.
Wide empty runs above the resort of Las Leñas
And another shot of the Martes couloir at Las Leñas
Piste Plan for Las Leñas
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Chapelco
Piste Plan for Chapelco
Chapelco lies in northern Patagonia on the Argentine side of the Andes near
the beautiful laid back town of San Martin and just a half day drive from the city of Bariloche. There are 6 big modern lifts and pistes between 1200m and 2000m, with many forested runs.
Chapelco from the base station in late spring (we arrived about two weeks too late!)
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Cerro Catedral
Piste Plan for Catedral
Catedral lies in northern Patagonia on the Argentine side of the Andes and is less than half an hours drive from the city of Bariloche. This is the biggest Argentine resort and there are 11 big modern lifts including South Americas only gondolas and cable cars. The pistes between 1200m and 2000m, with many forested runs. Nearby is another largish resort, Cerro Bayo.
Skiing at Cerro Catedral with the town of Bariloche and Lago Nahuel Huapi in the background.
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Practical stuff
| When to go | From mid-August to October are probably the best months. July can also be quite good. |
| Where to go | Fly to Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. The on to Bariloche for Catedral and Chapelco, or Mendoza for Las Leñas, Penitentes and Vallecitos. |
| Costs | In general travel and accommodation in Argentina are cheap, but at the resorts prices are much like they are in Europe. |
