Here is a trip report of a two week ski and mountaineering trip I took to Chile. I visited four different ski areas, Termas de Chillan, Villarica/Pucon, Lonquimay/Corralco and Valle Nevado. I'll describe each area a bit below. This may make for a long post but I figure it will be good to have a lot of this information collected in one spot. I did take many pictures, including ones of lifts, but I use a 35mm SLR camera so I have to get the film developed first. I want to define a few phrases I'll use extensively in this report. The majority of the slopes at these mountains are above the tree line. So I am defining on-piste as on a groomed run, while off-piste is a non-groomed slope within the ski areas boundaries. Backcountry is out of the ski areas boundaries. All these ski areas except for Valle Nevado have the bottom half of the mountain lift served with the top half, to the summit, not served by lifts.
Termes de Chillan
Overall is a good ski area with a variety of terrain. Most is above tree line but there are some glades towards the bottom. There is also plenty of opportunity for off-piste and backcountry skiing here. For lift infrastructure there is a double that takes you from the hotel area up to the base lodge. From the top of this double you can take a double to access the terrain on skiers left or you can follow a succession of lifts, a triple then a poma then two t-bars, to access the pistes on skiers right. By the base lodge is also a collection of t-bars for beginners. The ski area has a ski school and a rental shop. There is a full complement of CATs and ski patrol. The cafeteria has the usual collection of hot dogs, hamburgers and sandwiches at good prices. There is a fairly good distribution of terrain with a easy groomers for beginners and some nice steeps for advanced skiers, as well as decent cruisers for the intermediate crowd. There is also plenty of opportunities for off-piste fun here. If you don't mind hiking for 5 minutes to 1/2 hour you can greatly expand the skiable terrain and do it all while remaining within sight of the ski area.From the top of the t-bars on skiers right or from the upper double you can hike to the summit. Chillan is a volcano so the summit is actually a crater where you can smell the sulfur and feel the heat from the crater. Depending on weather crampons and ice-axe may be needed but technical climbing gear isn't needed. There is also opportunity to do some telmark/randonnee skinning and the nearby Nevados de Chillan peak makes an attractive prospect for a bit of adventure.
Lodging wise there is a great 5 star hotel, The Pirigallo, right next to the slopes. Breakfast and lift tickets are included in the price. The lift tickets are a laminated photo ID type thing, makes for a nifty souvenir. The hotel also has thermal spas, heated by the volcano, so after a day of hard skiing you can soak in the thermal waters and relax. The food is outstanding and the bar there is a nice atmosphere to socialize with others. The staff at the hotel and the ski area are friendly, helpful and professional. Besides the Pirigallo, there is the Grand Hotel and condos all at the mountains base. In addition there are cabins, smaller hotels and hostels located on the access road.
Villarica/Pucon
The volcano Villarica was the next stop. At the base of this volcano is a smaller ski area. The volcano is located in a national park so there is no hotel right at the base, but there is plenty of lodging options in the nearby town of Pucon. The ski area is on the small side with a double taking you from the parking/ticket area up to the base lodge. From here you can access a couple other doubles as well as a collection of t-bars and pomas that take you half way up the mountain. Unfortunately when I was there it was raining buckets so I didn't get to experience the whole mountain. From what I could tell though it looks like it has a good variety of terrain, almost all open slopes, so you can do plenty of off-piste skiing. Though the ski area is small the main draw, at least for me, was the chance to summit this volcano. Villarica is still a geologically active volcano and from the rim of the crater you can see magma in the bottom of the crater. After taking in that view you then strap on your skis and can ski back down to the base lodge. A guide is required for the summit backcountry trip and can be found at one of the many agencies in Pucon. Again, due to weather I didn't actually get to summit, the rain prevented that, but it looks like someone in normal physical condition should be able to make it up. Staff here seemed friendly and helpfull from my minimal interactions.The town of Pucon is a resort town for Chileans during their summer months. In the winter it slows down. Many lodging options exist there from 5 star to communal hostel type places. Prices seemed decent, tending towards inexpensive. The town has a full complement of services and stores. One thing to note is that the weather for Villarica can best be described as unpredictable. Storms can appear out of nowhere and shutdown the ski area and any summit attempts. Despite the weather a visit is worth it, just have a backup plan in place.
Lonquimay/Corralco
The ski area of Corralco is located at the base of the volcano Lonquimay and is completely above tree line. A double will take you to the highest point of the ski area, but that point isn't the summit, and gives you access to all the runs. The groomed trails seemed mostly intermediate with a few easier runs found by a poma and rope tow. For expert runs head off-piste. The terrain here is good and can make for a couple days of good skiing.The Corralco/Lonquimay area has many opportunities to hike for some turns as well as getting in some ski touring. The summit can be hiked up and skied down from. The local staff can provide some info on that and you can even find a guide at a nearby hostel. No technical gear is needed other than maybe crampons and ice-axe.
Corralco is a new ski area and is just being developed. Right now the infrastructure is bare minimum, the lodge was one of those large tent/hangar type thingies, though it does have rentals and server food. However, there are plans in place to develop it, expand the infrastructure, and make it more of a resort like area. At the moment lodging can be a bit tricky. There is one smallish hotel close by the base, around 20 rooms, but it is expensive. The nearby town of Malalcahuello has a couple hotels and cabins. Besides that there is a place called Suizandina, run by a nice Swiss couple Tomas and Eva. This is a classic European alpine style hostel. (dorm rooms, a few private rooms, good food, warm atmosphere and low prices) Tomas will do guided hikes in the area including the summit of Lonquimay. Or you can get some info from him if you prefer to go it alone.
There is also a second small ski area located nearby called Los Arenales, I didn't visit it but from pictures it looks about as big as Blue Hills with just t-bars and rope tows for lift infrastructure. It is about an hours drive from Corralco. To reach it you have to go to the town of Lonquimay, which is located on the far side of a long railway tunnel that has been converted to auto traffic. The experience of driving this tunnel is kinda worth the trip over.
Valle Nevado
Valle Nevado is essentially a Western style ski resort with resort being the operative word. This write up will be shorter as there is plenty of good information available online. This is a big ski area with lots of varied terrain all above tree line. There is terrain for all levels of skiing and plenty of off-piste opportunities. If that wasn't enough you can also linkup with El Colorado and La Parva, almost tripling the skiable terrain, combined lift tickets are available. Most of the skiable terrain is lift served but there is heli-skiing available for the adventurous types, starts at about US $100.Valle Nevado has some hotels at the base, most of which look to be on the expensive side though. Farellones, a nearby town, has a bunch of hotels and hostels with a range of prices. Farellons is about a 20 minute drive from Valle Nevado. Reaching these ski areas can be a bit tricky in some cases. Though they are all about 90 minutes from Santiago the drive takes you up a VERY narrow and winding road. If snow is on the ground, or conditions otherwise warrent it they will put directional restrictions into effect. In the morning only traffic going up and the afternoon only traffic coming down. In good weather it is open both ways all the time. From personal experience, driving that road, at night for the first in an unfamiliar rental car will wrack your nerves. Ohhh, and if the turns aren't enough cows make random appearances there also. If you want to stay in Santiago, or don't feel like driving the road there are mini-bus services from Santiago to the ski areas. You can expect western resort levels of service and infrastructure at Valle Nevado.
Ski teams and other folk
During this trip I stayed in the same hotels as the US Mens Snowboard team, the Park City, UT ski team, and the Burke Mt. ski team. On the slopes I met Canadian teams from both the national and provincial level as well as French and Austrian teams. If you play it cool you can have a couple interesting and unique experiences and meet some incredible people.Everywhere I was at I met really nice people from all over the place. Most of the foreign people skiing in Chile are all open, friendly and nice people to pal around with. The strangest run in I had was when I was climbing the summit of Chillan. About 1000 vertical feet from the summit I ran into a snowboarder also making his way up. We got to talking and turns out the guy is from Nantucket! Then when we gained the summit 5 other snowboarders came up by a different route. All were American, one from RI. Strange experience.