Portillo

Located 164 kilometers away from Santiago, it is one of the oldest Winter centers in the country. It is located over 2860 meters above sea level and it is known as “The Spirit of the Andes”. It features a special system to create snow, a top quality hotel, and tracks of international standard that are perfect to practice ski, heliski or snowboard. Besides, you can see in its center a lagoon, Laguna del Inca, a beautiful viewpoint on top of the mountain.

It features two refuges, besides Hotel Portillo, where you can see spacious rooms designed especially for young adventurers and backpackers. Although they are simpler than the hotel, those staying at the ski refuges can enjoy everything in the hotels, having meals at their main dining room and occupying their space.

When it comes to the hotel in the center of activities, Hotel Portillo has comfortable infrastructure which includes heated pool, sauna, gym, entertainment room, movie theater, nursery, restaurant, cybercafé, tennis court and ski school, amongst other things.

To get to Portillo, from Santiago, you drive towards Los Andes using the Ruta 5 Norte, taking the detour after the toll around kilometer 30. From Los Andes you can just take the international road.

Portillo has 17 tracks for ski, which have different categories according to difficulty and type of snow. The longest track is 3.2 km and out of the 17 tracks, six of them are color blue, meaning, average difficulty. Other tracks are green (easy) and black (expert).

Lifts in Portillo are of different types (pull, chair and va et vient), and reach a maximum height of 3322 meters above sea level. There are twelve of them in total and they allow tourists to access different ski courts and snowboard.

In Portillo you can also learn about other disciplines that you can practice in the snow, like snowboard and randoneé. Ski schools are open for adults and children starting at three years old. There are classes for beginners and for those who wish to improve techniques, for groups and individuals.

There is also a school for people with disabilities such as blindness, and cognitive or physical disabilities (arms, legs). Classes last one hour and they are done to bring people closer to sports and the mountain, even for those who cannot practice any activity for themselves.

More information Portillo in ChileanSki.com