Snow

9 day tours from Santiago, with a Portuguese-speaking guide and back the same day.

Santiago

570^m

0
km from Santiago: 24°
temperature: 0
switchbacks

Route G-21 · 570 m → 3,025 m

The four, side by side

The question we get most on WhatsApp is which one to pick. This is the answer we give — including when the answer is “not that one”.

Resort	Altitude	km	Who it is for	If you don’t ski	Gets crowded	From
Farellones	2,400 m	31	Families with small children. It has a snow park with rides.	The easiest of the four: nobody needs to ski to enjoy the day.	Yes, a lot	R$ 245
El Colorado	2,750 m	36	Anyone taking a first ski lesson who doesn’t want a hard slope.	You can ride the chairlift up, have lunch at the top and come back down. No skiing.	At weekends	R$ 245
La Parva	2,662 m	38	Anyone who wants snow without the crowd and will pay a little more for it.	The best one for walking and photos: fewer people crossing the frame.	Rarely	On request
Valle Nevado	3,025 m	46	Anyone who wants to really ski, or to see the Andes from the highest point.	The view from the top pays for the climb even without putting on skis.	At weekends	R$ 245

Why we say Farellones gets crowded. Because it does. It is the closest and the easiest to reach, so it takes more people per metre of snow. If you are going with small children and just want to play, it is still the right one — just avoid Sunday.

And if you don’t ski? Most people who travel with us have never put on skis and have no plans to. All four work without skiing: you can ride the chairlift up, have lunch with a view and spend the day on the snow.

The data. Official altitudes and distances along route G-21 from Santiago. Temperature follows the tropospheric lapse rate, about 6.5 °C less every 1,000 metres — which is why it changes as you climb. La Parva has no published rate this season, so it appears by altitude and is quoted on request.