If you want summer skiing in Europe you must head to the glaciers and stick to the relatively limited skiing they offer. Not to say that it is bad necessarily, it just doesn’t compare to the real winter possibilies.

However, there is winter always somewhere. If you don’t mind long flights and missing the best summer months, southern hemisphere might be your answer for the summertime skiing fix.

Few years ago I did exactly this. At this time of the year I was booking flights and comparing different options for the best possibility for some summer time pow pow. We had a very louzy Euro-winter behind us and me and couple of friends were just craving for some more.

We decided that South America was the best bet. At first the obvious choice seemed to be hitting the biggest resorts like Valle Nevado or Portillo in High Andes near Santiago del Chile or Las Lenas in the Argentinan side of the border. However, we consulted some old school Finnish snowboarders (like all time ripper Joni Mäkinen) who had been travelling Chile for years and got some superb hints for the “secret spot” in the south: a relatively small resort called Termas del Chillan.

The weather in Chile might vary alot – and the resorts located totally above the tree line are quite worthless when the big storm hits. We had limited time of about two weeks in Chile and we couldn’t be sure about the snow situation or the storm fronts. Guys wanted to stay a whole month in Chile but due some critical negotiations with the girls, the rest of the trip was dedicated to exploring the ever-lasting summer of Costa Rica, but that is a whole another story that I might tell you in the future posts….

Ok, back to the issue: luckily Chile is a very long country. Five hundred kilometers to the south and the mountains are a bit lower and rounder but the snow stays good in significantly lower altitude levels. This meaning possible treeskiing in the lower mountain when the snow clouds come rolling in.

Our reasoning was totally right. The two first days were spring like slush fest but after that it started raining heavily in the valley, which turned into a light, nice snow even at the lower mountain after a few days. It snowed some 10 days in a row only with small pauses. All in all we got about a metre of fresh (that is about three feet for you Americans, and yes, we were very lucky that time!) – nothing beats deep turns in July!

As a resort Termas de Chillan might not be world class but when you hit the right “weather window”, you can’t avoid having the time of your life! The skiing area just scream pure FUN. You are not skiing Chamonix type high mountain couloirs but nice bowls, natural half pipes and kickers in the form of wind lips (be aware of avalanches though!), trees in the lower mountain and all kinds of inspirating natural forms of any imaginable form. This is the kind of skiing I like the most. I’ve had my share of steep couloirs and while that is a totally different form of skiing, I’ve always liked variable, a bit more mellow terrain more – I am no Eric Pollard but the terrain like in Termas de Chillan lets you imagine you can ski like him.

I also liked the general feel in Termas de Chillan very much. We already wrote a bit about this in an article about Top Ten Ski Resorts We Have Visited a while ago, and I am going to quote myself from that post:

“Termas de Chillan just puts a spellbound on you. I don’t know if it is the trees (weird ones for a Scandi!), the smell(!) in the air (honestly I think nowhere else have I felt the air so fresh!), the luxurious powder we had or the people, who are warm hearted and friendly. Or the odd ski bum travellers you met suddenly, and the faraway feeling that makes you feel like immediate friends…or the Andean Condores flying above you when you’re at the chair lift…

The Condores themselves are a reason to travel that far. Patagonia is also relatively close, although the winter (our summer) travel possibilities to it are extremely limited. But all in all, I can’t but recommend Chile – beautiful, interesting country with lots to do and very friendly people.”

There you go. I think that sums it up.

Some more information about skiing in Chile can be found on this site:

http://www.chileanski.com

And this place is recommended to anyone going to Termas de Chillan, especially if you are on a budget : http://www.vallelastrancas.cl/ – the only “ski bum” like accommodation in the nearby. Hotels tend to be quite classy and very expensive.  From Las Trancas you can take the quite unfrequent ski bus to the slopes or hitchhike – the locals are very friendly and this seem to be the way for them! By the way: we didn’t hire a car while in Chile; the local long distance buses are relatively comfy, cheap and easy to book etc. Very recommended IMHO.

Termas de Chillan cold facts:

• Altitude of the down station: 1650 m
• Altitude of the highest lift station: 2750m
• Slopes: 28 runs (30% for beginners, 40% for intermediate and 30% for experts) + the longest run in South America, 13 km!
• Lifts: 9 (one triple seat, three double seats and five surface)
• Cross Country Skiing: yes
• Freestyle Park: yes
• HalfPipe: yes·
• Season: Ski season is between 15th of June and the 15th of October
• Other activities: Great randonnee possibilities, heliski, snowmobiles and sledges (in summer also horseback riding, trekking, mountain biking, mountaineering), thermal spas open year round
• Location and how to get there: Santiago-Chillán (407 km.): by air or by land, public or private transportation. By land, take the Ruta 5 South. Chillán-Ski Center (82 km.): By public or private transportation, leave Chillán towards the east on a road which borders the river. The last 27km are unpaved.