Mountain of money: Chile's ski resorts spend big to make more money on foreign vacationers

Latin Trade, Nov, 2005 by Jen Ross

Still, among Portillo's regular clients are big shots like the Canadian Olympic Ski team. "We like to get winter snow conditions, so traveling to the Southern Hemisphere is a good option at this time of year" says Dale Stephens, who has been going to Chile to train for 14 years. He has worked with the Canadian and U.S. teams, and is now coaching the British Columbia Men's Ski Team. They do a yearly three-week training trip to Chile every September.

Stephens says the logistics at Portillo set it apart: "The snow is good; we have good cooperation from the owners, and the hotel is on the mountain so transportation is not a problem."

JEN ROSS * SANTIAGO

DOWNHILL

How Chile's four major ski resorts compare.

                                    Number                 Kilometers
                         Altitude     of      Number of       from
                         (meters)   lifts    trails/runs    Santiago

El Colorado-Farallones    3,341       18         60            40
La Parvai                 3,627       14         20            50
Portillo                  3,310       12         34           164
Valle Nevado              3,670       11         39            60

SOURCE: LATIN TRADE