Average Annual Snowfall in Andes

OK so i'm thinking about a trip to South America this year, but no resort post there average annual snowfall. I've heard that the mountains near Santiago are drier, but are higher up and have more rowdy skiing. And the mountains further south in the Andes are colder more snowy, but less rowdy. So does any know or know where it find info on the average annual snowfall. I was thinking of hitting the Tres Valley, Portillo, and Las Lenas, since they are all near Sanitago, but I would be willing to go somewhere with a better chance of snowfall, even if it meant less rowdy lines and difficultly getting access to....

Thanks!

Why do you want to go to the Andes over New Zealand, or some other spectacular skiing venue?

http://www.skiportillo.com/montana/p...ntana/?lang=en


Average annual snowfall :27,2 feet

326 inches.

How long can you go for?

And starting when?

I hear it snows there . . .

I've been to NZ, just wanted to try some place new this summer, why is SA really that unspectacular? I'll have 10-14 days. So I just want go to the zone that gets the most snow potential. I'll probably stay flexible, so if it dumps in Las Lenas or somewheres further south, I would make the drive.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dirty

I've been to NZ, just wanted to try some place new this summer, why is SA really that unspectacular? I'll have 10-14 days. So I just want go to the zone that gets the most snow potential. I'll probably stay flexible, so if it dumps in Las Lenas or somewheres further south, I would make the drive.

---

Don't go in July.
Get a plane ticket to Santiago.
Look at the weather and read the forums.
Don't ties yourself in somewhere.
Why drive when you can take the bus. Mucho cheaper and comfortable.
The only place where you would really need to commit more in advance is Las Lenas...or Portillo to a lesser extent.

Oh yeah...instead of telling you this...i should have said: SEARCH FUNCTION JONG!!!!

Really JONG, come on, you're the real JONG frenchie. Anyway I was only asking which resorts have the highest average snowfall, since I can't find it anywhere or by using "the search function". OverTurn got it right he knows how to read, Thanks. Yea I was planning on going in August.

x2 on the "make no concrete plans and flow with the weather" I would recommend chillan and La hoya over tres valles, las lenas and bariloche. Lenas can be all time but its frikkin expensive, wind hammered and crawling with gringos. The buses are sweet and if you win bingo you might get a bottle of wine, but I thought, that if the price was right, renting a van that you could crash in would be a sweet way to roll. theres lots of hostels but in the more resorty type areas they can get a little pricey.

Most reliable snowfall in my six seasons down there seemed to be Chillan. As others have said, waiting to see which reason has snow and then fine tuning makes the most sense.

Renting a van, however, (along with petrol costs) will be hella expensive too. I would imagine four wheel drive would be hard to find in a van as well.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rideit

Renting a van, however, (along with petrol costs) will be hella expensive too. I would imagine four wheel drive would be hard to find in a van as well.

---

and likely even more absurd $$$. the delta between a van and a car could pay for beds for that time

If you've got the $ a car is definitely much more flexible than the bus system which is definitely cheap, and not bad if you are going somewhere and staying there, but for a 1-2 week vacation can get to be a drag timewise.

las lenas is no where near santiago...unless you meant latitudinally.

Awesome article (with data):

http://www.firsttracksonline.com/200...e-to-santiago/

Tony Crocker is the man.

Las Lena's in on the othe side of the Andes in Argentina. It's a but of a bitch to get to. Portillo and Valle Nevado are closer to Santiago. I've been doin some hw for a trip late August early sept. I can't really find snow totals for south America. I'm leaning tward portillo over anywhere else.

I also wrote a feature article on Las Lenas: http://www.firsttracksonline.com/200...-resort-guide/

Las Lenas and the Santiago areas are similar in weather/snowfall, ~250 inches annual snowfall with extreme volatility but high altitude so no rain and decent snow preservation.

I have no data for Chillan but agree it likely gets the most snow of a South American ski area large enough to be of interest for destination travelers. It is lower than Las Lenas or the Santiago areas and can get rain. I have not skied there but Chillan has some of the same management issues as Las Lenas, with a key lift Don Otto closed an excessive amount of the time. Nonetheless MadPatSki has been to South America in 4 seasons and Chillan did give him a couple of his best days.

Bariloche is the least reliable major destination (I have not been there). They quote snowfall of 240 at the top and 60 at the base. The lower third of the mountain must often be downloaded and I have read reports of frequent rain.

Termas de Chillán does get nice snow, but last few years they only had one functioning chair lift on the upper mtn, so most days meant an hour+ wait for a pretty short chairlift.

Usually you have to measure snowfall in the Andes somewhere else, that's where it ends up due to the Escoba de Dios.

Oh and search function jong....

I went to Termas de Chillian in the begining of 2006 and it was awsome, but there were a bunch of things i would have done differently had I known. I will give you the best info I can based on my experience:

I went to visit a buddy living in Concepcion at the time so I did not spend any time in Santiago. That was a mistake in my opinion, especially since when we got to the mountain down south all the upper lifts were closed due to massive snowfall. This made for incredible skiing but we only got 3 out of 10 days of lift serviced skiing in! It was definately cool running into professional surfer Shane Dorian and his crew at the mountain but I would have liked to have seen the mountains in Santiago, then flown down to Concepcion and continued on to Termas (especially given the weather circumstance). That being said, I like what someone posted earlier about being flexible and kinda playing it by ear. I hear Bariloche is incredible and if I were to venture south again that is probably where I would go. If you do go to Termas, Definately go for some heli-runs (in '06 it was only $50 american per run!) and check out a place know as Shangri-La to stay. Termas is way off the beaten path, and there is little to no Apres ski! The lifts are horrible!!(dont know if they've been improved at all since "06...probably not...) Horrible is being kind, they are downright scary. The upper mountain lift is really slow, really high off the ground, and has a little wooden bar that "locks" into place (I heard it was from the 1920's and shipped over from Austria!)..... but the off piste was epic and worth the schetchy ride over and over. Avoid Ascension (sp.) which is a huge holiday that fell in early aug that year and drew big crowds for the final two days of our trip. Hope this was helpful, enjoy the trip!

SA skiing is discussed every year to death so use the search function. PM Klar with any specific questions - she has to be the most SA experienced mag on this board.

Chillian for snowfall and Las Lenas for terrain get my vote.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TonyC

I also wrote a feature article on Las Lenas: http://www.firsttracksonline.com/200...-resort-guide/

---

Interesting read the location of Marte. Now i know why they put it in such a bad place.


"The top of Marte is wind exposed, which could result in closure 25% or more of days even when storms and avalanche control are not factors.

Why weren’t lifts built up the sheltered Apolo Valley rather than in Marte’s exposed location?

“When they built Las Leñas in the early 80′s, they wanted to use this alignment, but the Apolo valley is an old glacial channel, and the surface is 100% unstable permafrost,” says Eckland. “The engineers chose to put Marte up in the rocks where it exists now because they were discouraged by the lack of stability in the permafrost. But modern lift foundation technology and concrete chemistry are now advanced enough to allow lifts to be in the Apolo Valley, funds permitting.”

The ideal solution for Las Lenas would be an aerial lift to the top from the frontside base, preferable the more wind-resistant double-cable Funitel design used at Squaw Valley, Calif. Unfortunately cost in North America would be similar to the $25 million for the recent new tram at Jackson Hole, Wyo. And in Argentina there would be a 50% import tariff on that. This tariff applies to any new equipment Las Lenas might need, like new snowcats or cheaper lifts in the Apolo Valley."

When is VR going to buy something down SA way? It would seem to be a huge target for them. Maybe when they run out of Afton/Brightons to buy?