Best ski resorts in Argentina

Perched high in the Argentine Andes, Las Leñas is a name spoken with reverence by serious skiers, thanks to the legendary steep off-piste that fans out beneath the Marte chair. Its lofty altitude keeps the snow cold and reliable deep into the southern winter, while a compact base village hums with energy after the lifts close.

Tucked into the Patagonian Andes above Esquel, La Hoya faces south and holds cold, dry powder long after a storm. Uncrowded, great value and blessed with a long season, it is a quiet favourite for snow hunters.

Cerro Castor is the southernmost ski resort on earth, set just 26 km from Ushuaia at the very end of the Andes and the Americas. Its low base altitude is offset by an extreme southern latitude, so the cold stays reliable and the runs wind through forests of native lenga. The season is one of the longest in the Southern Hemisphere, stretching from mid-June into early October.

A high altitude, no frills resort on the road to Aconcagua, Los Penitentes trades polish for big vertical, wide open Andean terrain and honest value close to the Chilean border.

Cerro Catedral is the largest ski resort in South America, a sprawling network of bowls and ridges that drops toward the deep blue of Lago Nahuel Huapi. Rising just outside Bariloche, it pairs serious mileage with the kind of view that stops you mid-run, the lake and the surrounding peaks laid out below the lifts.

Rising above the lakeside town of San Martin de los Andes, Chapelco is one of Patagonia's most scenic and welcoming ski areas. Its runs thread through native lenga forest before opening onto wide upper slopes, with sweeping views of the snow-capped Lanin volcano and the deep blue of Lago Lacar.

Cerro Bayo rises just above the lakeside town of Villa La Angostura, offering some of the most beautiful views in Patagonia across the vast waters of Lago Nahuel Huapi. It is a small, relaxed resort where the slopes stay refreshingly uncrowded and the scenery does as much work as the skiing.