Best ski resorts in Chile

Corralco hides on the Lonquimay volcano in Chile's Araucania region, where deep powder settles among ancient monkey puzzle forests and the slopes stay blissfully uncrowded. A single slope-side mountain lodge anchors it all, making this remote southern volcano feel like a private freeride playground.

Portillo is South American skiing in its purest form: a single bright-yellow hotel on the shore of Laguna del Inca, 145 km north of Santiago and 2,880 metres up the Andes. Host of the 1966 World Championships, it still runs on its original Saturday-to-Saturday rhythm, with seven lifts and almost no day-trippers.

Nevados de Chillan rides the flank of an active volcano in southern Chile, where natural thermal hot springs steam beside the snow and Tres Marias, one of the longest runs in South America, drops for kilometre after kilometre. Remote, tree lined and snowy, it rewards those who travel far.

Valle Nevado sits at 3,025 metres above the Andes, a sleek purpose-built resort 60 km east of Santiago. Born in 1988 from a French Compagnie des Alpes vision, it offers Chile's highest base, dependable powder from late June to early October, and panoramic terrain that opens onto the Tres Valles interconnect.

Just 39 km from Santiago, El Colorado is the sunny, easy-access heart of the Tres Valles in the Andes. Rising from a base around 2430 m to 3333 m, it serves up high-altitude cruising, big mountain views and a quick lift link toward La Parva and Valle Nevado, making it a favourite Southern Hemisphere escape from June to October.

La Parva is Santiago's weekend mountain: closest of the Tres Valles trio, just 90 minutes up the Camino del Cajón, with chalets clinging to a sun-drenched ridge between 2,662 and 3,630 metres. Long the favourite of Santiago families, it pairs gentle groomers with surprisingly serious alpine terrain above.

Villarrica-Pucón is skiing at its most surreal: the pistes run down the flank of an active, smoking volcano, high above the blue of Lake Villarrica and the adventure town of Pucón. On a clear day the view stretches across a whole chain of Andean volcanoes, and the boldest skin to the crater rim for the descent of a lifetime. The snow can be fickle this far south, but the setting is like nowhere else on earth.