The Andes Mountains

February 9, 2023

On this, our last day in South America, we embarked on one extremely long bus ride through the Andes Mountains to Portillo, considered one of the best ski resorts in the world. The World Ski Championship was held here in 1966.

Along the way we passed through the Aconcagua Province, where we were told to expect breathtaking views of Mount Aconcagua in the distance.  Unfortunately, smoke from the 400+ forest fires burning nearly 500 miles away prevented us from seeing much of anything until we got well into the mountains themselves.

The Andes Mountain range is the longest continental mountain range in the world.  It runs north to south along the Pacific Rim of Fire and makes its way through seven countries, from Venezuela to Chile.  Its varied terrain includes glaciers, volcanoes, grassland, desert, lakes, and forest. And did you now that potatoes and tomatoes originated in the Andes Mountains?  That’s what Encyclopedia Britannica says!

It was a long and winding road that took us up and through the Andes Mountains to the ski resort. The rock faces were so steep and severe you could almost see the glacliers moving through the valley, leaving their jagged signature behind.

Those yellow things that look like the cars of a train are actually tunnels we drove through.

After a little more than three hours on a bus (no kidding), we arrived at Portillo, Chile’s oldest ski resort. In 1887 the Chilean government contracted with English engineers to build a railroad from the central Chilean valley to Mendoza, Argentina. Two of the men on the crew were from Norway, and what do Norwegians do? Ski, of course!

The Norwegians inspected the proposed route on skis and became the first known skiers to traverse the slopes of Portillo. When the railroad was completed in 1910 recreational skiers began to use the train to get up the mountain to ski for fun.

By the 1930s ski clubs, a phenomenon that began in Europe, began to surface in Chile. This increased the traffic in Portillo, and in the 1940s what began as a small hut for individual overnight stays morphed into a gathering place for international travelers and well-known ski instructors. Attempts to build a grand lodge for these visitors were delayed by WWII, but with a little help from the Chilean government the 125-room Grand Hotel Portillo opened for business in 1949.

The ski resort proved too much for the government, however, and was eventually offered up for auction. Only one bid was received – from two Americas! Bob Purcell and Dick Aldrich. The Purcell family still owns and lives at the resort today.

This is not your typical ski resort. There is no town, no other hotels, no picturesque ski village… But if you’re a serious skier, this is the place to be. Pictures do not begin to do justice to the severity of these soaring 20,000-foot-plus slopes. My guess is that Portillo is no place for beginners! This article (https://www.skimag.com/ski-resort-life/high-society-skiing-in-portillo-chile/) gives more information about the resort’s draw and clientele (does the name Lindsey Vonn mean anything to you?).

We didn’t get to see any of the interior beyond the community dining room where we had lunch, but when you see the mountains in winter, you can totally understand its popularity for skiers (photo courtesy of Alamy).

The ski resort is not even open during the summer months, begging the question…why this????

I guess Portillo skiers are a heartier lot than us!

The resort is located just uphill of the beautiful Lake of the Inca, which, as you can tell in the photo above (Courtesy of Ski Portillo Chile/Brent Jacoby), freezes over during winter months.

And with that our visit to South America comes to a close. It has been an amazing 26-day adventure we will not soon forget.