South America’s 2023 Ski Season Gathers Pace

South America’s 2023 ski season has had a bit of a bumpy start, but there are signs of an improving picture with at least half-a-dozen resorts opening this weekend.

Snow holiday company Powderquest, which specialises in delivering powder adventures in Chile and Argentina from July to September then in Japan in January and February each year has posted details of resorts opening over the next few days.

They include Valle Nevado which reported over 40cm (16”) of snowfall last weekend and is the first centre to open in Chile for 2023. It opened on Wednesday 28th posting just under half of its 40km (25 miles) of slopes open from day one, and the snow lying 60cm (2 feet) deep on its upper runs.

Argentina has had the most up-and-down few months for snowfall with one of the country’s leading ski areas, Las Lenas, reporting over a metre of ore-season snowfall in May, and that t was opening in mid-June, but it then decided not to due to deteriorating conditions at the base. Up top it’s a much brighter picture with the snow already lying over 4m (more than 13 feet) deep.

However South America and the world’s most southerly ski area, Cerro Castor, did open last weekend down in the province of Tierra del Fuego. The continent’s largest ski area, Cerro Catedral near Bariloche, also opened, in it’s case on Thursday, pictured top, although initially only reporting 2km of slopes skiable.