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Chapelco resort snow
Lat Long: 40.22° S 71.30° W
Ski Argentina

Chapelco Resort Reviews

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Visitor reviews for Chapelco Ski Resort

Chapelco Ratings

Overall: 3.9. Based on 77 votes and 77 reviews.

Snowsure: 3.8

  • Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing
  • Is often closed due to a lack of snow
  • Occasionally suffers from a lack of snow
  • Rarely suffers from a lack of snow
  • Chapelco is snowsure even in the poorest seasons

Variety of pistes: 4.3

  • The ski runs are featureless and unvaried
  • The ski runs are varied but not extensive enough for a week
  • Chapelco has diverse and interesting pistes including forests and high alpine terrain

Off-piste: 3.7

  • No off-piste worth mentioning
  • Off piste is out-of-bounds
  • Some varied offpiste that stays fresh for one or two days
  • A vast array of off-piste routes that can stay untracked for several days

Scenery: 4.8

  • An ugly resort in a bland setting
  • Average mountain views and resort
  • A spectacular setting and a beautiful / historic resort town

Access: 4.3

  • At least one overnight stop
  • Requires a whole day
  • Requires more than half a day – you may have time for a few turns
  • Arrive by lunchtime and ski all afternoon
  • There is a main airport within an hour of Chapelco

Public Transport: 4.1

  • There are no buses or taxis to Chapelco
  • There are slow or infrequent buses / trains available
  • Getting to the resort is easy with frequent bus / train connections

Accommodation: 4.3

  • No places to stay in/near Chapelco
  • A few places to stay in the resort
  • A wide variety of accommodation suitable to suit all budgets

Cheap Rooms: 4.0

  • No budget accommodation available
  • Just one or two hostels so book ahead
  • Several cheap hostels and pensions available

Luxury Hotels: 4.0

  • No luxury accommodation available
  • Just one or two luxury hotels so book ahead
  • Several up-market hotels in Chapelco

Ski in/Ski out: 3.5

  • The ski area is located far from any accommodation
  • A free ski bus takes you to the ski area in a short trip
  • Ski-in ski-out accommodation is available

Childcare: 4.4

  • There are no child care facilities at Chapelco
  • The resort has limited child-care facilities
  • the resort has excellent child-care facilities including at least one reasonably priced creche

Snowmaking: 3.3

  • Chapelco relies entirely on natural snow
  • There are just a few snow cannons
  • There are snowmaking facilities on all pistes

Snow Grooming: 4.4

  • There are no snow groomers at Chapelco
  • Occasionally some pistes are left ungroomed and in a poor state
  • All the runs at Chapelco are groomed daily

Shelter: 4.4

  • There is nowhere to ski when it is windy or visibility is bad and lifts often shut
  • There are some trees for poor visibility but main lifts sometimes close
  • Chapelco is mostly in forest where you can ski in flat-light and windy days, lifts rarely close

Nearby options: 2.9

  • If snow conditions are poor at Chapelco, it will be poor everywhere nearby
  • There are good alternatives within an hours drive
  • Other locations on the same lift pass provide a rich variety of snowsure ski conditions

Regional rating: 4.2

  • Chapelco usually has poor snow conditions compared to other resorts in region
  • Has average conditions for the region
  • Usually has the best snow conditions in the region

Lift Staff: 4.5

  • The staff at Chapelco are rude or unhelpful
  • Lift staff at Chapelco are pleasant, cheerful and eager to help

Crowds/Queues: 3.4

  • The resort is always busy and there are usually long lift queues
  • It is quiet apart from occasional weekends and school holidays
  • It is uncrowded and lift queues are very rare

Ski Schools: 4.4

  • No ski schools available
  • One or two ski schools but local language only
  • A few ski schools but book early for multi-lingual instructors
  • Plenty of ski schools and multi-lingual instructors available
  • Excellent ski schools with friendly multi-lingual ski instructors

Hire and Repairs: 4.4

  • Nothing can be sourced, not even ski-wax or ptex
  • There are some ski shops but rentals need to be booked in advance
  • Good quality ski equipment can be purchased or hired and overnight repairs are possible

Beginners: 4.4

  • Beginners can only watch others ski and snowboard
  • A few gentle slopes but beginners will get bored in less than a week
  • Vast areas of gentle terrain

Intermediates: 4.7

  • No intermediate terrain at Chapelco
  • Intermediate skiers will get bored after a few days
  • Vast areas of cruising runs

Advanced: 4.1

  • Nothing for advanced skiers and snowboarders
  • Enough steep terrain for a few days with some good offpiste
  • Enough steep terrain and offpiste areas to entertain advanced skiers for at least a week

Snow Park: 3.7

  • Not even a kicker at Chapelco
  • Average sized park quite well looked after
  • Huge park area and expertly crafted pipes, jumps and boardercross trails

Cross-country: 3.4

  • There is nowhere to go for cross-country skiing around Chapelco
  • There are some cross country trails available
  • The area features many spectacular and well maintained cross-country trails

Luge/Toboggan: 2.6

  • No designated luge or toboggan runs
  • There are toboggan runs that open quite often
  • Chapelco has long and well maintained luge / toboggan facilities suitable for all ages

Mountain Dining: 4.0

  • Nowhere to buy food by the pistes
  • Some places to eat up on the mountain but they are often busy and expensive
  • There is a variety of excellent mountain eateries right next to the slopes to suit all budgets

Eating: 3.9

  • Bring your own food, there isn't even a shop
  • There are a few places to eat in the resort but nothing special
  • A wide variety of places to eat and drink in the resort, from fast food to fancy restaurants

Apres-Ski: 3.7

  • Nothing to do, not even a bar
  • There are a few bars in the resort but nothing special
  • Clubs and bars stay open until very late and have a friendly atmosphere

Other Sports: 2.7

  • No sports facilities at all apart from ski lifts
  • Resort has just a small public swimming pool
  • Resort has all kinds of sports facilities, including a full-size swimming pool

Entertainment: 4.0

  • Besides the snow and walking there is nothing to do here
  • The non-skier will find things to do for few days but may become bored after a week
  • The resort area is a fascinating place to visit, regardless of winter sports

Winter Walks: 3.9

  • Very limited walking and no snowshoe trails
  • A couple of designated scenic walking/snowshoe trails
  • Extensive and diverse winter walking trails for all abilities

Ski Pass Value: 3.8

  • A 1 week ski pass is overpriced compared to the number of lifts available
  • The ski pass is averagely priced and covers a reasonable number of lifts
  • Ski passes are excellent value for money and cover a lot of lifts spanning a big area

Value (National): 3.8

  • Overall, Chapelco is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the country and not worth the money
  • Overall represents average value for money
  • Overall offers the best value resort in the country

Value (Global): 3.8

  • Overall, Chapelco is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world
  • Overall it offers pretty average value for money compared to resorts from other countries
  • Internationally the resort offers excellent value for money

Show all 35 ratings

July 22, 2008
kuihtaktui from Ski Pakistan Pakistan
rubbish ski resort, good comments are wrong, in 2008 almost no snow, 5 cm, in Las Lenas like 1 meter, I wasted many money because there was no snow and I spend time in San Martin de Los Andes, people are very bad with you and only 2 tracks opened and many crowds don't go
May 22, 2008
Ignacio from Ski Argentina Argentina
Chapelco is the best ski resort in South America; excellent infrastructure and the new lift shortens the lines to 5 minutes. You can surf inside centenary forests; better than any other place. Plus its base altitude is 1200mtrs: the tallest in the area which assures snow from top to the base almost all the season.
January 04, 2008
Luis Quadros
I believe that Chapelco is the best ski resort in Latin America. In 2007 a new lift has been opened (a four-seat chairlift) and the lines were shorter, although it is wise to avoid the second half of July (high season = school vacation in Argentina and Brazil). If you want to ski in August, this is the right place.
August 09, 2006
David Boldt from Ski Bolivia Bolivia
We just spent a nice week at Chapelco during the peak of the season (school vacation in both Argentina and Brazil). There was one big drawback: During such times there are huge lift lines (up to half an hour), unless you use the chairlift that serves only the expert trails at the top. No new lift has been installed there in 19 years. Thee are no high-speed chairs, and only two quads. One nice part of the area is served by an antique T-bar! Changes are promised for next year (2007) but are not certain. The big advantage of Chapelco and San Martin de los Andes over Bariloche is the relative lack of drunken college students. (Of course, if you are a drunken college student, Bariloche is THE place for you. The newspapers reported 22,000 students there this season.)
May 21, 2006
roger blairs
Great skiing, perhaps the best option in Argentina, certainly the best views. Good lift system. Go in August, no crowds. The small town of San Martin where you stay is a truely beautiful village, very European feel to the place. While Barriloche is a great place to find a girl, Chapelco is a better place to take one.

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