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Nevados de Chillan Resort Reviews

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  • Nevados de Chillan(Lat Long: 36.87° S 71.37° W)
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Visitor reviews for Nevados de Chillan Ski Resort

Nevados de Chillan Ratings

Overall: 3.0. Based on 92 votes and 331 reviews. Vote

Snowsure: 3.7

(1) Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing, (2) is often closed due to a lack of snow, (3) occasionally suffers from a lack of snow, (4) rarely suffers from a lack of snow, (5) Nevados de Chillan is snowsure even in the poorest seasons.

Variety of pistes: 3.8

(1) The ski runs are featureless and unvaried, (3) the ski runs are varied but not extensive enough for a week, (5) Nevados de Chillan has diverse and interesting pistes including forests and high alpine terrain.

Off-piste: 3.8

(1) No off-piste worth mentioning, (2) off piste is out-of-bounds, (3) some varied offpiste that stays fresh for one or two days, (5) a vast array of off-piste routes that can stay untracked for several days.

Scenery: 4.0

(1) An ugly resort in a bland setting, (3) average mountain views and resort, (5) a spectacular setting and a beautiful / historic resort town.

Access: 2.9

(1) At least one overnight stop, (2) requires a whole day, (3) requires more than half a day – you may have time for a few turns (4) arrive by lunchtime and ski all afternoon, (5) there is a main airport within an hour of Nevados de Chillan.

Public Transport: 2.6

(1) There are no buses or taxis to Nevados de Chillan, (3) there are slow or infrequent buses / trains available, (5) getting to the resort is easy with frequent bus / train connections.

Accommodation: 3.8

(1) No places to stay in/near Nevados de Chillan, (3) a few places to stay in the resort, (5) a wide variety of accommodation suitable to suit all budgets.

Cheap Rooms: 3.3

(1) No budget accommodation available, (3) just one or two hostels so book ahead, (5) several cheap hostels and pensions available.

Luxury Hotels: 3.1

(1) No luxury accommodation available, (3) just one or two luxury hotels so book ahead, (5) several up-market hotels in Nevados de Chillan.

Ski in/Ski out: 3.5

(1) The ski area is located far from any accommodation, (3) a free ski bus takes you to the ski area in a short trip, (5) Ski-in ski-out accommodation is available.

Childcare: 2.5

(1) There are no child care facilities at Nevados de Chillan, (5) the resort has excellent child-care facilities including at least one reasonably priced creche.

Snowmaking: 1.4

(1) Nevados de Chillan relies entirely on natural snow, (3) there are just a few snow cannons, (5) there are snowmaking facilities on all pistes.

Snow Grooming: 3.3

(1) There are no snow groomers at Nevados de Chillan, (3) occasionally some pistes are left ungroomed and in a poor state, (5) all the runs at Nevados de Chillan are groomed daily.

Shelter: 2.5

(1) there is nowhere to ski when it is windy or visibility is bad and lifts often shut, (3) there are some trees for poor visibility but main lifts sometimes close, (5) Nevados de Chillan is mostly in forest where you can ski in flat-light and windy days, lifts rarely close.

Nearby options: 1.9

(1) If snow conditions are poor at Nevados de Chillan, it will be poor everywhere nearby, (3) there are good alternatives within an hours drive, (5) other locations on the same lift pass provide a rich variety of snowsure ski conditions.

Regional rating: 3.7

(1) Nevados de Chillan usually has poor snow conditions compared to other resorts in region, (3) has average conditions for the region, (5) usually has the best snow conditions in the region.

Lift Staff: 2.8

(1) The staff at Nevados de Chillan are rude or unhelpful, (5) lift staff at Nevados de Chillan are pleasant, cheerful and eager to help.

Crowds/Queues: 2.4

(1) the resort is always busy and there are usually long lift queues, (3) it is quiet apart from occasional weekends and school holidays, (5) it is uncrowded and lift queues are very rare.

Ski Schools: 3.4

(1) No ski schools available, (2) one or two ski schools but local language only, (3) a few ski schools but book early for multi-lingual instructors, (4) plenty of ski schools and multi-lingual instructors available, (5) excellent ski schools with friendly multi-lingual ski instructors.

Hire and Repairs: 3.4

(1) Nothing can be sourced, not even ski-wax or ptex. (3) there are some ski shops but rentals need to be booked in advance, (5) good quality ski equipment can be purchased or hired and overnight repairs are possible.

Beginners: 3.5

(1) Beginners can only watch others ski and snowboard, (3) a few gentle slopes but beginners will get bored in less than a week, (3) Vast areas of gentle terrain.

Intermediates: 3.9

(1) No intermediate terrain at Nevados de Chillan, (3) intermediate skiers will get bored after a few days, (5) vast areas of cruising runs.

Advanced: 4.0

(1) Nothing for advanced skiers and snowboarders, (3) enough steep terrain for a few days with some good offpiste, (5) Enough steep terrain and offpiste areas to entertain advanced skiers for at least a week.

Snow Park: 2.2

(1) Not even a kicker at Nevados de Chillan, (3) average sized park quite well looked after, (5) huge park area and expertly crafted pipes, jumps and boardercross trails.

Cross-country: 2.6

(1) There is nowhere to go for cross-country skiing around Nevados de Chillan, (3) there are some cross country trails available, (5) the area features many spectacular and well maintained cross-country trails.

Luge/Toboggan: 1.8

(1) No designated luge or toboggan runs, (3) there are toboggan runs that open quite often, (5) Nevados de Chillan has long and well maintained luge / toboggan facilities suitable for all ages.

Mountain Dining: 3.0

(1) Nowhere to buy food by the pistes, (3) some places to eat up on the mountain but they are often busy and expensive, (5) there is a variety of excellent mountain eateries right next to the slopes to suit all budgets.

Eating: 2.8

(1) Bring your own food, there isn't even a shop. (5) A wide variety of places to eat and drink in the resort, from fast food to fancy restaurants.

Apres-Ski: 3.1

(1) Nothing to do, not even a bar, (3) there are a few bars in the resort but nothing special, (5) clubs and bars stay open until very late and have a friendly atmosphere.

Other Sports: 3.0

(1) No sports facilities at all apart from ski lifts, (3) resort has just a small public swimming pool, (5) resort has all kinds of sports facilities, including a full-size swimming pool.

Entertainment: 3.1

(1) Besides the snow and walking there is nothing to do here, (3) the non-skier will find things to do for few days but may become bored after a week, (5) the resort area is a fascinating place to visit, regardless of winter sports.

Winter Walks: 2.8

(1) Very limited walking and no snowshoe trails, (3) a couple of designated scenic walking/snowshoe trails, (5) extensive and diverse winter walking trails for all abilities.

Ski Pass Value: 1.9

(1) A 1 week ski pass is overpriced compared to the number of lifts available, (3) the ski pass is averagely priced and covers a reasonable number of lifts, (5) ski passes are excellent value for money and cover a lot of lifts spanning a big area.

Value (National): 2.4

(1) Overall, Nevados de Chillan is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the country and not worth the money, (3) overall represents average value for money, (5) overall offers the best value resort in the country.

Value (Global): 2.5

(1) Overall, Nevados de Chillan is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world, (3) overall it offers pretty average value for money compared to resorts from other countries, (5) internationally the resort offers excellent value for money.

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June 23, 2021
Matthew Poe from Ski Chile Chile
Nevados de Chillan has the natural potential to be a world-class ski resort, as well as the undisputed best ski destination in the Southern Hemisphere. The vast volcanic mountain massif boasts almost 2000 meters of skiable vertical drop. Nevados de Chillan also receives significantly more snow than the Chilean resorts located closer to Santiago, which reside 500 kilometers closer to the equator. The scenery is also breathtaking with native forests giving way to the snow bowls resting below the conical peaks of active volcanoes that spew smoke and heat thermal hot springs. Unfortunately, Nevados de Chillan grossly underachieves its potential. It is a lovely place to visit that could be a lot better. The main problem is a systemic lack of investment in the ski resort. The lift-served ski area only provides access to less than 20% of the overall terrain. These painfully slow and uncomfortable chair lifts were most likely purchased used several decades ago from other resorts that decided to replace them. The ancient patchwork lift system poorly matches the natural layout of the mountain, showing a lack of planning and funding. To get from the bottom to the top of the resort you must ride four separate low-speed chairs and then take a guided snowcat. The total time to ascend almost 2000 meters can extend to two hours considering lift lines. Having said this, skiing from the off-piste top of the volcano before linking with Tres Marias, which is the longest run in South America, is an exquisite experience that may be worth the time it takes to get there. The problem is that you can only do it once per day after having paid extra for the snowcat ride. The owners of the resort obviously care more about real estate than building a world-class ski resort. To their credit, the main hotel offers a comfortable stay and a variety of activities, which makes it worthy of 4 stars. The newly built apartments also attract a multitude of snow-starved Chileans that live in Santiago and make the 6–8-hour drive to Nevados de Chillan. These visitors from Chile´s capital tend to overwhelm the lift system and crowd the narrow trails that could be wider with an adequate amount of snow grooming equipment. The almost non-existent investment in the actual ski area is a shame considering the potential of the terrain that could rival the world´s best like Chamonix and Whistler Blackcomb in terms of vertical, size, and variety. Hopefully, the current owner will someday decide to either sell the resort or raise capital to install a modern lift system and open vast amounts of advanced terrain. Until this happens, I would recommend traveling a little further south to Corralco. Another more expensive option would be to stay at the nearby Roca Negra Lodge located outside the town of Las Trancas and use their helicopter to access the best virgin terrain surrounding the underdeveloped ski area.
July 14, 2016
George Dellinger from Ski United States United States
I have to agree with all the recent posts about Termas de Chillan. It could be a top rated mountain if it was maintained properly and given an improved infrastructure. Sadly, this place hasn't seen any love in a long time. The surrounding landscape is amazing. And there are great places to stay in Las Trancas; most notably Mission Impossible Lodge. The mountain itself is spectacular if you can get up on a working lift. There's really only one decent lift which is probably 40 years old. It doesn't run half the time because of lazy operators, or fibbing ones. The smallest wind and it shuts down. Could be raining at base and snowing up top but they still don't run it. Discounts on tkts when weather bad: forget it. Service at the restaurant: poor at best. Really sad because the first time we visited Chillan, 6 years ago, we fell in love with it. The weather was on our side, it snowed so much followed by warm brilliant sun. We hired a private guide who took us well beyond any lift accessed areas and we totally got to explore the best of the mountain. But this is rare now. Our next trips down were not so fortunate. We were so disappointed that we left early and went further down south. But if you go, you must stay at MI Lodge; an amazing experience and the most wonderful hosts with Bertrand and Mylise. I wish that a big ski resort would buy Termas de Chillan and give it what it deserves. Could be an amazing mountain. Stay up north and hit El Colorado , La Parva and Valle Nevado. El Colorado is where it's at. Great 'on the mountain' service too. They know what they're doing. Much better than Valle Nevado.
June 19, 2016
Gabriel Hughes from Ski Chile Chile
This sucks people; don't buy those sucky fake reviews the people from Nevados de Chillan have written in their resort page. Spend your money in ski resorts near Santiago like El colorado or Valle Nevado, or if you want something far from the capital city, you can go to Corralillo or any resort you like, even outside of chile, like the one in Bariloche (I don't know the name).
June 21, 2015
Rodrigo from Ski Chile Chile
People from other countries: do not believe the good reviews displayed in this website; some people from the resort write good reviews just to keep up with all the real bad reviews you can read here. Unless you like to hike, snowshoeing or split-boarding, do not spend your money here!
September 09, 2014
maria from Ski Chile Chile
Mixed days of rain and sun the days I was staying there. Generally, all excellent; we were well cared for. I had great days with very good conditions for snowboarding. Enjoyed some of the best mountains I've seen. [note from the editor: text altered slightly to form good sentences in the English language.]
September 02, 2014
alex from Ski Chile Chile
Beautiful days in snowy Chillán; very improved in all senses. It was excellent.
August 25, 2014
rodrigo from Ski Chile Chile
People think differently regarding their enjoyment of a place. Very rewarding rest in snowy Chillán; the setting of the place is unique. Biodiversity is unique with marvellous landscapes. The stay is very pleasant for everyone visiting the mountain.
August 18, 2014
seba from Ski Chile Chile
The place is charming. I came five years ago and it is changing every season with more implementation in most sectors of downtown. [note from the editor: text altered slightly to create proper sentences in English language. ]
August 10, 2014
mati from Ski Chile Chile
One of the most beautiful places; enchanted landscapes and diversity. Lots of snowfall looking out the hotel window and the next day a speedy day with bright sunshine. To go out and scratch the mountain with snow recently fallen is the charm of the mountain of the Andes in southern Chile.
August 06, 2014
stefany from Ski Chile Chile
Stunning natural environment. This ski resort is the place; a very good standard that has been improving over the years. I have now realised that the place has new lifts, a hotel and other stadia. [note from the editor: text edited to form good sentences in the English language. I hope the intended message remains.]

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