I love this place. We have skied here 10 out of the last 13 seasons. Never a crowd. Great interconnect to Valle Nevado. Not many restaurants but Le Pericles is a good stop for fondue and wine.
Having skied most of Chilean ski resorts, La Parva is by far the best I have ever been to. Lifts are super fast and worked great. They are old, but they worked great! The service was superb, people approached us offering help before we even had a chance to ask a question. That never happened in any other resort.
The best thing is the terrain. If you are an advanced/expert rider, come to La Parva! It is sick! They might not get as much snow as Valle Nevado, they still get dumped on and you can easily access some super fun terrain. I'll be coming back to La Parva for sure. They just need better parking
I agree with another reviewer, La Parva is the best resort in Chile; especially, for advanced ski/snowboarders. Valle de Fabres is the best place to practice freestyle after a huge snowstorm, without the hassle of Teleskis. Alpha and Tortolas take you to the peaks. (Los Andes Express in Valle Nevado takes you nowhere. Only the Teleskis Tres Puntas and Ancla are worth something). Again, if you know something about snow, I strongly recommend La Parva. And if you like snowboarding, it is like surfing a huge right (for goofies) all the time. If you are a beginner, I recommend the kids-crowded Colorado or the Brazilian-crowded Valle Nevado.
La Parva by far the best ski resort in Chile. Depending on snow fall, with all runs open, including Fabres, no lines, well prepared pists, extreamly friendly personell, my compliments Mr Grob, Mr Anguita, " el jefe Don Bernardo and so many more.
La Parva is the worst resort near Santiago. It has the same lifts for more than 15 years, old tecnology and in poor comditions. Bad security and no run management. Better go to Colorado or Valle Nevado.
This year all ski resorts had less snow, some areas closed, but runs in La Parva well prepared, no rocks, only 2 or 3 weekends with línes between 11 and 1 PM, other resorts nearby overcrowded. La Parva still number one, compare and you'll find out. Thanks for a job well done, next year will be better.
Sunday August 12, 2 major lifts closed, only 13 runs open, about 15 different teams training. Pomas running with 1/3 less capacity from too high Poma spacing, big lineups. Day skiers only allowed to ski parts of some runs and the price? High season full price. Last time I go to La Parva.
I had a nice and enjoyable time with my two 7 year old daughters at La Parva. Although we did not have so much snow this season, we could so so much.
My daughters did not have previous experience and after 3 days of classes were going up hill with me to slide down in all blues.
I also took good private classes and could improve so much in carving, position, etc.
Very good ski resort to go with kids.
After 45 years skiing around the world and 34 in Chile, I can rightfully say that La Parva has the terrain, and could be a good ski area, but it isn´t, because:
The average lift age is 34 years, excluding the “new” lift which was bought used in Spain. Breakdowns are common, and when we go to La Parva my wife avoids the chairs, because at least when the pomas break down, you can bail out.
Run maintenance is funky, and if conditions are marginal, nobody cleans the rocks off the runs or poma lines, which is worse when the wind blows pebbles onto the runs. They move snow around to help cover up the worst parts, but this is ugly and ruins off-piste skiing, and there are no warnings of the machine gouges. Better keep to El Colorado where run maintenance is impeccable.
The best runs are often closed for training, even on weekends. Others are rutted by racers early in the morning, then opened to the general public. As many runs on their area map are not maintained (read un-skiable), in particular black and red ones, this often limits the general public to one or two runs at best per lift.
On a powder day, the lifts open gradually during the day, and some not at all. As the racers get on the bottom lifts before the general public can, they get the best lines when they do open early.
The website snow report is dysfunctional, with wrong or outdated info. No packed base info is available.
Richer locals like La Parva because they have apartments there, it is exclusive, and they participate in the racing. Day skiers, even paying full price, are third class citizens, and there isn´t even much parking for them. Most locals don´t like the attitude of the current area management, and if they can´t afford an apartment there (the main business for the owners), they ski elsewhere.
The three valley ski areas are all big mountains with mainly intermediate runs, and good off-piste opportunities. Portillo is the premier advanced ski area. La Parva, though, has its disadvantages which should be taken into account.
September 16, 2011
Andrés from Viña del Mar
from
Chile
This year by far the best ski resort in Chile. Compare and you'll find out. Great new runs, lifts well maintained, good service. Congratulations Mr Grob, Managers.