We flew with Air New Zealand from Auckland to Buenos Aires, scored cheap flight of $1300 NZD each return. From there we flew with Latam. Or fly direct with Latam from Auckland to Santiago for about the same price.
We stayed in Santiago for a couple of nights. $44NZD for having the 2 of us at Sara’s Air bnb. Sara made us feel so welcome and at home we came back to her house 2 more times on this holiday. She would made us a lovely home cooked breakfast each morning and teach us Spanish by pointing at each thing on the table. She made us cake and we enjoyed a glass of Pisco together. We could use her washer and dryer and she took us to the supermarket. We have kept in touch ever since and I would love to stay in Sara’s home again. Cómoda habitación en Ñuñoa is the name of her place.
https://www.airbnb.co.nz/rooms/2575954?eluid=1&euid=b60cbe89-aa43-b66f-5071-44028164696b
https://www.airbnb.co.nz/rooms/2575954?eluid=1&euid=b60cbe89-aa43-b66f-5071-44028164696b
I recommend having a trusted driver meet you at the airport or get a legit taxi. We were picked up by Luis, he used to live in New Zealand and married a kiwi lady. He was such a nice guy filling us in on everything we needed to know and warning us to be smart of pick pockets and pointing out interesting facts along the way. Miles and Smiles Santiago. Luis also drove us 2.5 hours up to Portillos
https://www.facebook.com/milesandsmilesantiago/
It’s an amazing drive up to Portillos, when you get close 40 switch backs in a row. Then the chair lifts are above the road. The argentine border is only 10 minutes from Portillos, we did walk there. Instead of a private driver you can take a bus that is going to Mendoza and get out just before the border.
And there it is, the famous bright yellow hotel! Such a happy looking hotel in the mountains, sitting on beautiful Laguna Del Inca. We stayed in Inca lodge as it was far cheaper. $2400 USD for 2 was 7 nights accommodation, 8 days lift passes and 4 meals a day, pool, spa, movie night, welcome cocktails, gym, yoga! There were 2 bunk beds in each room, we paid $400 USD more to have just 2 of us in there and not 4. Good wardrobe and that’s it but we weren’t there to hang out in our room. Shared bathrooms down the hall. (The hotel is $7000 to $10,000 USD.)
The accommodation is at almost 3000 meters above sea level so I had a banging headache when we arrived. Only managed a couple of runs that day but we got really organized. We took our snowboard and skis to the on snow storage, took our boots to boot check so you can stroll up in your shoes after breakfast and swap them and got our ticket for the week. There is only 449 beds on the mountain and a 2.5 hour drive is too far for a day trip so you will never see a lift line!
When I say we only did a couple of runs, the longest run is 2.5KM. I can’t believe how much terrain there is for 449 people! My favorite run was Lake run which meant I had to be brave and get on what I call a slingshot. There is 4 of these at Portillos to reach steeper terrain, designed to be cost effective as Portillos has had some big avalanches. It was scary and not easy on a snowboard, you clip in both feet and you are snowboarding up, just keep the base flat and look straight up. It’s faster than I expected and my legs needed a break at the top. (Honestly I was probably more afraid than most as the year before I broke my fingers using a rope tow back at Craigieburn in NZ, fell at exactly the worst moment and put my hand on the rope right in front of 2 wheels which my fingers went through, they’re fine luckily.)
Everyday Will headed to the gym before breakfast, after breakfast we’d head down to ski valet to get our gear. The boot man didn’t need our ticket, he would remember which number and got our boots right every time. Back home I would time my lunch break so that I don’t have lunch when everyone else is so that the lift lines are smaller. It’s the opposite here, you want to meet up with people for lunch and there is never a lift line anyway. There was always too much food for every meal and lots of options, and always dessert. It’s like a cruise boat where the food is included you have to be careful not to overeat for 4 meals a day for a whole week.
We’d head back out for more snowboarding and skiing after lunch. Must say snowboarding is a huge minority on this mountain and I only saw 3 other females on a snowboard all week! One of those snowboarding chicks Anne who is a snowboard instructor there was an amazing help to me. And Tim a ski instructor who I’d met working together on Coronet Peak in Queenstown really helped out Will. What an awesome team they have up there!
We went to the pool and hot tub every evening when the lifts closed for the day and saw some incredible sunsets from the pool. We did a daily stretch class, the instructor went swimming in the frozen lake. Crazy impressive! Most nights after dinner we went to the bar, often great live music. We went over to the bar where staff accommodation is for $2 drinks and great banter. Downstairs at the disco it would turn into a different world, we saw kids being served cocktails and crowd surfing. I’ve never seen so much plastic surgery in my life, it was interesting, I just loved observing people here.
It was awesome seeing my boyfriend Will really progress on skis. He’s a mountain biker who can ski well but usually would only go a couple of days a season and had never skied every day for a week before. By the end of the week he was keen to go down lake run and he did it easy with no tumbles, and being a skier he got back to the hotel 30 mins before me! Can’t wait to go on another ski trip with him!
We hope to go to Colorado to meet up with a bunch of great guys we met staying at Inca Lodge. As it is so much more affordable, the really down to earth people are staying at Inca Lodge. We wouldn’t dine in the restaurant like everyone staying in the hotel, we dined in a hall downstairs with all of the instructors who were also a fun bunch. Being an instructor on that mountain would be awesome, taking a lot of clients on steep and challenging terrain.
When to go: The mountain is open June til the start of October but August is the month to aim for.
What to bring: Just a few tips aside from the obvious. You will want to bring clothes for going out in, even though you are inside the hotel others really dress up so you at least need your good jeans and nice top. Is you have avalanche safety gear bring it if you are keen to hike to couloirs. Cash for tips at the end of your week you will want to tip everyone that helped you out (Especially the super friendly man at the pool and boot man!!) I’d bring up a bottle of booze too for a pre drink as it can be expensive in the hotel bar.
Snowglobe 