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Portillo Ski Resort Geography

Photo title:Portillo, la laguna del Inca
via Flickr

Portillo sits in the heart of the southern Andes a mere 40km (25 miles) from the base of Cerro Aconcagua, the highest point in the Western Hemisphere. Portillo translates to "narrow pass" which aptly describes the main corridor between Chile and Argentina. The pass was first crossed by mules and horses and later by the Trans-Andean international train, reputed to be one of the most spectacular rail journeys in the world. Once the international road was built, the train service became uneconomical and obsolete and ended in the mid-1970s.

The hotel was built at 2,890m (9,480ft), 1km below the Chilean customs station at Los Libertadores and 6km from the Argentine border. It is 69km (43 miles) from the bottom of the pass at Los Andes and 149km (93 miles) from Santiago. Many guests also come from Mendoza in Argentina. Note that this remote location means that there is nowhere else to stay or eat in the region except at Portillo's own facilities.

Storms approach from the southern Pacific Ocean. Suddenly cooled by the extreme elevation and unable to penetrate the Andean barrier, the heavy clouds dump loads of snow throughout the area. The weather conditions are either clear and sunny or snowing and blowing with few days finding a compromise. The high altitude dryness insures light snow and no rain and provides ideal conditions for making artificial snow. In 1991, Portillo thus installed South America's only snowmaking system. The resort may operate weekends outside of the normal season if snow conditions permit.

The landscape of the region is completely treeless and has a barren, lifeless appearance. Although you are unlikely to see the small foxes that sniff about at night, their tracks are found everywhere in the virgin snow. Andean condors are seen daily soaring along the cliffs and chutes of Portillo.

The Laguna del Inca is one of the very few lakes in this remote region of the Andes. The lake is so named because the Inca Illi Yunqui is said to have buried his princess there after she was tragically killed on a hunting trip. According to the legend, at that moment the lake's water "turned emerald, dyed by the color of the eyes that the son of the Sun could no longer awaken." It is also said that on certain still winter nights you can hear the low moans of the heartbroken Inca.