The ski resort Olympians flock to each summer

Tucked into the Andes Mountains in Chile, Ski Portillo is a place where time stands still. With no town and limited rooms, there's not much to do besides ski – which is exactly the point.

For many, a modern-day ski resort might include towering peaks cloaked in fluffy snow, high-tech lift lines, luxurious hotels with fabulous spas, buzzing apres-ski bars and shops filled with the latest in cold-weather fashion. These days, top mountain destinations are bustling winter wonderlands that cater as much to non-skiers as they do to powder hounds. But tucked away in the Chilean Andes is Ski Portillo, a remote, all-inclusive resort that's only open during the South American winter. There's little to do but ski – and for its devoted fans, that's exactly the point. 

Spread across 5 sq km and home to 35 trails serviced by 14 lifts (including several drag lifts), Portillo was the first ski resort in South America. While it is not as massive as what you'll find in the Rockies or Alps, its off-piste terrain and advanced-level challenges have made it a bucket list destination. Just as important is the atmosphere: Portillo feels frozen in time – in the best way.  

While other resorts have aggressively modernised, Portillo has held fast to its old-school charm. Getting here requires a two-hour drive north-east from Santiago on the same narrow mountain highway as transport trucks. The bright yellow hotel – where visitors gather for meals and barside revelry – has barely changed. Overnight capacity has only grown ever-so-slightly to 450 since it opened. There's no town to hang out in, and not much for non-skiers to do.

Launched by the Chilean government in 1949, Portillo's modern era began in the 1960s when Bob Purcell, a New York finance hotshot, won it at auction (he was the sole bidder). He then asked his nephew Henry, then 26 and making his way up at Hilton Hotels, to become its general manager. Skiing in the area goes back even further: Norwegian engineers traversed the mountains on skis in the 1880s while working on the railway linking Chile to the Argentine city of Mendoza on the other side of the Andes. After its completion in 1910, locals would ride the train – as if it were a ski lift – before skiing back down the peaks. That railway is long gone, but Portillo, equipped with real ski lifts now, is still going strong, with the Purcells still at the helm.

According to Ellen Guidera Purcell, Henry's wife and a key figure in Portillo's day-to-day operations, the early days mostly involved the Purcells inviting their famous friends here for ski parties. "The parties were an omen of the future," Guidera said. "Because Portillo has continued not only as a place for beautiful skiing but also as a place for good times with family and friends,  a place of happy dinners, parties, bar dancing and making memories."

Carolina Mendoza, a retired business owner, first visited Portillo in the mid-1970s as a teenager growing up in Venezuela. She's returned nearly every year since, only missing a Portillo season during the pandemic or while living in Europe. For Mendoza, whose mother is Chilean, there's a magic to this little mountain hamlet. "There's such a sense of community here," she said. 'It almost makes you feel like you're with family."

But Portillo has also become synonymous with serious skiing. Known for its challenging alpine terrain, it hosted the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in 1966, which established its reputation as a hardcore winter sports destination. Today, both the convivial atmosphere and the hair-raising slopes remain critical to Portillo's cult-favoured status. Every year from June to September, when the northern hemisphere is in the throes of summer, snow-chasers from the US, Canada, Europe and Latin America head here to enjoy an endless winter. Many, like Mendoza, are repeat visitors. Others are world-class athletes in training for big-ticket events like the Olympics.

US Olympian Breezy Johnson, a World Champion ski racer, has been to Portillo five times. Her first visit, in 2015, included training runs with skiing legends like Julia Mancuso, Laurenne Ross and Leanne Smith. "Portillo is a very unique place. I call it the cruise ship because it's kind of the only thing for a ways around," she recalls. "When I first came I was a bit – a lot – intimidated by the stark world that is Portillo."

That starkness turns out to be a perk. Johnson, who is now based in Jackson, Wyoming, says the compact layout is ideal. "We can literally walk down to breakfast, head to the slopes, put our seven pairs of skis out on the snow and get going," she says. "That convenience as opposed to multiple trams in Europe, long drives in New Zealand or a snowmobile ride down in Corralco, [Chile] makes the training super beneficial because you can maximise energy for skiing." 

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And its not just Olympians who love the challenging terrain and no-fuss nature of skiing here. Intrepid visitors can often be seen hiking from lifts to explore off-piste terrain, and Roca Jack, one of Portillo's most beloved expert runs, extends to the bottom of the mountain for more than 2.6km. While elite athletes like Johnson love to train on Portillo's long trails and steep turns, so do average advanced skiers. But don't think you have to be at that level to enjoy the resort: given the tougher landscape, top-notch instructors are available to help intermediate skiers improve their skills.

The most popular package is a week-long stay with room, board and lift tickets. But the Purcells are evolving the experience, including introducing standalone A-frame chalets for those seeking more privacy, as well as events like Wine Week in August, when some of Chile's most esteemed vineyards host educational tastings. You can also level up with a heli-skiing tour of the area, or pair your Portillo visit with a few days at a partner hotel, like VIK, a luxury winery hotel located four hours south. But, "Portillo is about skiing," Guidera insists, adding that while they recently updated their guestrooms, there are still no TVs in there.

Perhaps more than anything, Portillo is about community. In a place where everyone loves the same thing and where there isn't much else to do, you'll run into the same faces at lunch at Tio Bob's or in the hot tub before dinner. "Life in Portillo happens on the slopes and in the many hotel common spaces where guests interact with one another and with us," Guidera says. "Friendships are made, couples fall in love, some get engaged, some get married there, babies are made, others leave saying 'what happens in Portillo stays in Portillo', and some have their ashes eventually scattered in Portillo."

In fact, Mendoza met her second husband here, through common friends she's made at Portillo over the years. And Johnson adds, the friends you make include the staff, who might be skiing on the same runs as you on their days off. After all, as she says, "It is a small community nestled in the mountains."

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