If you are looking to start your Andes ski adventure, the El Colorado ski area is the perfect place to start. It is Chile’s most popular and oldest ski resort. It is also one of the best and largest ski fields in South America.
The El Colorado is a cone-shaped peak with expansive slopes. It is home to the El Colorado Ski Resort, one of the three ski resorts that make up the Tres Valles. The ski field offers winter sports enthusiasts a variety of activities to delight on its marvelous slopes.
The Tres Valles is a massive snow domain consisting of three of the best ski resorts in Chile, which include La Parva and Valle Nevado. These resorts are lift-linked and it is possible to access the slopes in all of them by purchasing the interconnected ski pass.
El Colorado’s popularity is due to its proximity to Chile’s capital, Santiago. Merely 50 kilometers from the city, the resort was built by Pioneers, a group that sought to establish a resort near Santiago. The drive to the ski field takes roughly one hour along the mountain road.
A major upside of this resort is it is reasonably priced. Unlike its sister resorts in the Tres Valles, El Colorado is less glitzy. This means that skiing and snowboarding here are more affordable for both the locals and tourists. The resort is especially popular with Gen Y's who love the superb terrain parks, après-ski, and vibrant nightlife.
The resort is also family-friendly as it has ample beginner slopes, easy-to-use surface lifts, plenty of gear rental services, and ski lessons. Advanced riders also enjoy the amazing snow park (have personally seen someone land a backflip here) and challenging slopes.
Services
Mountain Features
Resort Features
El Colorado Ski Field is estimated to be open
Between the dates of June 04 2022 and estimated to close on October 02 for the 2022 season.
Ski life Services at El Colorado open as early as 8:15 AM and the last one to close is at 5:00 PM.
This ski resort comprises two interconnected ski areas; the El Colorado and Farellones. These constituent ski fields overlook their similar-named villages at the base of the mountain. The resulting terrain is a massive skier and snowboarder treeless winter playground, accessed with a single lift ticket.
On one hand, El Colorado is the main ski area and has a dynamic terrain that suits all abilities. Farellones, on the other hand, is easily accessible from Farellones Village and has more gentle slopes that suit beginners and tubing enthusiasts. In addition, Farallones has non-ski activities such as zip wire and sky walking, snow tubing, a great après-ski, and vibrant nightlife.
The El Colorado combined ski area features over 2,700 acres of skiable terrain. There are 101 pistes that lie on slopes that ascend a 1,080-meter vertical. 19 lifts provide convenient access to these slopes and this number is more than that in the sister resorts of La Parva and Valle Nevado.
The official stats for El Colorado’s terrain are as follows:
The Freestyle terrain
This is the biggest terrain park in Chile and is said to be the best in South America. A machine specialist is flown in from Andorra every winter to help in maintaining the park by adding to it and refining it.
The freestyle terrain park is not just a reserve for pros. It strives to appeal to thrill-seekers of all levels and has the motto, Fun is Progress (la Diversión es Progreso). Difficulty levels are clearly marked with the usual slope colors (blue line for novices, red line for intermediates, and black lines for experts).
Expert terrain
From the stats above, 10% of the slopes are expert terrain. The best expert slopes are to the east of the El Colorado peak (overlooking Valle Nevado). This is because the snow is deep here and steep lines drop through cliff bands.
After a snowfall, advanced riders also delight in off-piste skiing and snowboarding in Valle Olympico.
Intermediate terrain
The intermediate pistes are well-maintained and nicely groomed. They fan out from the El Colorado cone, giving confident intermediates a chance to dip to the off-piste slopes. The other advantage is that the slopes are evenly pitched, from top to bottom.
Beginner and non-skier area
The 15% beginner terrain has gentle slopes where absolute novices and non-skiers can have fun in the snow.
Both constituent ski areas (El Colorado and Farellones) have skiing and snowboarding schools with friendly, bi-lingual instructors that provide private and group lessons.
There are also plenty of activities for kids and non-skiers including tubing and tobogganing.
The resort actively invests in the development and improvement of its winter sports infrastructure each year. In particular, it constantly improves its on-mountain guest access, backcountry, and off-piste access.
To get a lift pass, just visit the El Colorado website and get it online. You’ll also find information on how to get the Day Lift or Season Pass. In addition, the website has lots of useful information such as how to use the lift pass system.
You’ll also be able to purchase your lift pass online from the website. However, you will still need to check in at the base camp to get the pass that you’ll use to scan at the lifts. Further, you can only get a Season Pass at the resort’s base.
Please note that the main site has English as an option, but the ski pass section is only in Spanish. However, if you don’t speak Spanish, you can use Google Translate to translate the webpage to any of the supported languages.
Curious to know what the snow is like today at El Colorado?
Check out the live webcam feed below to see what the conditions are like up on the slopes.
The resort receives an average seasonal snowfall of about 300 inches (7 meters). Along with Valle Nevado, El Colorado also has a higher number of fine weather days which allows skiers and snowboarders to enjoy the slopes with fewer disruptions at the lifts.
Artificial snowmaking complements the natural snow, keeping the fun times rolling for skiers and snowboarders.
The following weather map depicts the real-time snow conditions at the resort. It shows the snow characteristics at El Colorado, including snow depth and density, and a future estimated forecast.
Please check out the following graphic that depicts the El Colorado weather forecast for the next few days.
El Colorado is a medium-sized village with several shopping opportunities, restaurants, and ski rental shops, among other amenities.
It has great lodging facilities such as apartments and hotels with cozy rooms. Some of these apartments offer ski-in/ski-out access. Unlike in Valle Nevado and La Parva, the duration of your stay is not fixed and can be as short or as long as you wish.
At El Colorado, most of the services are centralized in one main building in the village. Some of these services include:
The Key hotels / serviced apartments to stay in to be right on the slopes are
The other great place to stay is Farellones Village which offers more accommodation options. You’ll find a great variety of lodging places that offer more value for money. What’s more, Farellones Village is connected to El Colorado by a series of lifts.
A favorite dining spot at El Colorado is the KL Pub and International Restaurant. It has great alpine food with international and local cuisines.
If you are looking for a more affordable experience, you can try the following places:
There are plenty of transport options that will take you up to the resorts from here so this is a great alternative.
El Colorado is a medium-sized village with several shopping opportunities, restaurants, and ski rental shops, among other amenities.
It has great lodging facilities such as apartments and hotels with cozy rooms. Some of these apartments offer ski-in/ski-out access. Unlike in Valle Nevado and La Parva, the duration of your stay is not fixed and can be as short or as long as you wish.
At El Colorado, most of the services are centralized in one main building in the village. Some of these services include:
The Key hotels / serviced apartments to stay in to be right on the slopes are
The other great place to stay is Farellones Village which offers more accommodation options. You’ll find a great variety of lodging places that offer more value for money. What’s more, Farellones Village is connected to El Colorado by a series of lifts.
A favorite dining spot at El Colorado is the KL Pub and International Restaurant. It has great alpine food with international and local cuisines.
If you are looking for a more affordable experience, you can try the following places:
There are plenty of transport options that will take you up to the resorts from here so this is a great alternative.
The resort is located about 56 kilometers to the east of Chile’s capital, Santiago. It is a scenic 1.5-hour drive on the G-21 road from the city. Getting to the resort on this road is the best route and takes you to the Farellones after a steady steep climb.
The travel time on the G-21 road ideally takes an hour. However, this time can be impacted by factors including traffic volumes and restrictions on the one-way traffic road. The road also has many switchbacks which require careful driving and further lengthen the journey. Lastly, the journey is a steady steep climb on a 1,890 to 2,490-meter elevation gain.
As you get to Farellones Town, the road forks. Turning left takes you through Farellones Town and eventually to the El Colorado ski area and La Parva resort. The right turn proceeds past Santa Teresa’s cliffs and backcountry terrain to the Valle Nevado resort.
El Colorado Is located inland from the capital city of Chile. Visitors arrive via the Santiago International Airport and either rent 4 x 4 flat-bed SUVs or take shuttles to the resort.
Public Shuttles are the most recommended and economical form of city and airport transfer. However, the journey may take longer as they pick and drop off passengers at various locations in the city. That said, they are the best options if you’re on a shoestring budget.
You may also rent a 4 x 4 vehicle or an SUV. Getting a rental vehicle is advantageous as it helps you access more places. However, if you intend to stay for several days, you’ll end up parking the vehicle for the duration, racking up the cost of the trip. That said. if you decide to rent a car, keep in mind the following:
Some helpful tips for safe driving include:
El Colorado is located about a 1.5-hour drive from Chile’s capital, Santiago. The most convenient way to get to the resort from Santiago is via the G-21 road that climbs steadily to the resort.
Valle Nevado gets a high average snowfall of about 300 inches (762 cm) per year. To complement the natural snow, the resort has artificial snowmaking capacity with snowmaking machines that cover most of the slopes.
El Colorado features 1,100 acres of skiable area, which also includes the Farellones ski area.
Yes, there is ample parking at El Colorado at a fee. When you arrive, the resort’s staff will guide you to an open spot where you can park your car overnight or for several days if you intend to stay longer.
Yes, the El Colorado Ski Resort is the perfect place to learn to ski or snowboard with several easy runs on gentle slopes, surface lifts, gear rentals, and skiing and snowboarding lessons. Most of the beginner runs and family-friendly amenities including non-ski activities can be found in the Farellones section of the ski area.
Yes, you do. The local administration requires that all vehicles driving up to the elevated ski areas carry snow chains. Ensure that the tire chains match your vehicle’s wheels and remember to read the vehicle manufacturer’s specifications. You’ll find lots of places to purchase or rent snow chains at the resort and in Santiago.