Welcome to Chile!

The History of skiing as a sport in Chile began in 1931 when Francisco Guerrero and other influential members of Chilean society created the Ski Club of Chile. At the time, they hired Gunter Oeltze von Lobenthal, a world-class ski instructor from Austria who created and shaped the first ski area in Chile 60 miles from Santiago deep into the Valley of Maipo in the Central Andes. With no lifts to take them to the top, Guerrero, von Lobernthal, and his buddies rode mules and hiked all day just to glide down the snow-covered hills of the Chilean Central Andes on their skis.

ski cultural adventure

Without doubt, Lobenthal and his buddies were the pioneers of skiing as a sport in Chile. Before them, skiing had been a means of transportation from one side of the Andes to the other. At the end of the nineteen century, two Olympic skiers from Norway, Elmer Rosenquist and Michael Hermundson, intended to run a postal service that would have connected the east and west sides of The Andes on skis. However, extreme weather conditions and lack of resources made them give up their idea. By 1913, Fernando Valdivieso Valdes, a Chilean diplomat who had lived in Norway for many years, decided to promote skiing in Chile by organizing a big hiking excursion to the Maipo Volcano. The enthusiasm generated by this event in the Chilean community supported the foundation of the Ski Club of Chile.

Suddenly skiing as a sport became very popular among wealthy members of Chilean society. The very same year of the Maipo volcano event, the Ski Club of Chile decided to look around for another much closer place to practice the sport. They heard about a mining area called Farellones just a few miles from Santiago, but the Andes are so tall in that spot that it was difficult to access. The first successful ski expedition to go to Farellones installed a based camp in Corral Quemado at the based of The Central Andes, and from there they started their mule pilgrimage-riding to Farellones. By 1932, the Ski Club of Chile had organized many excursions to Farellones. Many of them took advantage of the new mining roads and trucks that used to depart daily from Saint Enrique square in Santiago to Paulina Village at the base of the Central Andes, and from there to Farellones at 10,000 feet of altitude. Because of the difficult access to the minerals in the Andes, the mining route to Farellones was built in a very wavy and difficult place with more than 50 U turns. In a few months The Ski Club of Chile built the first lodge in Farellones where skiers could stay overnight, protected from the weather. By 1935, Augustin Edwards Budge, a rich man of the time, built another but much more modern lodge and a few cabins in Farellones. Later that year, a local company named Middleton & Roi S.A. built thirty more cabins and founded the little Andean Village of Farellones. The Village was built thanks to Mr. Hans von Kiesling who sold part of his land to the grandson of Domingo Santa Maria Sanchez, Ex-President of Chile. It was them and the recently founded German Ski Club of Chile that really developed ski as a sport in Chile.

The internationally influential leaders of these two organizations arranged contests, and invited world-class skiers from all around the world to ski Chile in the middle of the summer. The word-of-mouth spread, and in later years skiers from all around the world came to Chile to enjoy an endless winter. With time, many Chilean ski areas were founded, such as Quebrada de Morales, Farellones, Portillo, la Parva, and Lagunillas. Later on, in 1942, the Chilean Ski Federation, and the Ski Patrols Association of Chile joined the list.

Today, the Chilean Andes boast more than twelve ski areas of which at least three: Valle Nevado, Portillo, and Termas de Chillan, are world-class ski resorts. We hope you will allow us to share with you this rich heritage.