La Parva Skiing, Chile, South America
Introduction to La Parva Skiing
The La Parva skiing village is located at an altitude of 2,750m, rising to 3,630m, and is not far from one of the highest mountain peaks in the Andes – “El Plomo” at 6,050m, on the western-facing slopes of the Andes, clearly visible on a clear day from the Las Condes area of Santiago
It is one of the ski villages located in the Andes Mountains close to Santiago (48km by road from the eastern, Las Condes suburb of Santiago). It is mainly an up-market residential ski village where there are private apartments and houses, which creates more of a traditional ski village setting and not a ski resort like Valle Nevado and Portillo. Typically, it is the “better off” Chileans who frequent La Parva because they have a second home here. It is a west facing mountain and therefore gets a lot of sun during the day.
The pisted ski area is spread in a mainly long area as opposed to covering a large horizontal area, but there are some decent runs for all levels of skier as well as backcountry, off-piste access.
La Parva Infrastructure
Location: Directly east of Santiago
Road Distance from Santiago: 48km
Skiing Altitude: 2,750m (9,022ft) to 3,630m (11,909ft)
Vertical Drop: 880m (2,887ft)
Longest Run: 4km
Pisted Terrain: 30 Runs, 15% Beginner, 45% Intermediate, 30% Advanced, 10% Expert
Backcountry Access: Excellent
Heliski: Yes
Historical Seasonal Snow Dump: 6m
Lifts:15
Combined Ski Trail Distance: 38km
Three Valleys: Part of the Three Ski Valley network with La Parva and Valle Nevado
Ski Rental Shop: 1 / Bar: 1 / Restaurants: 5 / Mountain Restaurant at: 3,100m
The Three Valleys
La Parva, officially, has 30 pisted trails, but is also part of the “Three Valley” complex of la Parva, El Colorado (5km away and on the same western side of the Andes) and Valle Nevado, literally over the other side of the Andes from La Parva and El Colorado, thus offering a combined ski area of over 100km of pistes.
Getting Here
In order to get to La Parva you need to take the mountain road up to all the Santiago ski centres and this starts at the eastern end of the Las Condes district of Santiago. The road continues in an upward direction, around numerous curves, until reaching a junction whereupon turning left leads to La Parva and turning right leads to Valle Nevado.
La Parva is about 48km by road from Las Condes and it will take around 1.5hrs to get here allowing for traffic and navigating all the curves. Naturally, if ExperienceChile.Org is arranging your ski week at La Parva, we will include the up and down transfers required.
Note: The road leading up to La Parva, El Colorado, Farellones and Valle Nevado has restrictions of direction. On Weekends, and public holidays it is one way only going up between 08:00hrs to 14:00hrs. Then it is one way only coming down between 16:00hrs and 20:00hrs. There are fines if you are caught going in the wrong direction at the wrong time, as well as it being dangerous.
Accommodation and Ski Weeks at La Parva
All accommodation for visitors is in self-catering, fully-furnished apartments with easy access to the piste.
Options for ski weeks are restricted to:
7 Nights, Self-Catering Apartments:
In Friday / Out Friday
In Sunday / Out Sunday
ExperienceChile.Org will be please to arrange a ski week (or longer) itinerary. Please just ask.
