South America's most legendary ski resort with historic wine cellar

Portillo is South America's most legendary ski resort, hosting the 1966 World Championships where Jean-Claude Killy made history. The iconic yellow hotel sits above Laguna del Inca, and the wine cellar features Chile's finest producers paired with Continental-Chilean cuisine.

What to do there

6 things to do

1. 1 Stand at the Shore Where an Inca Princess Sleeps History · Free

   Laguna del Inca is a glacial lake at 2,853m whose color shifts emerald to deep blue depending on the hour. Incan legend says Prince Illi Yupanqui married his princess Kora-llé here in the high Andes; she fell from a cliff during the ceremony and was laid to rest wrapped in white on the lake floor. As she sank, the crystalline blue of her eyes dyed the water forever — which is why this lake has never kept a single color.

   Where: Laguna del Inca shoreline, directly in front of Hotel Portillo at the south end of the lake. GPS: -32.8167, -70.1333. Park at the hotel lot (free) and walk 5 minutes to the water's edge.

   What: A 4km-long glacial lake at 2,853m, formed when Quaternary glaciers retreated and left boulder moraines that dammed the Andean basin. The color you see — that shifting aquamarine — isn't a trick of photography. It genuinely changes from vivid emerald in morning light to deep blue by afternoon depending on the angle of sunlight hitting the peaks. The Inca legend explains this better than geology.

   How: Walk the Mirador viewpoint trail (0.6 miles, 82 ft gain, 30-60 min round trip) for the elevated perspective over the whole lake with Hotel Portillo's yellow facade and the snow peaks behind it. For the full circumnavigation: 3.1 miles, 2-2.5 hours, no entry fee. Go mid-afternoon for the deepest blue. If you're here in winter (ski season), the lake may be partially frozen — watch for ice patterns from the hotel terrace. No ticket, no booking, no queue.

   Backup: Even just standing at the hotel entrance and looking at the lake is the experience. The yellow hotel reflected in aquamarine with 4,000m peaks behind it is one of the most photographed mountain scenes in South America. You can see everything from here on zero effort.

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2. 2 Ride the Only Lift of Its Kind on Earth — Then Ski the Slope Where 200kph Was First Broken Adventure · Price: high

   In 1978, Steve McKinney pointed himself down a Portillo slope and became the first human to break 200 km/h on skis — 200.222 km/h exactly. The slope still exists. And to reach the terrain above it, you board one of Portillo's four Va et Vient slingshot lifts — the only four lifts of this design on the planet, invented specifically because normal tower lifts would be destroyed by the avalanches that sweep this terrain.

   Where: Portillo ski area, Roca Jack / Condor terrain zone. Access via the Va et Vient slingshot lifts at the top of the trail map. GPS of resort base: -32.8333, -70.1333. Season runs June 21–September 27, 2025.

   What: The Va et Vient (French: 'come and go') lifts were designed by Poma in the 1960s after engineers determined it was impossible to install conventional chairlift towers in the avalanche paths. The solution: a cable anchored directly into the rock face, with a horizontal bar suspending 4-5 poma discs, pulling 5 skiers side-by-side like waterskiers at roughly 20x the speed of a normal poma. No towers. Nothing between you and the mountain. In 1977, McKinney first broke 120 mph here. In 1978, on the same slope, he broke 200 km/h — 200.222 km/h — first human ever. That record held for 4 years.

   How: Ski Weeks from $3,050/person include 8 days of lift access, 4 meals/day, all events. Day lift tickets: $52-$130 USD depending on date. Book weeks at skiportillo.com (advance booking essential; Wine Weeks sell out). The Va et Vient has a short instructional video on the resort site — watch it before your first attempt. Key advice: form a plan with your riding partners; skiers disembark one at a time from the end without the safety rope. First-timers fall. This is expected and acceptable.

   Backup: If the expert terrain is too gnarly, the main chairlifts access 70% intermediate-to-advanced terrain. Portillo is also a legitimate intermediate mountain — you don't have to go near the slingshot lifts to have an extraordinary day.

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3. 3 Toast the 1966 World Championship at the Table Where Fidel Castro Left His Pistol History · Price: moderate

   In 1966, Portillo hosted the only alpine World Ski Championships ever held in the Southern Hemisphere. But first, a typhoon with 125 mph winds destroyed the entire resort. They rebuilt everything — hotel, slopes, infrastructure — in under eleven months. Then Jean-Claude Killy arrived and won his first World Championship here, launching French dominance of the sport. Five years later, Fidel Castro came for lunch and left his loaded pistol on a chair. A waiter almost got shot retrieving it.

   Where: Hotel Portillo main dining room. GPS: -32.8333, -70.1333. This is the original dining room with leather-panelled walls where three-course meals are served daily — the same room where Castro ate in 1972.

   What: In 1972, as the Chilean Communist government debated nationalizing Portillo, Fidel Castro came to inspect. After lunch, he walked out — leaving his loaded pistol on the dining chair. A young server named Juan Beiza grabbed it and ran after the motorcade raising the gun toward Castro's departing security detail. The bodyguards nearly opened fire on everyone. Portillo was not nationalized. The dining room: still leather-panelled, still the same long tables, live music from 10:30pm until midnight. And in 1966, Chilean president Eduardo Frei Montalva stood on the podium here when Killy won in front of the entire country — the only time the Southern Hemisphere hosted a world championship.

   How: Dinner is included in all ski week packages. If arriving outside a ski week, the resort takes day visitors with advance notice. At dinner, look for the photos of the 1966 championships in the hotel lobby — the original race timing boards still reference that week. Ask the staff about the Castro story; older staff members know the full account. Wine list features an extensive selection of Chilean labels; request something from the Aconcagua Valley, whose vines you can see on the descent to Santiago.

   Backup: Even if you can't stay overnight, the hotel bar serves pisco sours and Chilean wine for non-guests during ski season. The history is on the walls either way.

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4. 4 Drink Chilean Wine at 3,000m with a Winemaker Who Made It Wine · Price: moderate

   During Wine Week, Portillo invites seven different Chilean wineries to send their actual winemakers to the resort — not reps, not sommeliers, the people who made the wine. They pour it at 2,835m altitude, where the thinned air makes everything more vivid. Matetic from the San Antonio Valley. Lapostolle from Colchagua. Tabalí from the Limarí desert. Casas del Bosque from Casablanca. Each day a different valley, a different story, and the same Laguna del Inca outside the window.

   Where: Hotel Portillo main event spaces and dining room, 2,835m altitude. GPS: -32.8333, -70.1333.

   What: Wine Week (July 26–August 2) and Wine Fest (August 23–30) in 2025 bring winemakers from: Matetic (San Antonio Valley), San Esteban (Aconcagua Valley), Anakena (Rapel Valley), Chocalán (Maipo Valley), Tabalí (Limarí Valley), Lapostolle (Colchagua Valley), and Casas del Bosque (Casablanca Valley). The tastings are daily, led by the producers themselves, and included in the resort ski week rate — no additional charge. There are wine trivia sessions; you can win bottles. The special wine-paired dinners upgrade the standard three-course service.

   How: Book a ski week during Wine Week or Wine Fest dates at skiportillo.com. Week rates start at $3,050/person (double occupancy, Valley View room) — includes 4 meals/day, 8 days lifts, all wine events. The Inca Lodge hostel option ($1,550/person/week) also includes all wine events. Book 6+ months ahead — Wine Week is the most popular week of the season and sells out. Request a Valle View room to taste while looking directly at the lake the princess dyed blue.

   Backup: If not here during Wine Week, the hotel's standard wine list features extensive Chilean selections at all meals. The general all-inclusive package still includes wine with every dinner.

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5. 5 Eat Grilled Salmon on a Deck Over the Inca Lake at 3,000m Adventure · Price: low

   Tío Bob's is the best on-mountain restaurant in South America, and it isn't close. A stone cabin at over 3,000m with a sun deck directly above Laguna del Inca, where condors ride thermals over the peaks while you drink Chilean Sauvignon Blanc and eat grilled salmon. On good afternoons, skiers stop skiing entirely and stay for hours. Sometimes they dance on the tables.

   Where: Tío Bob's mountain restaurant, on-piste at Portillo, approximately 3,000m altitude. Accessible by ski/snowboard from the main chairlifts during ski season — mid-mountain, above the hotel. GPS (approximate): -32.825, -70.130.

   What: A stone cabin with a large wraparound deck overlooking Laguna del Inca and the full sweep of the Andes surrounding the resort. Classic Chilean parrilla cuisine: grilled sausages, steaks, burgers, salmon. The grilled salmon with capers is the standout. Order a bottle of Chilean Sauvignon Blanc — local sommelier consensus pick for this setting. On sunny afternoons the deck gets crowded with après-ski: pisco sours, music, dancing on tables. Open into late afternoon so you can transition directly from skiing to drinking without going back to the hotel.

   How: Reach Tío Bob's by skiing down from the upper lifts during ski season. Lunch service typically runs 12:00–16:00 (hours vary by conditions). Budget roughly $20-40 USD per person for lunch including a glass of wine — exact prices subject to annual adjustment. The deck is on the south-facing side; best sun exposure between 1pm and 3pm. If a condor circles overhead — and they do — that's an Andean Condor with a 3.2m wingspan, the largest flying bird in the world. They nest in these peaks.

   Backup: The main hotel bar has similar Chilean wine selection and views of the lake from the terrace — accessible all day, not requiring skis. Equally solid pisco sours.

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6. 6 Descend Into Cellars Built in 1870 at the Winery That Came 2nd to Pétrus in Berlin Wine · Price: moderate · Optional

   Forty minutes from Portillo, down the Aconcagua Valley toward Santiago, Viña Errazuriz has maintained underground wine cellars since 1870 — original lime-and-stone construction, still intact. Their joint-venture wine Seña placed 2nd at the 2004 Berlin Wine Tasting, ahead of Pétrus and Opus One. This is where Chile's wine identity was built: a 150-year-old estate in the shadow of the Andes whose vines you can see from the Portillo ski runs above.

   Where: Viña Errazuriz, Panquehue, San Felipe, Aconcagua Valley — approximately 40 minutes west of Portillo on Route 60/57 toward Los Andes then north. GPS (approximate): -32.7485, -70.6890. Contact: [email protected] or call (56 34) 2 590139.

   What: Founded in 1870 by Don Maximiano Errazuriz — a name that appears on their benchmark Cabernet, 'Don Maximiano Founder's Reserve'. The original underground cellars use lime-and-stone construction unchanged from the 1870 build. In 1995, Errazuriz partnered with Robert Mondavi to create Seña — a wine that placed 2nd at the 2004 Berlin Tasting in a blind flight that included Pétrus, Opus One, and Masseto. The Aconcagua Valley produces Cabernet Sauvignon at altitude (up to 1,600m above sea level) where the diurnal temperature swings preserve acidity that rivals Bordeaux.

   How: Tours: Mon–Thu 09:30–17:00, Fri 09:30–15:00, first Saturday of the month 09:30–14:00 (closed Sundays). Cost: approximately $100,000 CLP per person (~$100 USD), minimum 2 people. Duration: 1.5 hours. Includes the Don Maximiano Estate House, underground cellars, vineyard walk, and tasting. Book at errazuriz.com or call in advance — private visits possible Mon–Thu. Ask specifically to taste the Don Maximiano Founder's Reserve and, if available, Seña. The cellar guide can tell the full Berlin Tasting story; prompt them if they don't volunteer it.

   Backup: If timing doesn't work for a full tour, the winery has a tasting room with shorter visits. Or, back at Hotel Portillo, ask for Chilean Aconcagua Valley wines at dinner — San Esteban (one of the Wine Week participants) is also in this valley and sometimes available by the bottle at the hotel.

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Insider tips

• Book full-board at the hotel - the wine-inclusive dinner is legendary

• The Roca Jack slingshot lifts are unique to Portillo - a must-experience

• Request a cellar tour for access to Chilean wine legends otherwise only in Santiago