Ski Portillo, Chile

In this episode we go south…way south to the Andes Mountains in Chile. My guest today lives and works in the mountains 12 months a year. In the winter Katie White is in charge of all instructor training at the Yellowstone Club in Wyoming and is a PSIA-AASI Examiner, in the summer, she is the Ski School Director for Ski Portillo.

Portillo is unlike any other ski resort in the world. It is approximately 2 hrs by car from Chile’s capital, Santaigo. A small resort by US standards, this resort isfamily owned, has world class skiing for all levels of skier and crea tes a “live-in community” similar to a small ski town. 

Find Katie White

My Favs

• Best Restaurant – Main Dining Room - Hotel Portillo

• Best Hotel - Hotel Portillo - the only hotel in town- comfortable and done with excellence

• Best Apres - Tio Bobs - best apres south of Taos

• Best Run- Cruce Lake Run

• Don’t miss – Sunrise or sunset on the lake.

Episode Transcript

Welcome to Where to Ski with me, your host, John Morgan. Today we go south, way south to the Andes Mountains in Chile. My guest today lives and works in the mountains 12 months a year.

In the winter, Katie White is in charge of all instructor training at the Yellowstone Club in Wyoming. She's also a PSAA examiner. In the summer, she's the ski school director for Ski Portillo.

Portillo is unlike any other ski resort in the world. It's approximately two hours by car from Chile's capital, Santiago. This resort is family-owned, has world-class skiing for all levels of skier, and creates a live-in community similar to a small ski town.

Katie, thanks for joining us today. Let's talk Portillo. All right, yeah.

Portillo is one of the friendliest places I've ever been. It's beautiful. It's just awe-inspiring.

You're way, way up there in the Andes. What is it about Portillo that makes it so special, that many people take the time to travel there and go back again and again and again? Well, you're right. It is a very friendly place.

And I think that has to do a lot with the people that work there. And the Purcell family has owned Portillo for, gosh, it's over 50 years now. And one of the things that makes Portillo so special for me and so friendly for me is when I come back every year, I see so many of the same familiar faces.

People who have been working at Portillo for, you know, 30, 40, 50 years, and they're always smiling and welcoming you back. And I think people really get that sense of family when they show up to Portillo. And then I think another piece of it that is really a draw for skiers and snowboarders is the views, you know, the hotel positioned right on the Laguna del Inca.

It looks like something out of a fantasy story land that, you know, you don't really expect even exists. And you get there, and it's even more beautiful than what the pictures show. So I think those are probably the two main things.

And then it's world-class mountains, as you know, John. And, yeah, it's amazing, amazing groomers. We get race teams down there training because it's the off-season, and we get lots of big mountaineers and people wanting to do expeditions because there's just endless, endless terrain to get out and explore.

You get families down there too, a lot of families. They come down for a week and get their summer skiing in. Yeah, exactly.

It's a great place for families because it's just a hotel. There's not really a town. The nearest town is Rio Blanco and Los Andes, you know, just over an hour away.

And so because it's the hotel in the middle of the Andes, I like to call it, it's like a cruise ship, and we're in the mountains for the week. But, yeah, it's a great family place because we do have really great beginner terrain for people looking to learn to ski. But there's also things to do for kids and families outside of skiing.

You know, they have the beautiful pool, and they have a game room, and they do lots of different activities throughout the week, and we have a ski race. Even for beginners, we do a race on the magic carpet for the little kids so they can partake, and then we have an awards ceremony in the evening. There's a lot of really great family activities that people do together, and because everything's so close and your hub is the hotel, it's really easy to go out and ski but still swing by the kids' group lessons and see how they're doing, and you see them out on the hill, and it is really special.

A lot of families come year after year, and that's another thing that makes Portillo so friendly is the repeat clientele that make it part of their yearly stop. I love talking to people that have fun with their job. I can tell from the way you describe it that it's just part of your life and part of your DNA.

The first time I went to Portillo, I drove up from Santiago. It's a long plane flight, and then you get there, and you drive a couple of hours, and then all of a sudden, you see this hill. You've done it a few more times than I have.

What's your impression of driving up from the vineyards around Santiago and then seeing these 16, 21, whatever it is, 22 switchbacks? You just go straight up into the air to get there. Yeah. The first time I did it, well, it's an international highway, so it goes from Chile up and over the Andes pretty much through the Andes Mountains and over into Argentina, so we get a lot of international traffic and trucks.

My first time going up, there was a snowstorm, and we were slow moving, and I was just soaking it all in. You're on like 50. There's 50 switchbacks that take you all the way up to Portillo.

I think at about curve, I can't remember if it's like curve 30 maybe, you start to see the base of the ski resort, and you see the chair that goes down the lowest called Hunkalillo, and the first time I saw that, I remember thinking like, this cannot be real because the chair goes right over the international highway, and I could not wait to get on that chair and ride it, and you really do. You get on the chair, and as you're riding up, you can look down and you go over the switchbacks, and I always play this game with kids when I'm riding. We try to get the trucks and the cars to honk at us while we're riding on the chair and see how many vehicles we can get to honk on our way up.

How long have you been at Portillo? I did six seasons as an instructor, and then I just completed my seventh season as the ski school director. My, what brings you back? I know you love skiing, but that's a long trip. It's a hard lifestyle skiing 12 months a year, but there must be something about Portillo that brings you back every year.

Yeah, definitely the people. I feel like I've found a second family, a second home in Portillo. I love skiing and being out in the mountains, but I actually am a very, like, I love warm weather too, so it's kind of funny that I've wound up doing this endless winter, but yeah, I don't know.

There's something really special about being able to ski in the summer months, and I never thought that would be something I would do with my life, and it's just been really fun, and I've enjoyed every second of it, and I love the challenge of living in a place where I have to speak a second language and a third language. We have a lot of Brazilian clients who speak Portuguese, so yeah, I could go on and on about why I go back. It's a really special place, and it's like home.

Let's talk a little bit about the skiing down there. We've talked about the fact that there's quite a range of skiing, everything from ranked beginners all the way through advanced mountaineers, everything. What's an expert take a look at when they go down there? What's a great day for them to go ski? For our expert terrain, I mean, within the bounds of Portillo Ski Resort, there is some of the most epic steep skiing.

We have the famous lift Rocajac, which I believe you trained on when you were down there. So it's a steep, what they call a Va et Viente lift. It's a come and go lift or a surface lift, but it's basically a poma that's been constructed to not get knocked down.

There's no towers. It's all fixated on the rocks above, and they designed it so that they could get people access to the steep avalanche terrain. So when an avalanche falls, it doesn't knock the lift towers down.

Definitely recommend to people listening that they should YouTube and search Rocajac Ski Portillo. There's some amazing videos of what it is and my explanation isn't doing it justice, but so off of Rocajac, you know, just skiing directly down the lift is amazing, but there's the Traversia, the Traverse that you can take all the way out above the next lift, Caracara, and then all the way out. And there's so many different chutes and aspects and different things to ski in.

And yeah, I'm still having fun finding new, new things to ski and challenge myself on. We also have the famous lake run. So on the other side of the mountain above Tio Bob's, the restaurant, you take Condor up and you leave.

It's more of like a, it is controlled, but it's more of like a side country. You go through the gate and you ski this run that goes straight down towards the Laguna del Inca. And, and then you come back on a, on the, the Inca walk, the Traverse and you're walking, you're probably like 200 feet above the lake and you're on this cliff wall.

And there's this little path carved out and you're walking with your skis on. And it's just so special because you're looking back at the hotel and you could see the lake and those two things. Like if you can get up on the Traverse and like run that, that pretty much makes any advanced skiers day.

And I know anytime I get a chance to do those things, it, it really is. It feels special and it feels extreme and it is extreme. Yes, it is.

I've been on both of those and they are. When you can touch your elbow to the hill, it's pretty steep. Yeah, exactly.

Does it make sense to try and get an instructor as a guide for a day? is there a place that you can go to if you go down there and so they can lead you through some of the places, especially somebody who's never been there before, or is it pretty well marked and you can go on your own? I mean, things are marked. I, I think as with any, you know, big mountain type terrain, it is helpful to go with someone who, you know, even the most expert skiers it's, it's helpful to have that local knowledge and, you know, especially if you're only going to be with someone for one day and then have the rest of the week to explore, it can be really good to get that information of what skiing well, where to look out for rocks. Portillo is all above treeline.

So if you don't know the terrain, you know, and you get a day where it's cloudy or flat light, it can be really helpful to have some of that local knowledge. And then also, you know, the, the nice thing about Portillo, it, it sometimes feels like it's a private resort because generally during the week, it's really only the hotel guests that are skiing there. And if we've had snow recently, a lot of times there's powder stashes that could be found like days after a storm.

And so hiring, hiring a guide is a good thing because they can take you to those powder stashes and, or at least point them out to you. So you know where to go to get the goods. What about regular skiers? People that don't like to touch their elbows to the side of the hill.

Yeah, there's, there's plenty to ski for regular skiers. And, and I, I think it's a great place to progress too. And yeah, there's, there's amazing groomers.

And again, because during the week it's really only the hotel guests, the slopes are never really that crowded. And so you can get lots and lots of laps in and lots of vertical and really work on your technique. And that's one of the things that inspired me as an instructor, I was going down there training for my instructor qualifications and you know, our ski school is pretty much fully certified and has, gosh, I think we have 12 or 13 countries represented within our ski school.

And so, yeah, there's a lot of talent there and a lot of people to learn from and, and everyone that is on staff is very passionate about teaching people to ski and passionate about being in the mountains. And yeah, it's just, it's, it's a great place to learn and progress. And you talked a bit about the ski school.

What really different, a past having, I think 16 nationalities, you just said, and being able to teach a lot of different levels, what it is about the ski school down there that sets it apart? It's pretty unique. It is. Yeah.

I mean, historically it's always been a, a school with smaller numbers. So, you know, anywhere from 30 to 45, maybe 50 instructors on a really busy year and because, but that's really in the, in the ski school realm, it's fairly small. And so it's always been a school with the requirement being, you must be fully certified and generally bilingual.

And so we get a lot of, a lot of amazingly experienced instructors down there and what sets it apart is that because it's so competitive to get hired there, it's generally the best of the best. And people, you know, as, as my role more recently as the director, I've been thinking about how, well, how can I make an impact with people who have just as much, if not more experience than I do. And I'm surely not going to be the one telling them how to teach a ski lesson.

They could probably teach me how to teach a ski lesson, but what I can do is I can assemble a team of, you know, the most inspiringly passionate people out there and, and hopefully inspire our clients and, and just get people really amped on being in the mountains. So what's the best time to go to Portillo? It's open from what June until beginning of September, end of August, something like that. Yeah, we, we will open this year.

We're set to open June 24th, although they'll open early and they opened early last year if, if there's enough snow. So hopefully that's the case. And we usually are scheduled to close towards the end of September.

So the, the Chilean independence day it's called DSCO show is September 18th. And there's always a push to make it, you know, through the 18th because it's a big, big celebration and great to be open for, you know, people to come ski on their, their independence holiday. And, you know, July can be really fun.

It's, if you're looking for a cultural experience, lots of South Americans are there Brazilians you'll, it's really cool. You get to hear like Portuguese and Spanish and, you know, just be exposed to the different languages and cultures. August is typically more when more North Americans come down and can be when the most snowfall is expected.

So great for big mountain skiers and people who want to come down and find a group of North Americans to ski or ride with. And then September is a bit of a mix and, and can be, you know, that sunny spring skiing. So it depends on what people are looking for.

I have a hard time thinking spring skiing in September. So past, you know, you've talked a little bit about some of the other things to do there besides just ski, ski, ski. And it is a bit like a cruise ship.

It's its own little self-sufficient entity. There is a lot to do there and you know, there's everything from good kids programs to every, you know, there's T.O. Bob's, which you mentioned a little while ago, there's all sorts of stuff. T.O. Bob's gets wild.

T.O. Bob's does. I mean, there's nothing more fun than, you know, skiing a lake run lap or skiing Condor and then taking the chair up and having lunch at T.O. Bob's with a pisco sour on, you know, in soaking in the views. There's our, our torchlight parade that the ski school puts on on Fridays and the, the events team puts together a marshmallow roasting for kids while that's happening.

There's the pool, which, you know, is beautiful and hot tubs and we have a gym and sauna spa. What else do we have? There's live music every night at 10 30 in the bar and then the disco is open at midnight. So the weeks fly by and it's, it's always super fun and there's lots of things going on.

And in September, I forgot to mention to the, a lot of the teams come down and our race training. So you can watch like world-class ski racers train for, you know, a couple of runs. And, and that's really inspiring and cool to see and not something you get at most ski resorts.

No, you don't. And they're very relaxed there. So they'll actually have a chance to talk to you.

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. You've been, you do a lot of skiing.

You do a lot of coaching and instruction. What's your philosophy about skiing and instructing your own personal? Well, this is probably more philosophy about like how I, how I like to get down the mountain. But I also feel like it applies to my philosophy on life and managing and, and everything, but it's, it's really just finding the flow and fluidity through movement and having continuous forward motion.

So how can we move down the hill in the most fluid way as possible? And I, I talk about that in a lot of ways, like more technically when I'm training instructors or working with clients. And similarly, like how can we get through life in the most fluid graceful ways possible? And yeah, that that's been, that's been really fun. I I'm not sure if that applies to exactly what you meant by your questions.

That's right. That's right on target, right on target. So your best day at Portillo, what would that be? What would that look like? Assuming it's a beautiful sunny day and it's dumped.

Well, yeah. So my best day at Portillo, gosh, I've had so many of them more recently on more of a day off, I suppose I would get up and have breakfast with my, my teammates and then have a group of us go ski, maybe lap Roka Jack, get some exciting new terrain in. And it's always fun to go tick off a new, a new thing that we haven't skied yet as a group.

And, and then I do really enjoy going to Tio Bob's and when I'm, when I'm not working, having a pisco sour and then, yeah, maybe walking down to the lake and doing a lake jump. That's always fun. It's cold, but invigorating and winding up in the hot tub and then dinner and dinner and a couple of drinks in the bar with good friends and some dancing.

I think that's my very doable in Portillo. That sounds awesome. I've heard, you know, if I remember right, the food in Portillo also is just exquisite too.

It's different, but it's really good. It is. Yeah.

The food is amazing. And, and you get exposed to a lot of different things and, and, you know, we have a lot of similarities and types of food that we eat in North America and what they eat in South America, but there's definitely some, some new things that you try and the seafood there is amazing being so close to the Pacific. It's always, it's always a win.

So if, when our listeners get to Portillo, how do they get in contact with you or some of your staff down there and what's the best way to go about it? The best way? Well, you know, you could always contact me before, before showing up to Portillo if you're interested in, in information or booking an instructor and best way is your email. And, but when you arrive to Portillo, you can, I would highly suggest taking a tour of the hotel with Felipe Lopez. He's been in Portillo for years and he's so welcoming and such a friendly face for the guests.

And he will point out our ski school office and he will point out my office. And yeah, that's really, it's, it's a small place, so it'd be hard to miss, miss me or miss someone that you're trying to connect with there, which is again, why it's so special. Well, Katie White, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us about Portillo.

When you go, you might see Katie line up when ski school starts each day, or you might run into her after skiing. You might even run into a T.O. Bob's if it's day off. If you like our podcast, please share them and listen to perspectives in other areas like San Anton, Palisades, Jackson Hole, Sugarbush and others.

Thanks for joining. Thanks, John.