Portillo: A Skiing Oasis in the Southern Hemisphere
We are delighted to welcome Alps & Meters Chief Tradition Officer, Dan Egan, who writes this piece for the Journal about his fondness for Portillo and its rich history.
I’ve skied Portillo Chile several times and the experience of heading to the airport on a hot summer’s day with my ski bag, ski boots and winter gear is a sojourn to another planet. The overnight flight lands you in Santiago around mid-morning, where you quickly catch the shuttle and head up the valley to the snow-covered mountains and a winter “Oasis” in the middle of the Andes Mountains.
The resort sits on the boarder of Argentina within sight of Aconcagua the highest peak in the southern hemisphere on a plateau that is dreamlike. The ski area sits in an Amphitheater with rugged cathedral peaks surrounding the steep powder slopes and the bright yellow hotel sitting on the edge of Inca Lake where the reflection of the sky and snow enhances the feeling of the place.
Could this be heaven? Every summer since 1961, for skiers and riders from around the globe, it is. Ski Portillo is like ultimate ski festival for enthusiast from every walk of life, every afternoon there is teatime, and you could find yourself standing next to Mikaela Shiffrin the best ski racer on the planet on one side of you and Big Mountain Legend Chris Davenport on the other side of you. Across the room could be sitting an Austrian Downhill Champion hanging out with an actress from Brazil and in between there are kids running around playing as a melody of foreign languages ring out in laughter and delight of ski adventures and tall tales.
And how on did this all come about, well like many ski towns the story starts with a train. As early as 1887, the railroad connected travelers from Santiago Chile through the mountain towns, farms and up to the high mountain pass where there was a train station and a military base on the boarder of Argentina. What followed the train was the only paved road from Santiago to Argentina following up the same ascent up the valley complete with 36 180-degree switchback turns. And on this high mountain plateau the Chilean Government built a grand hotel in 1940 for travelers, ski lifts were added shortly afterwards.
Since the early days the resort had notable ski school directors such as internationally renowned French ski champion Emile Allais, who stayed until the mid-1950s when Stein Eriksen, the famous Norwegian ski racer, assumed the ski-school helm. The Purcell Family purchased the hotel and lifts in 1961 and quickly hired
Olympic gold medalist Othmar Schneider to lead the ski school and to put the resort on the map as the first ski resort in the Southern Hemisphere.
The notoriety of a living legend as head of the ski school has always added to the flavor of the resort, the list of Ski School Directors reads like the who’s who of the International Ski Hall of Fame, from Schieder to Pepi Stigler, Sigi Grottendorfer, Pepi Stiegler and American PSIA standouts like Jimmy Akerson, Michael Rogan, and Robin Barnes have all added to the mystic of Ski Portillo.
Henry Purcell who was hired by his Uncle Bob Purcell to run the resort knew that he had to impact the winter world, so he hosted the 1966 World Ski Championships, and the world came to the Andes and discovered the magic of Ski Portillo.
“Just the experience of coming down the stairs into the “Ski Boot Room” and having the man behind the desk remember my name, room number each day with my boots warmed and waiting was an attention to detail unmatched at even the best European resorts.”
“What was so special about the “66” World Championships was all of the ski racers living under one roof,” says Purcell, “And we had amazing conditions with lots of snow and the top ski racers in the world got to show their skills on our slopes.”
It was a major turning point for this young resort as the likes of Olympic Champion Jean Claud Killy, Canadian superstar Nancy Green, Austrian ski legend Egon Zimmerman and Italian gold medal winner Carlos Senorer, as well as countless others all fell in love with skiing in the summer.
The speed skiers had already discovered the place, US Ski and Snowboard Hall of Famer, Dick Dorworth set the World Speed Skiing Record in Portillo in 1963 traveling straight down the track at 106mph, then in the 1970s Steve McKinney stunned the skiing world by first breaking the 120mph mark in summer of 1977 and in then he smashed the 200 kph barrier in 1978 on the same track.
The lift system adds a dimension all its own in Portillo. There are two, one of a kind poma lifts at the resort which pulls five people at a time up the mountain, the lifts specially built for the avalanche danger in the area have no towers and were installed in 1963. There is no traditional unloading station at the top of the steep and in the words of Purcell, skiers and riders are left to “figure it out” when it comes to unloading. Trust me when I tell you it takes some coordination to get five people off a poma lift with your skis pointed directly up the slope. It is interesting, challenging, and uniquely Portillo.
“if you look closely, you can see another set of tracks next to ours, that set of tracks was made by two skiers who late at night overheard our filming plans for the next day and poached our line before we could organize our camera crew in the next morning.”
Over the years Warren Miller and countless other film companies have captured this summer ski destination. I traveled there for my first visit with Kevin Andrews in 1989 for Warren’s film “Born to Ski”, the place blew me away. Just the experience of coming down the stairs into the “Ski Boot Room” and having the man behind the desk remember my name, room number each day with my boots warmed and waiting was an attention to detail unmatched at even the best European resorts.
Skiing down the wide-open slope to Inca Lake is a transformative experience between the color of the water, the reflection of the sky mixed in with the legend that the lake is enchanted, and on some nights you can hear eerie, mournful cries across the lake from the spirit of an Incan prince who lost his beloved bride, puts in you in a surreal state of mind.
However, even with all of the skiing and surrounding beauty, it’s the hotel that is hard to forget. Painted in bright yellow, this grand old hotel is similar to a cruise ship in so many ways, from the bakery to the elegance of the lobby and dining room, the five-star service from dawn to dusk, and the atmosphere of 450 guests all staying in one place. You get to know everyone during your week in Portillo, from the gathering for meals, volleyball games, late nights in the bar and disco, plus the driving force that you are all there for one reason and one reason only and that is to ski and ride creates a bond and memories that last.
This close-knit atmosphere was never more prevalent to me than in the filming of the movie “Born to Ski”. In one of the closing shots of the segment, Kevin and I ski the open powder slopes above the train tracks and leave 75 powder eight turns and then we jump the train trestle over the tracks. It was the longest recorded shot in the history of a Warren Miller Film at the time. And if you look closely, you can see another set of tracks next to ours, that set of tracks was made by two skiers who late at night overheard our filming plans for the next day and poached our line before we could organize our camera crew in the next morning. Later that day those two skiers stole our thunder at the bar bragging about how they beat the “Warren Miller guys to the best run of the day.” And all we could do is buy them a round of drinks all night long and party side by side with them along with the other hotel guest. This is what memories are made of and this is what Ski Portillo brings to life every summer.