2027 ski season: when each resort opens in Chile and Argentina

The question arrives every year, earlier each time: when does the ski season open? It is worth starting with the honest answer, because that is the one that saves money.

The 2027 dates do not exist yet

No ski resort in Chile or Argentina has confirmed its 2027 opening, and that is not disorganisation: the date depends on the snow that falls, and resorts usually announce it between April and May, a few weeks before opening.

Any site publishing an exact 2027 date today is making it up. This article gets updated when the resorts confirm, but in the meantime what is useful for planning is the pattern of recent years, which is fairly stable.

The pattern: when each season opens and closes

• Chile (resorts near Santiago). Mid-June to the end of September, stretching into early October in heavy snow years.
• Argentina (Bariloche and Villa La Angostura). Mid to late June through September, and sometimes October.
• Ushuaia, further south, has the longest season: mid-June to early October.

What happened in 2026, which is the best guide

These were the real dates last season:

• Valle Nevado, El Colorado and La Parva: opened on 19 June.
• Farellones: around 20 June.
• Portillo: opened on 20 June, with closing scheduled for 26 September.
• Cerro Bayo, in Villa La Angostura: 18 June, the first of all.
• Cerro Catedral, in Bariloche: here is the most useful lesson of all. The opening was scheduled for 29 June and the season ended up starting on 6 July, a week later.

That one-week delay at the largest ski resort in South America is exactly why you do not book a flight for opening week.

How to plan without the date

• Do not travel during opening week. It is the one week that can move, and it does. If the announced date is late June, the first safe week is the one after.
• The most reliable window does not change from year to year: the second half of July to mid-August, when snow is at its deepest and almost everything is running. See month by month where the most snow falls in Chile and in Bariloche, the best time to ski near Santiago and where there was most snow in September.
• If you travel at the start or end of the season, favour altitude. Valle Nevado and Portillo, being higher, hold snow when lower resorts have already lost cover.
• Leave a spare day in the itinerary. The mountain road can close after heavy snowfall, and flexibility keeps you from losing the trip's only snow day.

Is it worth booking before the date is announced?

It is, and that is the real reason to read this in September rather than May. Flights are the biggest cost of the trip, and booking three to six months ahead is the difference between the low and the high price band. In the Bariloche budget and the Chile one, that lead time is the single decision that moves the total most.

What is worth leaving until later is the lift pass and the mountain day: those get booked once the season is confirmed and the week's weather is known.