Planning a Summer Ski Trip to Portillo: What to Know Before You Go

If a summer ski trip has ever been on your list, this is your sign to seriously consider Portillo, Chile.

In this episode, we’re breaking down everything you need to know to plan a Portillo summer ski trip—from when to go (their season kicks off June 20), to how the all-inclusive, ski-in/ski-out experience works, to why it’s one of the easiest international ski trips you can do with kids.

We talk through what makes Portillo so unique (think: no crowds, stunning Andes views, and a true unplugged feel), what a typical day looks like, and how to decide if it’s the right fit for your family—or for a moms’ getaway.

And for our Ski Moms community, there’s a special perk: you’ll receive 10% off your stay for bookings between June 20 and August 1. Just email reservations@skiportillo.com
and mention SKIMOMS to access the savings.

If you’ve been craving a ski trip that feels a little more special—and a lot more memorable—this is one to consider.

If your child lives for trail time and is constantly pushing limits on two wheels, we’ve found the summer experience that checks every box. Woodward PA’s Mountain Bike Camp is redefining what an action sports camp can be — blending epic adventure with professional coaching and a whole lot of fresh air.

Ski Moms can save $150 off summer camp. Use code skimoms www.woodwardpa.com/summer-camps/moun

Opening June 20, Portillo Chile is one of the most iconic ski destinations in the world—gorgeous, uncrowded, and incredibly easy for families since everything’s right on-site.

Ski Moms listeners get 10% off stays from June 20 to August 1.

Email reservations@skiportillo.com and mention SKIMOMS.

Celebrate your love of the laid-back ski life. Shop cozy gear made for the mellow skier:
 👉 Shop the Slow Skier’s Club

Transcript

peaker A: Welcome back to the Ski Moms podcast. It's season five and we're hitting the slopes. We're sharing real, unfiltered stories of motherhood on the snow. From conquering the bunny hill with toddlers to squeezing in your own powder days, this season celebrates every type of ski mom.

Thanks for joining us. We've got a great season lined up

Speaker B: and be sure to subscribe so you

Speaker A: never miss an episode. Ski Moms, it's Nicole. And today we are taking winter into our own hands.

Many of you had disappointing spring breaks or winter seasons because the snowfall wasn't what you expected in Colorado, in Utah, some of our very traditional spots.

And we want to let you know that you can recover from this disappointing season.

We think there's big, snowy things ahead for these regions in North America, but we want to talk about skiing in South America.

If you've ever hit marsh and thought, wait, I'm not done skiing yet. Well, this episode is for you. Because guess what? Winter isn't over.

You just have to chase it.

This week we're heading to Portillo, Chile,

one of the most iconic ski destinations in the world. It's tucked high into the Andes just outside Santiago.

Think wide open runs,

zero lift lines, and that unreal moment where you're skiing above a turquoise lake surrounded by jagged peaks.

It's a place where you truly unplug and just ski.

It's an all inclusive resort where you're going to experience fine dining, entertainment,

amazing ski school,

and you're really going to have an exceptional experience. And here's the best part. It happens during our summer. I've been there, I've skied it. And I can tell you it's not just a trip, it's an experience.

It's family friendly. It's also surprisingly doable if you're craving one more winter adventure. But before next ski season,

we did this interview last year with Maureen Poshman, and it convinced me to plan my trip to Portillo. Now, I've been there and I can tell you it is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

That's why I want to revisit all of the details she shared and empower you to start your trip planning. So whether you're dreaming about your first international ski trip or ready to level up your ski mom status,

this episode will inspire you to pack your bags and say yes to skiing in July.

Speaker B: And we're going to follow it up

Speaker A: next week with a follow up with one of the current owners of Portillo. And we know you're going to Love hearing that one. But this is going to give you all of the details you need to trip plan and start dreaming of that summer ski trip.

Listen, enjoy and we cannot wait to hear your feedback.

Speaker B: And today we're welcoming Maureen Poshman. She founded Promo Communications in 1999 and she specializes in luxury travel and the hospitality industry. She's got an in depth knowledge of Aspen because that's her home mountain and that's where she skis.

But we're also going to be talking to her about an Internet her international destinations that she covers and promotes,

specifically in Chile because Sarah and I want to go ski in South America. We're so intrigued and we're so excited to have you here.

Speaker A: Welcome, Maureen.

Speaker C: Thank you. It's great to be here.

Speaker B: Well, we're going to start, we're not going to jump right in to South American skiing. So we're going to talk a little bit about your backstory first.

Where and when did you learn to ski?

Speaker C: Well, I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia and so I learned to ski in Beech Mountain, North Carolina, a very, very big mountain,

when I was in high school. And then I got the bug right away.

So I just then when I was in college I skied a little bit,

came to Aspen once because I have an uncle who lives here and I just always then had in my head I'm going to move to Aspen. And I did.

Speaker D: And tell us a little bit about the path you took to Aspen and it sounds like maybe you, you didn't

Speaker C: expect to live there forever,

right?

I had left a job because I was trying to switch careers. I was in international banking and I wanted to switch into a non banking line of work, which I found was hard because people kind of peg you when you're in a city.

And so came to Aspen for a two week vacation. My uncle generously said I could stay with them and I had friends who were in Aspen at that time. And the day I arrived,

my cousin said, oh, you have to stay for the summer. And I said it's February, what are you talking about? But lo and behold,

I basically I went back for some interviews and the second I landed in Washington D.C. where I was living,

I thought I'm going back for the summer or I, I sublet my place. And then I eventually gave up my house in Washington D.C. but I effectively never,

never left after that two week vacation,

which is not an unusual story.

Speaker B: We'll kind of loop back around to, to family life. But we do want to jump into Portillo. Let's start first with what is it? Where is it?

And paint a picture for us, tell us a story.

Speaker C: Right, right. So basically, Chile and Argentina are the opposite winters from North America.

So it's skiing in our summer and ski. Portillo is the oldest ski resort in South America.

It is celebrating its 75th anniversary and it is basically about two hours northeast of Santiago. And it is a amazing.

It's kind of like a Shangri La situation where it's a beautiful yellow hotel located on a lake surrounded by 15,000 foot peaks. So it's a stunning,

stunning location.

And you know, you have a, you fly there overnight and there are, you know, flights from Normal, from Miami, Louisiana, Atlanta, typically from Houston and Dallas. But there's been a situation with the airlines this year with Europe and the Olympics.

So we don't have the nonstops this year from Dallas and Houston.

But it's an overnight flight, so it's quite easy to get there. It generally takes about 14 hours door to door.

Even for me in Aspen, they pick you up at the airport, two hours later you're in this gorgeous hotel and set for a week of skiing.

Speaker D: Is the hotel one that is like board included? Because I know like when we've gone to some in Europe,

everything, you have all your meals there. Is that what it's like in Chile?

Speaker C: Yes. So the model for Portillo has always been a ski week that's an all inclusive ski week that includes your hotel accommodations,

your lift ticket and your, your meals.

And there they always have four meals a day because dinner's quite late. So you have breakfast,

lunch and dinner,

but you also have an afternoon tea where they always have these delectable treats for you.

And so tea is at 5 o' clock to tide people over to dinner, which is either at 8 or 9:30, depending on your seating.

And it's very old school. And everything is sort of based in the hotel and the guests all stay there together, but you only have 450 guests at a time in the resort.

And so it really is incredible access to these amazing slopes without lines.

Speaker B: I'm sold. I'm planning a, planning of a trip next summer. I'm ready.

Speaker C: I'm ready to go.

Speaker B: It does sound like a great teenager's trip to head down there.

Speaker C: It, you know, it's really great for almost any age. I took, I think I took my kids the first time when they were three,

maybe three, five. We used to go every other year with the kids and I would go the other years just on my own, but definitely with teenagers and skiing teenagers, it is Heaven.

And it's great if you do have ski racers or you just have a family that's a ski family and you love to ski together. I mean, they obviously do have skiing for beginners and it's an easy place to learn.

All of the instructors are bilingual, so it's not as if there's a language gap and there are, they're skiing for all levels. So, you know, if your kids are expert skiers and you're an intermediate skier, no problem.

There's something for all of you. And you can meet on the mountain for lunch,

you know, you can ski together a little bit and then the kids or,

you know, you, if you're the expert skier and your kids are intermediate,

you can kind of explore the mountain together and separately and then come together.

For teenagers, you know, I know a lot of people. There's.

There's a bar where you can go and either not drink if you're underage drinking age, there is 18 and there are bands every night. And so there's dancing and there's a lot of, I don't know, it's very convivial.

There's just a lot of like getting together, hanging out in the hot tub, in the pool. After skiing, there's a lot, it's about talking and hanging out. There are no TVs in the room rooms.

People just tend to really congregate and everybody there is loving skiing and so you have that in common. But for little kids it's also, it's really easy. And the nice thing is, oh, there's a huge game room with everything from a climbing wall to, you know, ping pong pool.

And there's a huge gym and in the evenings there tends to be soccer games.

And so one time I think my daughter, my kids were maybe 8 or 9 and she was playing soccer and she ended up like playing in a soccer game and getting so was like, I was really good, you know, with all these,

you know, other kids from all over the world.

So yeah, it's just,

it's an unusual place. It's almost like there's no place else like this in the world.

Speaker D: It sounds absolutely incredible. And we, we've only seen the photos, but what I always see in these photos and videos is just perfect bluebird skies. So what I'm wondering is,

you know, when, when we pack for our to go out skiing in Vermont, like we have to have layers. It could turn into a wintry mix or the dreaded wintry mix.

Freezing cold, wet.

What, what kind of gear would. And what kind of weather would we expect to be prepared to ski here?

Speaker C: I mean, like any ski resort, it depends on the. The month, a week.

But there does tend to be really sunny days.

They tend to have like a storm, a big storm,

and then kind of sunny days following it. But like any place, I would say you would have layers.

But I think some of those blooper days are in August, which tends to be maybe parallel, like mid February to mid March in the northern hemisphere.

And it can be really nice, beautiful, you know, maybe our equivalent of like 40 degrees during the day,

be colder at night.

You definitely need to pack sunglasses and a baseball hat for lunch at Tio Bob's, which is our on mountain lunch spot, or at the ski box at the bottom of the.

Of the race course.

Because the sun is intense and the. And. And bright, very bright.

Speaker B: And now are there trails there if you want to Nordic ski or snowshoe if you want to do something from the base? Are there other ways to explore there?

Speaker C: There definitely are. We have Portillo does rent snowshoes. We do not have Nordic skiing. You're pretty much at a small base area with only the hotel and a couple of outbuildings.

And then you have the mountains going up from either side and the large lake.

The lake generally freezes,

but it not all the time. But you can sometimes snowshoe across the lake, which I've done a few times.

And then there are also snowshoe trails that you can go up.

And obviously with uphill. Uphilling becoming so popular, a lot of people will bring their uphill gear and do that skin up the mountain in the morning. So there are trails for that as well.

Speaker B: And is there a spa in case we want to get a little pampering there? Is there something for a ski mom to, you know, give herself a little treat?

Speaker C: There is definitely a spa with great massages.

It's really all about massage there. And there is always afternoon yoga. We generally have guests, yoga instructors who come in.

There'll be stretching in the morning, yoga in the afternoon. Spot massage treatments.

I always say, book your spa, book your massage right away because they tend to be very popular.

They're extremely well priced for somebody who's used to going to a resort in North America. Some people get them every day because it's like, what, you know, that's such a reasonable treat for me.

And then there's also an incredible fitness center.

And a lot of times you'll be training along, you know, in late August and September or maybe mid to late August. September,

there Are a lot of the Olympic and World cup ski athletes there training?

So somebody was talking about how they went in for a stretching class and they looked around and they were the only woman and it was the whole Norwegian ski team that she ended up doing her stretching with.

When was that?

Speaker B: Yeah, when exactly?

Speaker D: No kidding.

Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. So you have our attention.

Speaker D: Okay.

Speaker C: Yeah, yeah.

And there are also a lot. Yeah, a lot of free skiing. Like, free skiing. You know, the people that you see in Warren Miller films and everything are there all the time.

So I remember walking through the lobby with one of, one of them with Marcus Caston and this kid just walked up and was like,

Marcus, you know, like that was his hero. So it's really fun.

Speaker D: And if we were thinking about planning for say, next summer or.

I don't know, I guess the question is, would we be too late for this summer for families that. Well, I guess, I guess if we're looking out into next summer, are there times that are like peak times?

I kind of in the US where we'd say, you know, avoid kind of Christmas to New Year's or there's some time in like February and March where there's a lot of school breaks to avoid.

And then, you know, how far in advance should we be thinking about this?

Speaker C: Right.

I. Well, let's talk about this season. Just because it's approaching,

there are definitely weeks that have gotten booked up.

I feel like there's some pent up demand because obviously during the pandemic Portillo was closed, so some people didn't get to go. And then they, you know, last, last season was busy.

This season is getting really busy.

We also had the benefit of opening almost a month early with about six feet of snow.

And right now we're in a storm that is expected to dump more than 100 inches in I think all of Chile and Argentina. So it just is, it's looking like an incredible season.

So, you know, typically you might not want to go skiing in,

before Christmas in North America because you're not sure how the snow is going to be in Portillo. If you're saying like, God, what are we going to do in June or for July, fourth week or other and you know, the rest of July,

Portillo has, does have availability in, in those months,

in those weeks. So, you know, we again, we generally sell the ski week Saturday to Saturday,

so we do have availability.

And I think because our snow is so good already, it's going to bode extremely well for the season.

And so there are a couple of weeks that are Full, but you can always reach out. We, we tend to get a, take a wait list for people who have small kids.

We do have weeks in August and September where one kid skis and stays free.

So that's a great option as well if you're not, you know, worried about school times.

A lot of schools in the Northeast, for example, start after Labor Day and the week right before Labor Day is a kid ski free week. So that can be a nice last minute vacation.

Speaker B: And when does the ski season end, is my first question. And second,

kind of walk us through childcare. If you've got small kids, what that looks like is they're babysitting, you know, when did the lessons start, that sort of thing.

Speaker C: The season stops, I think September 30th this year.

We do have childcare and there is free childcare for certain ages. And they, you know, can start skiing at three years old generally. And they have a, you know, a magic carpet like you tend to have.

And it tends to be very hands on.

And there are a lot of kids activities in the afternoon as well. There'll be like bread making and they go in and they make, make bread and you know, other kind of unusual activities.

There's tubing and so it's really easy for kids. The other thing is around age 6,

the kids kind of have the run of the hotel.

Like they'll, they'll be like, oh, mom, dad, I'm going to go to the game room. You know, and you're fine because you're sort of in this contained situation which as a mom I feel like you treasure and you know, or like a bigger kid will be like, oh, I'll take them with me.

We're gonna go to the game room, we're gonna go to the cine and watch a movie. A movie. So they'll have a kids movie every night and then a grown up movie.

So it's very kind of copacetic ski vacation. I think it is completely. They've taken all the hassle out of the ski vacation because also you,

you're in your room. You go to the dining room on the second floor for breakfast,

take the elevator down two floors.

Your ski, your boots are in the boot room, your skis are in the ski room, you walk out the door, you're on the slopes, you're not doing that whole like carrying the, you know, getting from the hotel to the mountain and all of that.

It's just all right there and no,

Speaker D: no shuttles to deal with where you're like almost crying by the Time you get to the mountain.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: Someone's almost crying.

Speaker C: Exactly.

Speaker D: I love that. It's like, I love this idea of this ski week because a lot of times when I think about planning a ski vacation, it gets a little overwhelming because you not only have to pick the mountain and the hotel and figure out meals,

that it's just all one piece. But the one thing we didn't talk about that I think would be helpful to understand is what the, what the rental situation is like for rental equipment, because.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: It can be a lot to carry for a whole family internationally. And sometimes like that to me is like the last missing piece in this where I really don't need much more than my ski clothes and,

you know, a few basics.

Speaker C: Yeah, we do have a great ski shop that has,

you know, very good brands of skis and they, they tune them and they're extremely well trained. I kind of alternate between bringing my skis just because I. It's kind of like my toothbrush living in a ski resort.

But I sometimes will just tell people, bring your boots.

You're. You're fine on skis.

And you might want to bring, you know, it depends on the day. So you don't want to bring three pairs of skis because one day it's a complete groomer and then there's, you know, a foot and a half of snow.

You know, you can get fat skis for those days. You can get skis for the kids. And, you know, you might want to. For the kids, like, you know, day two, it might be that they're going to move up to a longer ski.

And so I would definitely say for kids, you don't need to bring them. You know, for. If you have a ski racing kid, you might want to bring them because they have their racing skis.

They might want to get in some laps on the,

on the course that's used for the World cup racers.

So it depends. But definitely for the younger kids, I would not bring your skis. And most people, I would say just bring your boots.

Speaker B: And then what about going to dinner? Is it pretty casual or people just sort of in leggings and a nice sweater?

Speaker C: You know, it traditionally was dressy, and as people have gotten more casual,

um, it's not leggings, it's maybe a level above, like nice jeans, collared shirt for men is, is requested, you know, but it's, it's not like you have to dress up.

And it's also different from being in a ski resort in that you don't have to like, have big sweaters and things. You have your ski clothes and then you really have quite light nighttime wear.

You know, I'll just wear like a silk camisole and jeans. And you don't need snow boots and all of that that you tend to need in a ski resort. So it's more like dressed like you're just going from your hotel room to the restaurant without having to go outside.

Speaker B: And does the food, Is it all from local sources? Are we going to see, is it more Americanized?

What should we expect from the menu? Suppose we have like picky eaters.

Speaker A: Is there going to be something for them?

Speaker B: And then maybe the parents are more adventurous and they want to taste the

Speaker C: food of chili definitely has a Chilean slash international focus, but with a lot of Chilean flavors. Chile,

you know, it's such a breadbasket of fruit, vegetables, as well as incredible seafood with their long coast.

So the way that the dining works is every lunch and every dinner,

there are three starters and three main courses. And one will be meat or poultry,

one will be fish, and one will be vegetarian. The owner of the resort is a vegetarian. And so we tend to have incredibly vegetarian food. And a large number of people,

somewhere between 30 and 50%,

end up eating the vegetarian dishes because they're so amazing.

But you can really explore the menu. But there is always the option of I just want pasta. Like, there's a. There's a. A whole list of things that you can order if you don't want one of the specialties.

So you can have a hamburger every night, you can have pasta,

you can have a steak, that sort of thing. So it's pretty flexible.

But for the person who wants to explore Chilean cuisine and Chilean wines, you have that ability to sort of delve into the, you know, having great seafood that, you know, you maybe have never even eaten before.

Speaker B: And are we tipping as throughout our stay or once you've paid? Is that, is it not a tipping culture?

Speaker C: People tend to tip at the end of the stay.

And you can tip your, your waiters. You tend. So the waiters are very kind of old school Red Jack.

And you tend to have the same waiter every night and assistant waiter.

And so people tend to tip at the end of the week. And we do give suggestions of a range that you could tip the boot guy, the ski guy, your instructor.

But I do think the tips are lower than what you would see in the U.S. you know, it's sort of a 10% culture as opposed to what has become a 20% culture.

Tipping culture.

Speaker D: What would be the Best website or is it a phone call to actually book this?

Speaker C: It is just ski portillo.com or reservationskeeportillo.com and we have an 800 number which is 1-800-829-5325.

Their reservationists that speak English,

you can just book online. When you, if you go to skiportillo.com, there's a book now.

And because you're sort of buying like one ski week, it's fairly easy. But you know, certainly I know a lot of people want to talk through somebody. I was going to say on the accommodations.

One thing that we do have are these family apartments,

which is great if you're a family with two kids. It'll be two connecting rooms.

One that has two sets of bunk beds and then a,

you know, queen room,

queen bed in the other room. And those come with either one bathroom or two bathroom.

And that can be a great option for families, you know, but so you'll see all the options on the website of these are the different room categories. Here's the price.

For example, if you have a lake view, that's a premium.

But the mountain view, the other side is one of the most gorgeous views you'll see. So it's kind of a depends what you're looking for. So if you can't get the lake river view, those do tend to go most quickly.

The other view is beautiful.

Speaker B: And can you give us a ballpark for one week? Let's say it's September near the end of the season where kids are going to ski free and stay free. But so for the two adults, what, what would you be looking at price

Speaker C: wise for that at that time of year? It's about, it would be about 4,000 for a ski week. Again, all inclusive accommodations, hotel.

Speaker B: And that's per person.

Speaker C: Per person? Yeah, based on double occupancy.

Speaker B: I mean, I think compared to your high end American resorts, that is relatively a steal because you're talking about the food,

the lift tickets are built into that.

That's a pretty good,

a pretty serious good rate. And that that would include lessons or lessons are additional.

Speaker C: I'm sorry, lessons. Lessons are additional. But I do think that the ski school is significantly less expensive than what you would find at a comparable U.S. resort.

Speaker B: We were just, we were out at Breckenridge last winter and I think it was 270 a day per kid.

Speaker C: Wow.

Speaker B: I know. It made your made our eyes water a little bit.

Speaker A: Yeah, because you really have to think

Speaker B: about that third kid. If you want to raise skiers

Speaker C: so true, so true.

Speaker B: We all everyone on this. This zoom stopped at 2.

Speaker C: Yeah, but it is more. It is pretty reasonable. And again, having the food all included and even I think drinks and wine and everything is just a little bit less expensive than what you would find.

Speaker A: Nicole, again, I hope you enjoyed this revisit to this podcast episode. I think Maureen painted a really accurate

Speaker B: picture of what it's like and as

Speaker A: somebody who experienced it firsthand, I can tell you the Pisco Sours on the sun deck are magical,

but so are those little family moments. Having tea with your kids,

listening to live music, the awards ceremony at the end of the week. It's all of those little moments where you can slow down and really savor that family time.

The snow is magnificent, the scenery is just beyond.

But really what makes it special are the people there. I think if you can carve out a Portillo experience, you absolutely won't regret it.

Speaker E: Hey ski moms. We hope you enjoyed today's episode and got some great tips for your next family ski adventure. If you had as much fun listening as we did making this episode, we'd love for you to hit that subscribe button so you never miss out on our latest episodes.

And don't forget to rate and review us. Your feedback helps us bring you more of the content you love and helps other ski moms find our podcast. Plus, we love hearing from you.

So whether you're on the slopes or just dreaming of your next snowy getaway, stay connected with us. Follow us on social media,

share your favorite episodes with your friends, and let's keep this awesome community growing.