The ski resort Olympians flock to each summer
For many, a modern-day ski resort might include towering peaks cloaked in fluffy snow, high-tech lift lines, luxurious hotels with fabulous spas, buzzing apres-ski bars and shops filled with the latest in cold-weather fashion. These days, top mountain destinations are bustling winter wonderlands that cater as much to non-skiers as they do to powder hounds. But tucked away in the Chilean Andes is Ski Portillo, a remote, all-inclusive resort that's only open during the South American winter. There's little to do but ski – and for its devoted fans, that's exactly the point.
Spread across 5 sq km and home to 35 trails serviced by 14 lifts (including several drag lifts), Portillo was the first ski resort in South America. While it is not as massive as what you'll find in the Rockies or Alps, its off-piste terrain and advanced-level challenges have made it a bucket list destination. Just as important is the atmosphere: Portillo feels frozen in time – in the best way.
While other resorts have aggressively modernised, Portillo has held fast to its old-school charm. Getting here requires a two-hour drive north-east from Santiago on the same narrow mountain highway as transport trucks. The bright yellow hotel – where visitors gather for meals and barside revelry – has barely changed. Overnight capacity has only grown ever-so-slightly to 450 since it opened. There's no town to hang out in, and not much for non-skiers to do.
Launched by the Chilean government in 1949, Portillo's modern era began in the 1960s when Bob Purcell, a New York finance hotshot, won it at auction (he was the sole bidder). He then asked his nephew Henry, then 26 and making his way up at Hilton Hotels, to become its general manager. Skiing in the area goes back even further: Norwegian engineers traversed the mountains on skis in the 1880s while working on the railway linking Chile to the Argentine city of Mendoza on the other side of the Andes. After its completion in 1910, locals would ride the train – as if it were a ski lift – before skiing back down the peaks. That railway is long gone, but Portillo, equipped with real ski lifts now, is still going strong, with the Purcells still at the helm.
According to Ellen Guidera Purcell, Henry's wife and a key figure in Portillo's day-to-day operations, the early days mostly involved the Purcells inviting their famous friends here for ski parties. "The parties were an omen of the future," Guidera said. "Because Portillo has continued not only as a place for beautiful skiing but also as a place for good times with family and friends, a place of happy dinners, parties, bar dancing and making memories."Carolina Mendoza, a retired business owner, first visited Portillo in the mid-1970s as a teenager growing up in Venezuela. She's returned nearly every year since, only missing a Portillo season during the pandemic or while living in Europe. For Mendoza, whose mother is Chilean, there's a magic to this little mountain hamlet. "There's such a sense of community here," she said. 'It almost makes you feel like you're with family."But Portillo has also become synonymous with serious skiing. Known for its challenging alpine terrain, it hosted the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in 1966, which established its reputation as a hardcore winter sports destination. Today, both the convivial atmosphere and the hair-raising slopes remain critical to Portillo's cult-favoured status. Every year from June to September, when the northern hemisphere is in the throes of summer, snow-chasers from the US, Canada, Europe and Latin America head here to enjoy an endless winter. Many, like Mendoza, are repeat visitors. Others are world-class athletes in training for big-ticket events like the Olympics.
US Olympian Breezy Johnson, a World Champion ski racer, has been to Portillo five times. Her first visit, in 2015, included training runs with skiing legends like Julia Mancuso, Laurenne Ross and Leanne Smith. "Portillo is a very unique place. I call it the cruise ship because it's kind of the only thing for a ways around," she recalls. "When I first came I was a bit – a lot – intimidated by the stark world that is Portillo."
That starkness turns out to be a perk. Johnson, who is now based in Jackson, Wyoming, says the compact layout is ideal. "We can literally walk down to breakfast, head to the slopes, put our seven pairs of skis out on the snow and get going," she says. "That convenience as opposed to multiple trams in Europe, long drives in New Zealand or a snowmobile ride down in Corralco, [Chile] makes the training super beneficial because you can maximise energy for skiing."
More like this:• Skiing Mount Etna, Europe's tallest and most active volcano• A downhill ski champion's guide to Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy• The ancient mummies older than Egypt's
And its not just Olympians who love the challenging terrain and no-fuss nature of skiing here. Intrepid visitors can often be seen hiking from lifts to explore off-piste terrain, and Roca Jack, one of Portillo's most beloved expert runs, extends to the bottom of the mountain for more than 2.6km. While elite athletes like Johnson love to train on Portillo's long trails and steep turns, so do average advanced skiers. But don't think you have to be at that level to enjoy the resort: given the tougher landscape, top-notch instructors are available to help intermediate skiers improve their skills.
The most popular package is a week-long stay with room, board and lift tickets. But the Purcells are evolving the experience, including introducing standalone A-frame chalets for those seeking more privacy, as well as events like Wine Week in August, when some of Chile's most esteemed vineyards host educational tastings. You can also level up with a heli-skiing tour of the area, or pair your Portillo visit with a few days at a partner hotel, like VIK, a luxury winery hotel located four hours south. But, "Portillo is about skiing," Guidera insists, adding that while they recently updated their guestrooms, there are still no TVs in there.
Perhaps more than anything, Portillo is about community. In a place where everyone loves the same thing and where there isn't much else to do, you'll run into the same faces at lunch at Tio Bob's or in the hot tub before dinner. "Life in Portillo happens on the slopes and in the many hotel common spaces where guests interact with one another and with us," Guidera says. "Friendships are made, couples fall in love, some get engaged, some get married there, babies are made, others leave saying 'what happens in Portillo stays in Portillo', and some have their ashes eventually scattered in Portillo."
In fact, Mendoza met her second husband here, through common friends she's made at Portillo over the years. And Johnson adds, the friends you make include the staff, who might be skiing on the same runs as you on their days off. After all, as she says, "It is a small community nestled in the mountains."
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Telegraph
a day ago
- Telegraph
Five essential things to know before you board an Oceania Cruises' ship
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Since 2014, Oceania has been part of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, parent of mass-market Norwegian Cruise Line and ultra-luxury Regent Seven Seas Cruises. 1. Where does Oceania cruise? Eight ships are enough to cover pretty much all corners of the world. Chances are wherever you want to go, Oceania can take you there, even if you want to go penguin-spotting in Antarctica. Staying with long-haul, Oceania has cruises in Asia, South America and through the Panama Canal, and island-hopping voyages in the Caribbean almost exclusively round-trip from Miami. Cruises in French Polynesia from Tahiti are among its best-selling cruises. Closer to home, cruises in the Mediterranean and Greek Isles in the summer and autumn visit popular places including Barcelona, Dubrovnik, Santorini and Rhodes. However, Oceania's ships are small enough (they hold 670-1,250 passengers), to call into lesser-known ports inaccessible to large vessels. Canakkale in Turkey, the gateway to Gallipoli and Troy, is one such; Olbia in Sardinia – where food, wine and 4x4 adventures are among excursions – is another. In the Baltic, with calls into St Petersburg no longer an option, Oceania has found new places for passengers to explore, including Kotka in Finland and Liepaja in Latvia, the former offering nature walks and rafting, the latter known for its art nouveau heritage and the world's largest mechanical organ. For those who prefer not to fly, five cruises from Southampton in 2026 either circumnavigate the UK and Ireland, explore Scandinavia or combine the two. Durations range from seven nights to a month or more and often include overnights in A-list cities such as Istanbul, Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro. There are 180-day world voyages each January. In 2027 passengers will depart Miami for Southampton, and there's an option to sail on to New York, extending the cruise by 64 days. 2. Who does Oceania Cruises appeal to? A typical Oceania cruiser is a well-travelled, well-off American, aged 65 or over who likes smaller ships, enjoys the refined but not dressy atmosphere on board and wants to see the world in comfort without paying top dollar for an all-inclusive and more spacious ultra-luxury cruise line. Oceania pitches itself as a luxury line with fares that cover tips, Wi-Fi and soft drinks as well as dining in speciality restaurants. Alcohol and excursions cost extra, likewise flights and transfers. While the majority of Oceania passengers are from North America, the brand counts plenty of British and Australians of a similar age and social profile among its fan base. Families are welcome, but you are more likely to see older multi-generational groups, as there is no child care or entertainment for children. Wherever they're from, passengers will likely have an appreciation for good food. Those who are really keen can improve their skills in culinary centres on the four new ships and sign up for food-themed excursions, such as shopping with a chef or cookery lessons with locals. Passengers also enjoy Oceania's longer cruises. As proof, all cabins and suites on the 180-day world cruise in January 2026 are already wait-listed. 3. Oceania Cruises' fleet Regatta-class Oceania Insignia, Oceania Nautica, Oceania Regatta, Oceania Sirena (670 passengers) Built 25 or more years ago, these are the old ladies of the fleet, but plenty of Oceania cruisers prefer them for their more intimate size. They've been spruced up over the years but they are not as luxurious as their newer fleet mates, and cabins and suites are quite compact, although many have balconies. Expect two speciality restaurants – the Asian-inspired Red Ginger and Tuscan Steak on Sirena; Toscana and Polo Grill on the others – in addition to the grand dining room and buffet, and an alfresco grill by a small pool. 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The Independent
2 days ago
- The Independent
Is it possible to safely hike solo in the mountains?
There's something uniquely satisfying about lacing up a pair of walking boots, shouldering a pack and hiking up solo from the valley floor to the summit of a mountain and back down again, all under your own steam. The boom in outdoor leisure, fuelled by social media, has seen many explore the mountains for the first time, and hiking continues to be the most accessible way to enjoy being immersed in the world's wildest landscapes, with all of the benefits that this brings. As Tom Carrick, mountain safety officer for the British Mountaineering Council (which represents both hill walkers and climbers) says: 'It's so good for your physical health, your mental health and your social health, and we want to encourage people to safely come into the mountains, whether it's your first time, or your 600th time.' It's never been easier to hop on a plane and tackle official, well-publicised long-distance trails, such as Corsica's G20, which goes the length of the country and is known as ' Europe 's toughest trail', or the Swiss Alps' Haute Route that takes you days deep into remote, high-altitude areas. Or to catch a train and take on iconic British challenges, such as scrambling up the knife-edge arête of Crib Goch in Snowdonia National Park, or hiking up Ben Nevis. Just as with anything truly worthwhile, there are significant risks associated with being in the mountains, and there have been some recent tragic stories of solo or small-group hikers getting into trouble in challenging terrain. Conditions can change abruptly at altitude, where a lack of appropriate equipment and key knowledge can quickly lead to a survival situation. If this is all starting to sound a bit grim, then know that there are a host of solo adventurers, like Cotswold Outdoor ambassador and author Jamie Ramsay, who have made a rewarding career from overcoming obstacles and challenges in the outdoors: 'Every hike I have been on has presented something that has tested me and I have learnt so much over the years. Solo hiking is exhilarating but it doesn't need to be unsafe,' says Ramsay, who who has run across Iceland and fast-hiked the length of the Pyrenees So, is it possible to make solo, self-guided hiking safer, and what should we do if things go wrong in wild, hard-to-reach places? Fastpacking adventurer and Montane Endurance Athlete Katy Parrott is no stranger to extreme outdoor challenges, but she's had to fall back on some well-practised navigational skills, even on well-marked, official trails. 'I was doing Corsica's G20 and even though it was the middle of the summer, there were these sudden, tropical downpours and full white-outs with 20-metre visibility.' Parrott was on her own on top of an exposed ridge when the weather came in. She missed one of the trail markers that are painted on rocks every 50m or so, and ended up going off-route and down into a ravine. 'Luckily, I'd plotted the whole route on my phone on OS Maps and also had a little map book as well. I had to retrace my steps back up to where the last marker was and then do a bit of micro-navigation to find the next marker, which was kind of hidden away on a rock a bit further on.' Rather than charging backwards and forwards to visually search for the trail, which could have resulted in falling off a cliff in the bad visibility, Parrott matched her map to specific contour lines and features in the landscape that showed her she was in a gully. She then used the map to measure how far her position was off the trail (100m) and finally retraced her steps by using her watch to measure 100m. For this kind of micro-navigation, she recommends knowing your usual pacing for 100m by counting how many times your right foot touches down over a 100m distance. Parrott also recommends having backup forms of navigation, electronic and paper, because you never know when one of them might fail. It's the same message from Carrick at the BMC, whose advice has evolved from saying to carry a backup paper map and compass to recommending that hikers actually draw out their intended route on their paper map before they set off, and know how to use the compass to orientate themselves by doing a basic navigation course online, or in the hills. You can start here with the BMC's video guide to taking a compass bearing. 'I always download the maps I'll need for the day to use offline and then put my phone on Airplane Mode before I set off into the mountains,' says Tom Carrick, who is also a qualified Mountaineering and Climbing Instructor and volunteer with Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team. Not only will you save yourself from having to answer work calls, but you can still take photos and videos while reserving power in case you have to use your phone to call for help in an emergency. 'And I carry my phone in a waterproof case because when it rains, the water tends to run off your jacket's hood and right onto the screen of your phone, which can stop you from being able to use the on-screen navigation at all.' That's not to say you should completely drop from the grid, especially if you're hiking solo. Many tragedies may have been averted if solo hikers had simply notified someone of their plans and when they expected to get back, so that the alarm would have been raised and search parties sent out when they didn't return to base on time. 'Share your intended route with a friend or family member and let them know when you set off. But remember to check in when you get home so they don't call the emergency services! For multi-day hikes, I take a GPS communicator and check in with my family at the end of every day,' says Jamie Ramsay. Mobile phone coverage in the mountains is often patchy at best, but there are multiple, relatively affordable options on the market for communicating through your smartphone without mobile signal, from Garmin's InReach GPS messaging devices to the iPhone's text-via-satellite feature (on models later than iPhone 14 running iOS 18). This underlines the importance of battery life when a smartphone is part of your safety system. 'Carrying a battery pack and charging cable, just as a backup, will ensure that you have that really crucial bit of equipment that can make an emergency call if you need to,' says Carrick. As more of us explore the high places, social media has become a source of inspiration as we see influencers scaling classic summits, which suddenly seem more accessible to us. One problem with these posts is they often show the mountains in 'Instagram conditions' with bluebird skies and wall-to-wall sunshine, but in the mountains, weather hits different – and it hits fast. 'In the UK, the summit of a 1,000m mountain will have a 10-20C temperature drop compared to the valley bottom,' says Carrick. 'If you're setting off in the valley at 10-15C, by the time you've got to the top, you're going to be quite close to zero, and if there's any wind about then you're going to be below freezing, because of the wind chill.' Carrick stresses that you need to check the weather forecast for the summit or highest point on your route. In February this year, he was out in balmy sunny weather in Llanberris, but on top of the mountains it was still icy and snowy. 'And the second the cloud comes in you're in a total white out; even people with a lot of experience navigating in remote areas struggle with that. 'The weather can change incredibly quickly. Climate change is exacerbating this problem even more, but it has always been a thing in the mountains. It can change on a half-hourly basis from gorgeous sunshine to complete white-out conditions and some really windy conditions as well. We're definitely seeing that more now.' Carrick recommends having a backup hiking route planned for the day that crosses lower terrain, so that you don't have to commit to hiking high in miserable conditions. If you do have a problem at the summit, or you're just a bit tired and you sit down, your body temperature will drop really quickly, and one thing that can come from being too cold is that you start making mistakes. This is where a single problem can snowball into an emergency, says Carrick, who works as a mountain guide and also volunteers for the Mountain Rescue Team: 'If I was going to tell anybody to take one thing into the mountains it would be a little, lightweight group shelter (or solo emergency bivvy bag). They're really small and quite affordable, and they will keep your body temperature up.' On days when he's guiding clients, Carrick will even put the shelter up for everyone to have lunch in, out of the wind. Food and water also become more important at altitude, so skipping lunch is not advisable. 'You need to stay hydrated and keep your blood sugar levels up so that you can make good decisions about whether you're going up or down in the mountains,' he says, adding that when Mountain Rescue take people off the peaks they test their blood sugar levels and often find they're dangerously low. So, as well as your normal food for the day, you should always carry extra rations at the bottom of your pack. For Carrick, flapjacks are a favourite because they're energy-dense with fast-release carbs for a quick sugar hit, combined with slow-release complex carbs and a bit of fat for longer-lasting energy. Ramsay agrees: 'A lot of hikers forget to take enough food or water with them. Pack more than you think you need and think about how you can get clean water if you run out. I always take a water filter with me.' When it comes to clothing, Carrick will also always carry a packable, lightweight waterproof jacket and overtrousers even on hot summer days, because thunderstorms are harder to predict than regular rain. And in the winter or shoulder seasons, as well as waterproof outer layers, it's worth packing an additional warm layer, such as a lightweight down jacket, or fleece, that you can put on under waterproofs if you have to stop for a while, or one of your layers gets wet. Even gram-counting fastpackers like Katy Parrott, who like to move fast and light, don't skimp on the safety essentials, such as a headtorch, navigational aids and a whistle. Making noise in an emergency may seem hopeless when you're in the middle of nowhere, but it can be surprisingly effective. Just last week, a severely injured, hypothermic hiker was rescued after a 200ft-fall in the Washington mountains when two other hikers, who were far away across the canyon, heard his cries for help. They couldn't even see him, but were able to call for help through their GPS messaging device, enabling rescuers to search the area and find him in time to save his life. All of the experts I spoke to for this piece agree that there's a key skill that's essential for making solo hiking safer: knowing when to back off. 'You should never take unnecessary risks and this is especially so when solo. If something makes you feel uncomfortable, find another route,' says Ramsay. There's one other piece of advice that I commonly hear from solo adventurers: 'don't let panic dictate your decisions'. Helpfully, Katy Parrott doesn't just say 'don't panic' because sometimes that's the natural human reaction, as she found out 165km into the self-supported Montane Lapland Arctic Ultra. 'It was the middle of the night, at about -15C with 20km to go and I basically hit a wall. I started to panic because I had no energy, I was shaking and staggering and questioning whether I could make it to safety before I passed out.' She knew that she was now at risk and had to get a grip on herself. 'So I just stopped in my tracks to take a few deep breaths to get past that 'chimp brain' of fight or flight, and to get my rational brain to kick back into gear, and that really helped to calm me down.' Parrott was then able to come up with a plan to get through a dangerous situation. 'I looked at the map and saw there was a shelter about 5km away. I realised I could do 5K and that felt easier than 20K. This clear, rational thinking got me to the shelter where I rested for 3-4 hours, had some food and a little bit of sleep and then carried on in the morning, which ended up being a success because I finished fourth overall and as the second female!' As Carrick echoes, one of the best things to do if you get lost or hit by bad weather is to stop and take stock. 'If you've been caught out in the mountains, one of the first things to do is probably to sit down, try and get yourself into some shelter and have some food and a drink to replenish your blood sugar levels while you think about how to get out of there safely.' There's usually a way to navigate out of a situation, even if you've managed to lose all of your navigational aids, especially if you retain an awareness of which general direction you need to head in and which landscape features you aren't expecting to encounter on your route. For instance, Parrott says you can simply shove a stick into the ground and watch how its shadow moves across the floor to get an east-west line. At the very least, knowing such tricks can boost your confidence if you do become unstuck. When it comes down to it, there's nothing that beats experience, and Carrick recommends building a base of outdoor experiences from which you can learn new skills and encounter different conditions and terrain. This can help you to tackle more advanced hiking routes and make independent judgement calls, such as choosing different kit for different circumstances. While outdoor organisations like the BMC are keen to promote safe and responsible hiking, they are not trying to put people off completely. 'I think there's definitely an increase in people coming to the mountains, but that's certainly not a bad thing. It's fantastic for us all individually, and there are a lot of skills that you learn when you spend time in the outdoors,' says Carrick. Whatever your hiking goals, so long as you weigh the limitations of your current experience and the tools you are using against the challenges of changeable weather conditions and rugged terrain, and have a plan of what to do if things go wrong, then you can have an enjoyable and rewarding adventure in the mountains.
The Independent
4 days ago
- The Independent
The ‘invisible pest' that threatens to wipe out country's beloved palm trees
Uruguay 's iconic palm trees, symbols as integral to the nation's identity as olive groves are to Greece or cherry blossoms to Japan, are facing a devastating onslaught. A tiny, 5-centimetre (2-inch) long adversary, the red palm weevil, is behind the ruthless attack on these treasured trees, which line Montevideo's extensive sidewalks and grace the upscale Atlantic resorts of Punta del Este. Since its unexplained arrival from Southeast Asia in 2022, the pest has devoured thousands of palms across the small South American country. The tell-tale signs are drooping fronds, followed by holes in the trunk, ultimately leading to the tree's collapse. Despite the widespread destruction transforming municipal landscapes, authorities are only now beginning to acknowledge the severity of the threat, as fears mount that Uruguay 's beloved palms could be entirely eradicated. 'We are late in addressing this,' Estela Delgado, the national director of biodiversity at Uruguay's Ministry of Environment, acknowledged last month. 'But we are doing so with great commitment and seriousness.' The insect and its devastating impact can be found in 60 countries around the world but nowhere else in South America. Authorities first detected it in the town of Canelones, bordering Montevideo, where the insect killed more than 2,000 palm trees in less than a month. Weevils quietly wreak destruction by boring through the open scars of pruned palms and laying hundreds of eggs inside. When larvae hatch, they tunnel through trunks and eat up the trees' internal tissue. Death strikes within weeks. The Uruguayan government set up a task force to combat the plague in March. In May, Environment Minister Edgardo Ortuño declared the fight against the red palm weevil 'a national priority." As of this year, the red bug has proliferated in eight of the country's 19 regions, including Montevideo. Half of the capital's 19,000 palm trees have been infected, estimates Gerardo Grinvald, director of pest control company Equitec, which helps authorities combat the bug. The insect first attacks decorative Canary palms, the tree in so many pictures of Uruguay's sunny landscape, before moving onto its date palms. 'It's an invisible pest,' Grinvald said, explaining the challenge of identifying an infestation when it starts. As a result, landowners fail to isolate and quarantine their trees, fueling the weevil's crawl across the country. The Montevideo municipality this year earmarked $70,000 for chemical pesticide sprays and insecticide injections meant to kill bugs inside infested trunks, with the goal of saving some 850 trees in the city's prominent Parque Rodó, a scenic urban park along the coast. In the southeast corner of Uruguay, home to Punta del Este, a beachy, palm-fringed haven for jet-set elites from all over the world, authorities recently allocated $625,000 for efforts to dispose of infected trees and lure weevils away from affected areas with pheromone traps and other methods. 'We are losing our palm trees,' lamented Montevideo resident Rafael dos Santos as he walked his dog in Parque Rodó. 'They are historic in Uruguay, and a part of us.' As the weevil's march continues unabated, authorities now fear native trees of Uruguay's UNESCO biosphere reserve bordering Brazil will fall victim next, potentially facilitating the spread of the parasite across an unprepared continent.
