It was August, the last month of summer vacation in the United States, and here I was … snow skiing in fresh powder.

This felt like many other major ski resorts as I popped over moguls, carved powder turns down a wide intermediate slope, then picked which high-speed lift to take based on an intricate trail map. There was one key difference: I was returning to my hotel room in a city of 7 million after the slopes closed. And I’d be there in time for dinner.

There aren’t many major capitals in the world where you can wake up in a city business hotel and be swooshing down the slopes of a huge ski resort a couple hours later. With the snowy Andes Mountains looming on the horizon, Santiago is just a short drive from three ski resorts.

If I was going to ski on the other side of the globe, I wanted to do it right; so I headed to Valle Nevado Ski Resort outside Santiago, which boasts the largest ski area in South America. Olympic gold snowboard medalist Shaun Ryder had just been there the day before. Some young men representing the Mountain Hardwear clothing and gear company were camped out at the summit for weeks in a big publicity stunt. A helicopter flew over soon after I arrived, transporting heliskiers into the backcountry.

This mountain playground may be near a thriving metropolis, but it feels like a whole different world. Whipping down black diamond runs or doing jumps in the snowboard park, there’s no sign of a city or even a village on the horizon — just the majesty of the second-highest mountain range on the planet.

Skiing in the Andes is a different experience from skiing in most of the United States. The whole resort is above the tree line at 10,000 to 12,000 feet, making some trails more of a suggestion than a real route. For a good skier, the mountains seem to be laid out before you like a wide-open buffet table of goodies. The freedom to roam is exhilarating.

This being August, my ski legs were a little rusty, so after I popped on the skis from the rental shop, I took a fast quad lift to a long and meandering green slope. As I cruised down and around one mountain, getting a feel for the powder and the skis, the panorama was spectacular. The dramatic peaks of the Andes loomed for miles in every direction, jagged against the blue sky, with the surfaces alternating between white snow and black rock.

I spent most of my formative years skiing the marginal slopes of Virginia and West Virginia, where slush during the day turned to ice at night, and snow-blowing machines were on high every time it got below freezing. After college, I graduated to a ski house share in the icy Northeast, where long Vermont lift lines and a serious battle against the elements were usually a given. A February day on the slopes was often a test of wills, with high-speed wipeouts common in the unpredictable snow conditions.

For skiers accustomed to howling sub-zero winds and bad winter visibility, a day on the slopes in Valle Nevado feels like moving from Seattle to Miami. It’s sunny 85 percent of the days during ski season, and the resort faces south. Not only could I see the path in front of me at all times, but I could see how long the lift lines were at the very bottom. Usually there wasn’t much to see in that respect: My longest wait was behind 20 people, and this was considered a busy Saturday. With several of the lifts moving 1,400 people or more per hour, this is about as bad as it ever gets. Officials estimate that peak crowds are one-third what you find in the popular resorts of Colorado or Vermont.

The crowds are thin at this Andean facility partly because skiers have so much room to spread out. Valle Nevado alone has more than 2,000 acres of ski terrain, making it the largest in South America. With no trees to clear, even the black diamond runs are wide enough that skiers are not bunched together. Plus, there are two neighboring resorts (El Colorado and La Parva) reached by the same road from the city for those who want to hop around during the course of a vacation.

Skiers pay considerably less than in big resorts, too. A high-season walk-up lift ticket is around $70. A spot on a heliski run booked on site goes for less than $250. And, since skiing in Chile runs mid-June to mid-October, families can actually hit the slopes in South America during the summer vacation up north. With good K2 skis and Burton snowboards for rent slopeside, it’s easy to leave all the bulky equipment at home.

As Chile’s economy continues to boom, investment in the country’s tourism infrastructure keeps rising; and Valle Nevado Resort is in the midst of a multiyear master plan of improvements. This year Chile’s first gondola is opening adjacent to a day visitor parking lot. With a ticket booth and rental facilities accompanying it, visitors arriving in hundreds of cars can directly access the slopes without clogging up the lodge.

When my legs started to become less trustworthy in mid-afternoon, I met up with others in my group, all of us lured by the wafting smell of beef on a grill at La Fourchette, the slopeside restaurant. One thing kept me from devouring my elegant meal in no time flat — the excellent range of Chilean wines I could sip along with each course. As I looked out at the sun shining on the glimmering slopes, little specks of skiers moving down it in their brightly colored parkas and hats, it was hard to believe I had watched dawn break over skyscrapers and subway entrances that morning.

Info to Go

Valle Nevado is 37 miles from Santiago’s airport (SCL) and even closer to city center. For travel without a rental car, get a shuttle ride with Ski Total. The best lodging options in the capital are the contemporary W Santiago, the traditional Ritz-Carlton and stylish boutique hotel The Aubrey. For longer ski breaks, stay at the plush Hotel Valle Nevado slopeside, which has a spa, wine bar and fine-dining restaurant with a view of the mountains. Santiago Adventures can set up your whole ski package, including heliskiing.

The Aubrey Santiago
theaubrey.com

The Ritz-Carlton,

Santiago
ritzcarlton.com

Santiago Adventures
santiagoadventures.com

Ski Total
skitotal.cl

Valle Nevado Ski

Resort
vallenevado.com

W Santiago
starwoodhotels.com