South American Ski Destination Postpones Opening Day for 2026 Season

Excitement is building for the South American ski season, but one of the resorts best known to skiers here in the States is having to pump the brakes on the stoke train.

On social media, Ski Portillo in Chile just announced it has postponed its opening day. Originally, the resort aimed for June 20, 2026, but its website now lists June 27 as the winter opener. The last day of the season is set to be September 26.

“Although the last storm left us with 40cms of snow and we have been making snow, we currently don’t have the base needed to open for skiing,” the resort wrote in a letter to guests. “Keeping in our commitment to providing a safe and high-quality experience, we have decided to postpone the opening of the ski resort until the right conditions are available.”

“We appreciate your understanding and hope that very soon we will have the conditions needed to begin what promises to be a great 2026 season,” the letter concluded.

At mid-mountain, Portillo is set for a few flakes throughout the day on Thursday, with a bit more precipitation over the weekend, according to Snow-Forecast. 

The lack of powder impacted other Chilean resorts, including Valle Nevado, which recently said that it would open a “partial opening” on June 19, only running the lower mountain Vaivén lift.

Valle Nevado, however, added that with snow in the forecast and continued snowmaking, it hopes to open more terrain in the coming days.

Elsewhere in the Southern Hemisphere, a slew of New Zealand ski resorts pushed back their opening dates. 

Cardrona recently announced it won’t open this weekend after a previous delay, citing a “a spicy weather system … bringing high winds, warm temps, and rain.” In a recent post, Mt. Hutt said a weekend opening is “looking less and less likely” because of marginal snowmaking temperatures. 

Here’s hoping the forecast turns around before too long. 

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