Valle Nevado: what Chile’s ski resort looks like – 09/08/2023 – Tourism

“Do you speak Portuguese too?”, asks the girl wearing a glove, hat and a thick pink coat as the elevator descends towards the hotel lobby.

Upon receiving an affirmative answer, she turns to the side and asks: “Mom, is everyone here Brazilian?”. Not all, but the majority of guests at Valle Nevado are in fact from Brazil.

At the Chilean resort, 70% of the daily rates this season are from Brazilian tourists. And it’s not hard to understand why. Nestled in the Andes mountain range, the place offers, for daily rates starting at R$560, a refuge for those who want to escape the heat and find comfort.

Snow white is the predominant color in the landscape; and skiing, the tourist’s favorite sport. The most experienced glide over the mountains quickly and elegantly, as if the task were easy. But make no mistake.

Skiing requires patience to learn the technique and detachment to put aside the embarrassment that follows the inevitable falls. For those up for the challenge, the resort offers ski lessons starting at R$260 for adults.

Walking with the equipment is a separate challenge. In addition to being heavy, the boot does not have a flat surface, so the inexperienced have to slow down in order not to crash on the ground. Once in the snow, however, it is difficult to escape the fall and the risk of running over your colleagues.

As the ski slides very easily, it is a challenge to maintain stability and dodge other guests.

For this reason, it was not uncommon to see skiers throwing themselves to the ground to avoid collisions. The effort to remain standing was such that this reporter finished the class sweaty despite the cold weather.

The temperature also rose at night, during a ballad at the resort’s concert hall. The party started out a bit lukewarm, but it got hotter throughout the night until it started boiling around 11pm.

On the dance floor, guests danced to the pulsating rhythm of reggaeton and took off their coats to beat the heat. The DJ piled up a succession of Latin hits, including “Envolver”, by Anitta. The public, however, did not risk going down to the ground to reproduce the step that the Brazilian pop star made famous.

In addition to the hype, Valle Nevado has options for those who enjoy gastronomic itineraries. A good example is the La Fourchette restaurant, which specializes in French cuisine and serves classics such as foie gras, steak tartare and boeuf bourguignon. The dishes are a delight for the eyes and the mouth.

The values, however, are salty. To taste the foie gras, you have to spend R$107. The filet mignon medallion with Dijon mustard sauce costs R$200. La Fourchette also has a large drinks menu, with more than 50 drink options.

When lunch was almost over, everything around began to rattle. Glasses and cutlery clinked. Customers looked at each other trying to understand what was going on.

“Don’t worry. Don’t worry. Chile is a seismic country,” said one of the resort’s employees, trying in vain to calm the reporter, who was witnessing an earthquake for the first time. “It’s normal. One of these happens every month.”

Skiers were also unfazed. They continued to sail in the snow as if nothing had happened.

Chile, however, is not all about snow and skiing. The country is one of the main wine producers in the world, a sector that represents 0.5% of the economy and employs more than 100,000 people. Data are from Wines of Chile, an NGO created in 1949 to promote Chilean wines.

This market gained even more visibility from the 1990s onwards, when specialists discovered the carmenére grape in the country. By the end of the 19th century, this strain had virtually become extinct in France, its original birthplace, after an aphid devastated the country’s vineyards.

Confused with merlot, the carmenére grape was hidden in Chilean vineyards until it was identified again. Rare in the rest of the world, it ended up becoming an asset for local winegrowers, who turned it into a symbol of Chile.

One of the companies that grow this grape is the Vik winery, which owns the hotel of the same name, known for being the stronghold of the wealthy. Also, could. Daily rates reach R$ 7,000.

When walking through the corridors of the place, the guest feels like being in an art gallery. Pictures and sculptures are in every room, starting with the hall, which features a diptych from the series “The Secret Life of Plants”, by the German Anselm Kiefer.

Each of the 22 rooms has an artistic concept that guides the decor. There are also seven bungalows with a privileged view of the company’s vineyards, which extend over 4,500 hectares. Obviously, wine tasting is one of the attractions of the region, and the visitor soon learns that this drink is a meeting of science and art.

Like scientific knowledge, wines demand rigor and method. They are highly sensitive, so that elements such as temperature, the wood of the barrel where they are stored and even the glass in which they are served influence their final taste. It is art insofar as they express ideas and abstractions.

“The taste of a wine can be compared to rock bands,” says Myriam Parra, communications manager for Vik Vineyards. “Some are like the Beatles, others are more like Pink Floyd and there are those who look like the Rolling Stones.”

The reasons to visit Chile are as varied as the style of its wines. There’s adventure in the snow, luxury in hotels and, of course, lots of wine on the table. This makes it easy to understand why the Andean country has conquered Brazilians.