“I’ve got a question for you. Are most people you ski with in LL grabbing a season pass and apartment and plunking down for the whole winter? Sounds like it must get pretty quiet in between storms. I’m digging the regular updates!”
Hi Josh, thanks for the question.
Yep, most of the gringos from North America and Europe come and stay for the season. A season pass runs about $1,000 dollars and a bed in the residence side of town goes for about $500 a month. With the cost of the flight down and the unpredictable weather it really makes the most sense to come and stay for a long period of time.
The skiing at Las Lenas is some of the best on the planet but the weather can and will put everything on hold for weeks at a time. Added to this is a very poorly run mountain. Even when a storm parts for a day or so the resort is unable to control any of the terrain by the time the next storm rolls in.
The infamous Las Lenas downtime is just part of life here. I read somewhere that 70% South Americans, who come for a week stay, have a bad evaluation of the resort. This is largely due to a low percentage of beginner and intermediate runs and a high percentage that they might only get one day of skiing in.
Because of the lack of any kind of town, most local ski bums resort to watching lots of movies and partying late into the night. I have meet more then a few local skiers who choose to go on long extended drinking binges in order to cope with all the downtime and it’s hard to blame them. When it is snowing in Las Lenas the bars and nightclubs are packed with skiers and snowboarders from around the world and hot South American hunnies.
If you are planning on coming to ski Las Lenas I would really give yourself as much time as possible. When the skies clear and the resort pulls its act together the skiing is truly world class and worth the days or weeks of sitting around.
10 responses so far ↓
1 Justin B // Jul 19, 2007 at 1:23 pm
Is there high speed internet at LL? Do most apartments have it? That is a big consideration for me because I could stay for several weeks with high speed.
2 Tim // Jul 19, 2007 at 1:39 pm
There is wifi in a few of the hotels which is free to use if you buy a coffee, beer or something. It works but is often pretty slow. Like everything in South America it runs slower then what you are probably use to. Right now I am in the Aries hotel sitting around with four other gringos drinking coffee and waiting on sites to load.
3 peter long // Jul 19, 2007 at 6:17 pm
I think you pretty much sum it up. The only thing I would add is that LL is the windiest ski resort in the world, both in strength and frequency, and they have the most outdated lift system which certainly adds to the problem. The last 2 seasons, I would give the Marte chair a 30% and 25% of the time opening rating, and that includes half days where it opened late or closed early. With a new lift system and a management with a clue, I predict that number could be close to 70%.
4 Matt D. // Jul 19, 2007 at 7:59 pm
Yep you nailed it.
5 Mark // Jul 19, 2007 at 11:44 pm
Are the cats up and running? Matt D and I would get a guide and if the lifts were closed then the guides would throw you in a cat and ski the snow now one else could get, with no upgraded price other than the guide. Matt got cold and said the mountains were to steep and the powder was to deep!!!! just kidding.
6 Josh M / dromond // Jul 20, 2007 at 4:36 pm
Thanks for answering my question! It’s cool to get a picture of what it’s like down there.
7 Jeremy // Jul 21, 2007 at 2:24 pm
We´ve been cruisin around following snow from Bariloche (some good snow up high, but not really worth all the effort and the ski area pretty much sucks) to Portillo and Valle Nevado (things run well in Chile and we hit the pow just right - but chile= $$ for short stays) and were thinking of coming to Las Lenas tomorrow. Just wanted to know if anyone had any recommendations for lodging (Los Molles? or the apart - hotles?) and the best way for gringos on a budget to get around the circus of Argentinian inefficiency? Also, what are snow conditions really like right now? By the way thanks for having this site its cool to get a real perspective on things.
8 Resort Review: Las Lenas, Argentina | Unofficial Andes // Jul 21, 2007 at 8:08 pm
[...] Downtime The Nightlife in Las Lenas goes on 7 nights a week till around 9 a.m. If you are looking to party [...]
9 Las Lenas Nightlife | Unofficial Andes // Aug 17, 2007 at 6:19 pm
[...] Las Lenas is known for its outstanding nightlife. Bars and clubs get going at around midnight and stay hopping till eight or nine in the morning. Here is some information and links on what goes down in LL after dark. (Much more info and photos to come) Because of the lack of any kind of town, most local ski bums resort to watching lots of movies and partying late into the night. I have meet more then a few local skiers who choose to go on long extended drinking binges in order to cope with all the downtime and it’s hard to blame them. When it is snowing in Las Lenas the bars and nightclubs are packed with skiers and snowboarders from around the world and hot South American hunnies. Las Lenas Dowtime [...]
10 Joe // May 10, 2008 at 5:02 am
I am looking to come down to LL for the season. I have never been and am trying to plan this well. All I would like is to have a warm place to sleep every night. Would anyone have any contact info for cheap places to stay? I dont mind sharing a room or anything like that. Or should I simply just wait until I get there before finding a place to stay?
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