Resort Review: Las Leñas, Argentina

September 7th, 2008 · 5 Comments

Overview
Las Leñas was opened in 1983 and has since become the premier ski resort in Argentina. The resort stands alone at the base of the Andes with no true town within an hour drive. Within the resort complex there is a market, ski shops, restaurants, bars, nightclubs even a McDonald’s. Most people who come to Las Lenas stay at one of the hotels or rent an apartment. Most of the lodging is located right at the base of the mountain just steeps from the chair lifts.

Stats

Lifts: 12
Elevation: 7,349 - 11,253 feet
Vertical: 3,904 feet
Snowfall: 393 inches
Acreage: 43,200+
Season: June - October

Terrain
Las Leñas is known for having some of the most extreme lift accessible terrain on the planet. From the top of Ts Marte chairlift you can access over 40,000 acres unbelievable terrain. Hundreds of chutes descend in all directions that open up into wide-open faces and uncut powder fields. The front side of LL has groomed runs that range from green too black. Runs are inconsistent and grooming is OK at best. With one chairlift accessing over 40,000 acres its not hard to see why hiking is just part of the game at LL. If you don’t mind hiking or are one of the nut jobs who enjoy it, Las Lenas will offer you truly spectacular runs that seem to go on forever. If you don’t feel like hiking, Las Lenas also provides heil-skiing and cat-skiing operations.

Transportation
Buenos Aires
Most guest fly into Buenos Aires then take a charter flight to Malargue. Once in Malargue its a 1 hour bus ride to the resort. Domestic flights are available only on Saturdays and Sundays. (Flight time 90 minutes) Round trip flights, Buenos Aires to Malargue: $394 cost + tax. The other option is to take a bus from BA to San Rafael (16 hours). The buses offer fully reclining seats, a meal and movies. A secant bus can be taken from San Rafael to Las Lenas (2 Hours). I know a 16 hour bus ride sounds crazy but Bus travel in Argentina is much nicer then almost anywhere else in the world.

Mendoza / Santiago
Another option is to fly into the city of Mendoza, via Santiago, Chile. This route is faster than traveling through Buenos Aires. The pass that runs from Santiago to Mendoza will often be closed in the winter so to be safe take a flight. From Mendoza, you can take a direct bus to Las Leñas.

Nightlife/ Downtime
Seven nights a week the bars and nightclubs of Las Leñas are rocking till 9 a.m. If you are looking to go out drinking a dancing after skiing LL has it. For more info on Las Lenas downtime check out this link.

Links

Videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rnhl9qDOA2s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5AT0eehtk0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u34U_DbgAVk

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5 responses so far ↓

1 leo // Jul 14, 2007 at 2:06 pm

The thing that makes Las Leñas the best ski area terrain outside of Europe for us not-nutjobs that don’t love hiking so much (15 minutes I can take), is that it offers probably the best extreme terrain requiring the least hiking. In most of Europe and certainly anywhere in the U.S. one has to hike over 20 minutes to get to the best extreme… at Las Leñas no hike gets you the 40-60 degree coulours off the ridge, and only some poling gets you all that terrain above the main mountain.
2 Mark // Jul 15, 2007 at 12:17 am

I agree with leo and get a guide to show you around is even better.
3 Justin B // Jul 19, 2007 at 1:27 pm

Give Big Sky MT some props for extreme skiing off of lift or tram served areas. No hiking required.

But that said, I want to check LL.
4 Ski-Blog.com: July 2007 Archives // Aug 23, 2007 at 11:22 am

[...] blog on my blogroll - Unofficial Andes.com which has some good stuff on South America including this post about Las Lenas: Las Lenas was opened in 1982 and has since become the premier Argentinean ski resort. There is no [...]
5 jamie // Mar 21, 2008 at 1:39 pm

No doubt about it, when Marte chair is open, it doesn’t get much better. Another thing that separates LL from other resorts is the consistent fall line. Some runs keep there pitch for up to 3,000′ vertical feet, without any benches or flat spots.

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Skiing South America