{"id":2094228,"date":"2026-08-15T00:29:37","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T21:29:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2094228"},"modified":"2026-08-15T00:29:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T21:29:37","slug":"inside-corralco-and-the-new-wave-of-chilean-multi-destination-ski-tourism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2094228","title":{"rendered":"Inside Corralco and the New Wave of Chilean Multi-Destination Ski Tourism"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Multi-destination ski trips to resorts like Corralco are transforming Chile\u2019s Araucan\u00eda region. | Photo: Martin Kuprianowicz<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Fly in, take transit to Valle Nevado or Portillo resorts, stay and ski for a week or two, shuttle back to Santiago and boom \u2014 that\u2019s a typical ski trip in the Chilean Andes for most.<\/strong> Not a bad trip either, honestly, especially on a banger winter like this one where Central Andes ski areas have been getting bombarded with meters of powder<\/a> for weeks on end. But there\u2019s a new way to ski the Andes of Chile that\u2019s gaining popularity; a quieter, more expansive movement that\u2019s taking hold and trading single-resort bubbles for multi-destination road trips that trace the country\u2019s wildly diverse geography down through ancient forests, volcanic peaks, and deep Patagonian valleys.<\/p>\n

To understand this evolution, SnowBrains<\/em> sat down with Jimmy Ackerson. <\/strong>At 68 years old, Ackerson is a towering figure in South American snow sports, having spent eight years as president of the Chilean Skiers Association, managed Valle Nevado<\/a> in the early 2000s, and worked under legendary Austrian-born Portillo<\/a> director Sigi Grottendorfer. Ackerson first arrived to Portillo from Sugarbush, Vermont, as an eager 19-year-old in 1978, giving 20 years of his life to iconic hotel-resort. Today, Ackerson serves as the general manager of Corralco<\/a>, a ski resort set on the flanks of the active Lonquimay Volcano in the Araucan\u00eda region, roughly 750 kilometers south of Santiago. In a country where the economy is driven overwhelmingly by copper mining and agriculture, Ackerson has spent decades advocating for tourism as a vital economic engine \u2014 and convincing both international visitors and Chilenos themselves that Chilean skiing extends far beyond the capital\u2019s immediate backdrop.<\/p>\n