\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t Ski resorts across the Argentine Andes, in Patagonia and Mendoza province, are facing a difficult season as a lack of snowfall has left slopes without the thick base needed for skiing.<\/p>\n
The crisis comes as most provinces are on winter school break, traditionally the busiest time of year for tourists heading to the mountains to enjoy the snow and winter sports.<\/p>\n
A long-awaited snowstorm hit Bariloche (Ro Negro province), Villa La Angostura, San Martn de los Andes (Neuqun) and Malarge (Mendoza) between Tuesday and Wednesday, blanketing the region in snow.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to the National Meteorological Service, more snowfall is forecast through Monday, but it may not be enough to build a sufficient base on the ski runs.<\/p>\n
These destinations are home to some of Argentina\u2019s best-known ski resorts: Cerro Catedral in Bariloche, Cerro Bayo in Villa La Angostura, Cerro Chapelco in San Martn de los Andes and Las Leas in Malarge.<\/p>\n
Other major ski resorts, including Cerro Castor in Ushuaia and La Hoya in Esquel, Chubut province, have not experienced the same shortage of snow this year.<\/p>\n
You may also be interested in: Herald favorites: Argentinas best hiking spots<\/p>\n
Not enough snow\u00a0 Resorts in the worst-affected areas have been operating at reduced capacity after closing runs with insufficient snow cover. In some cases, sections of the mountain have yet to open this season and, in those that have opened, theyve had to resort to using fake snow to compensate.<\/p>\n
In Bariloche, only the beginner slopes at Cerro Catedral were operating, tourists visiting the resort told the Herald.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They reported long queues for the lifts on Thursday morning and said they were charged full price despite most runs remaining closed. A day pass costs around US$110 per person.<\/p>\n
According to local media, Las Leas plans to operate at full capacity from this weekend, while other ski resorts are expected to open additional runs as snowfall increases.<\/p>\n
The impact extends beyond lift ticket sales. Many people who had planned skiing holidays have cancelled their trips altogether.<\/p>\n
Visitors who do not ski but had hoped to see snow in the mountains one of the region\u2019s main attractions have also changed their vacation plans.<\/p>\n
You may also be interested in: What not to miss in Patagonia<\/p>\n
A drop in tourism Tourism operators say the lack of snow is already taking a toll on visitor numbers.<\/p>\n
Mercedes Lpez Gomara, a travel agent based in Villa La Angostura, told the Herald that hotel occupancy is running at just 35% an unusually low figure for the winter break period.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor ski resorts, the lack of snow is a major problem because tourists stop coming,\u201d she said. She added that \u201cthe winter season had already been a disaster in 2025 across the entire Andes region,\u201d making this year\u2019s situation even more challenging.<\/p>\n
Las Leas, however, has been less affected than the resorts around Villa La Angostura and Bariloche because it has received more snowfall, she said.<\/p>\n
In contrast, the national government said in a statement on Thursday that the main ski destinations are seeing very strong visitor turnout. According to a survey by the tourism secretariat, occupancy is 85% in Bariloche, 80% in Malarge, and almost 70% in Tierra del Fuego.<\/p>\n
Lpez Gomara stressed that the lack of snow is not the only reason tourism has fallen. The World Cup, she said, tends to affect travel every four years because \u201cpeople generally postpone planning their trips\u201d while the tournament is under way.<\/p>\n
The economy is another major factor. \u201cThe fact that the dollar is cheap in pesos and everything else is so expensive does not help,\u201d she said, arguing that inflation measured in dollars has undermined Argentina\u2019s competitiveness.<\/p>\n
For Argentines, converting their incomes into dollars makes vacationing prohibitively expensive. For foreign visitors, the exchange rate means their dollars and other foreign currencies buy less than they did in previous years, making Argentina a more expensive destination, she said.<\/p>\n
She added that the worsening economic situation facing many Argentines and a lack of government policies to promote traveling have further reduced domestic tourism.<\/p>\n
Brazilian visitors remain the exception. \u201cBrazilians keep coming not only because they want to ski, but also because they want to see the snow, something they don\u2019t have in their country,\u201d Lpez Gomara said.<\/p>\n
At the same time, high tourism prices in Argentina are prompting many locals to choose destinations such as Brazil or Europe instead.<\/p>\n
Lpez Gomara believes the ongoing snowstorms will allow the tourism sector to recover at least partially and enable more ski runs to reopen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, she noted that travelers who cancel because of poor snow conditions usually postpone their trip until the following year rather than rebooking later in the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they have already paid, many can request a refund. Some hotels also allow guests to roll their payment over as credit for the following year,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
You may also be interested in:\u00a0From ice giants to imposing mountains: what to do in Patagonia<\/p>\n
Cover photo credit: Cerro Bayo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ski resorts across the Argentine Andes, in Patagonia and Mendoza province, are facing a difficult season as a lack of snowfall has left slopes without the thick base needed for skiing. The crisis comes as most provinces are on winter school break, traditionally the busiest time of year for tourists heading to the mountains to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":94631,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12608,6343,9478,24380,24381,24382],"tags":[12603,6339,10003,24377,24378,24379],"class_list":["post-94630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-around-argentina","category-in-patagonia","category-lifestyle","category-skiing-in-bariloche","category-winter-resorts-in-argentina","category-winter-sports","tag-around-argentina","tag-in-patagonia","tag-lifestyle","tag-skiing-in-bariloche","tag-winter-resorts-in-argentina","tag-winter-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}