Industry News
Pucon ski resort in Chile will not be opening this Southern Winter due to volcanic activity in the volcano it’s located upon.
The Pucon ski resort is located on the 9,317-foot Villarica volcano that erupted huge on March 3rd, 2015. That eruption created a mudslide (a lahar) that damages some storage containers at the ski resort but spared all other infrastructure. The lifts, restaurant, and all other buildings remain intact.
The reason that the Pucon ski resort won’t be opening this year is due to the “Orange Alert” that was issued in March for the volcano by the government. The “Orange Alert” means that the Villarica volcano is off limits to recreation and industry.
Because of this “Orange Alert”, Pucon ski resort is unable to prepare for nor operate this winter.
The closest ski resort to Pucon is the Las Araucarias ski resort located on the slopes of Llaima volcano in Chile. Las Araucarias is a 2 hour and 45 minute drive from the town of Pucon.
Quote from the manager of Pucon:
“Estamos viviendo un momento complejo pues nuestra intención siempre fue abrir las puertas del Centro de Ski, entendiendo que su funcionamiento es importante para el desarrollo del turismo en Pucón. Desde el primer momento nos pusimos en contacto con las instancias locales, regionales y nacionales competentes para obtener las autorizaciones necesarias. Sin embargo, las condiciones de riesgo impiden que podamos operar con normalidad y aún no existe certeza de cuándo se levantará la alerta”
Rough Translation:
“Yo, straight up, we trying to open this thing, we know it’s important for the community. The risk is too high right now to operate.”
Off the chart. It would be sick to just skin up from the resort, and get ‘steamy’ pow.