Valle Nevado

This guide to Valle Nevado in the Andes near Santiago follows the French entrepreneurs who, in 1987, modeled the resort on Les Arcs back home and opened it in 1988 after a snowstorm delayed the season. It traces the handoff to Chilean managers about a decade later, who modernized the lifts and brought in the region's first high-speed chairlift in 2001. Listen for the low grind of the chairlift motors overhead as you stand at the base and take in the terrain.