Las Leñas

Understand

Las Leñas is one of the top ski resorts in South America and is Argentina's largest resort. It is famous for its vast areas of off-piste skiing and its Marte lift that provides access to extremely challenging terrain with steep chutes and enormous bowls. Although the resort does not offer heli-skiing, it does offer cat-skiing for those well-heeled skiers seeking challenging virgin conditions. The base lodge sits at an elevation of 2,240 meters (7,350 feet) above mean sea level and the mountain rises up to a peak elevation of 3,430 m (11,253 ft). The vertical drop is 1,190 meters (3,904 ft). The resort provides 14 lifts servicing 27 runs covering an area of 2.3 km^2. The longest continuous ski run is 7 km (4 miles). Because of the high elevation, all of the trails and skiable terrain are above the tree line: there are no wooded trails at Las Leñas. Ski runs close to the main lodge (primarily easy and intermediate terrain) are lighted for night skiing. Most lifts, including all of those servicing difficult and expert runs shut down at 5pm, but lifts close to the main lodge operate until 10pm. The resort has hosted a number of prestigious international winter sports events, including the Winter Pan-American Games in 1990 and the Alpine Skiing World Cup on several occasions. (Unfortunately for the home-team crowd, no Argentinian skier won medals in any of these events, American and Canadian skiers dominated the Pan American Games and Swiss and Austrian skiers dominated the Alpine Skiing World Cup). During the warm weather months of November through May, the resort offers other mountain activities including mountain biking, horse riding, and climbing.

Ski school A wide range of instructional programs are offered with instructors who speak English, French, German and other languages in addition to Spanish. The learn-to-ski packages provide group instruction together with equipment rentals and lift access at a discounted price. Instruction is also available for experien

Getting there

The closest town to Las Leñas is the small city of Malargüe, which is 50 miles (80 km) from the ski area. The nearest large city is Mendoza. Tke closest city with scheduled commercial flights is San Rafael. Getting to the ski areas of Las Leñas will involve finding transportation to one or more of those locations. International travelers can arrive via Buenos Aires or Santiago and from there, connect to regional flights or bus routes to Malargue, San Rafael or Mendoza. During the ski season, the resort offers charter bus service and plane flights from Buenos Aires to nearby cities with bus transfers to the ski resort. This is by far the easiest (and often cheapest) way to arrive. See the official resort web site for details.

By air See the Getting in sections of Malargüe, San Rafael, or Mendoza. From Buenos Aires (Aeroparque), Aerolineas Argentinas offers direct flights to the San Rafael airport (AFA IATA). It is a 2-hour drive from San Rafael to Las Leñas.

By bus From Buenos Aires it is a 12-hour bus ride to San Rafael or Melargue via the Iselin bus company. During the ski season, the Las Leñas ski resort charters first-class sleeper buses that go direct from Buenos Aires to the ski resort. In the San Rafael bus terminal, you can catch direct to Las Lenas offered by the Iselin bus company. The bus trip takes up to 3 hours.

1 Terminal de Omnibus Las Lenas (Bus station), RP 222. Waiting room with ticket sales for Cata and.Iselin. (updated Apr 2024)

By car You can rent a car or drive your own vehicle to Las Leñas. The trip will take about 11 hours from Buenos Aires. Be aware that you will be driving in hazardous conditions that may include steep, narrow, twisty mountain roads and that are likely to be covered in snow and ice during the ski season (duh!) Transportation authorities require snow chains to be used on many local roadways including RP-222 (the main road into Las Lenas).

Getting around

Most of the places are clustered close to each other in the ski village, which is generally easy to get around by walking. Most hotels and restaurants provide free ground transportation. Shuttle buses run between different points. On the mountain, you'll get around on skis or chairlifts. If you drive to the resort, a parking lot is available near the main ski lodge.

Do

1 Las Leñas Ski Resort (Base lodge), Valle de las Leñas, ☏ +54 260 447 1100. Main lodge providing all ski services. Buy lift tickets here, rent skis, or relax in front of the fireplace with a mug of hot chocolate. Lockers and changing rooms. Ski school office. ski snowboard cat ski spa

Buy

There is a small shopping center that includes a bank, ski-related shops, chocolate shops, souvenir shops, and a supermarket.

1 Piramid Mall, Las Lenas ski village, ☏ +54 261 713 9474. Open 24 hours. Small shopping mall with several stores selling souvenirs, unnecessary items, and some decent sit-down restaurants. Popular evening gathering spot. (updated Apr 2024)

Eat

Most hotels have on-site restaurants and commonly sell lodging packages that include breakfast and dinner. As a result, there are relatively few standalone restaurants in the ski village area.

1 La Rita, La Lena. Casual elegance with spectacular mountain vistas. Menu is a mix of pastas, sandwiches, and meat entrees. The desserts are excellent (particularly the mousse cheesecake with red fruits). An extensive wine list is available. The restaurant will send a car to pick you up and return you to your hotel. ARS 5000+. (updated Apr 2024) 2 El Parador, ☏ +54 260 430 1745. Daily 09:00 - 22:00. Hit or miss casual restaurant with an eclectic menu that includes past dishes like ravioli as well as burgers, fries, and drinks. ARS 1500+. (updated Apr 2024) 3 Hell's Pizza. A couple of barebones breakfast items in the morning and a small selection of extremely expensive pizzas the rest of the day. The Obama is a basic cheese and pepperone that will set you back ARS 14000. Also sells overpriced drinks, including overpriced coffee in the morning. (updated Apr 2024)

Drink & nightlife

1 UFO Point (next to Hotel Acuario). Open 24 hours. Popular slopeside bar that never closes. Also serves light food like burgers and a delicious goulash. (updated Apr 2024)

Sleep

1 Piscis Hotel, Las Leñas, ☏ +54 260 447 1318. Check-in: 14:00, check-out: 12:00. Often regarded as the best hotel in Las Leñas, the hotel is uniformly praised for its excellent personalized service, however, decor is dated with furniture that has apparently not been updated since the 1980s. On-site restaurant, on-site casino, recreational activities including archery, bonfire and more. 2 Airies Hotel, RP 222. Check-in: 14:00, check-out: 12:00. Moderate hotel with slopeside location, but a long distance from main ski village so you are reliant on ground transportation which does not operate very late. On-site restaurant that struggles to keep up with demand at breakfast (when everyone wants to get fed and out on the slopes). (updated Apr 2024) 3 Apart-hotel Escorpio, Av. Dr. Juan Scheffini, ☏ +54 260 447