Paso Pehuenche: Ski Touring & Splitboard Across the Border

ITINERARY

Day 0 — The Gateway to the Andes

It all starts before you reach the snow. We recommend staying the night before in Las Loicas, the small town that marks the entrance to the Pehuenche. That evening we get together for dinner, check gear and run through the welcome ritual that officially kicks off the expedition.

It’s not just logistics — it’s the moment the group comes together, riders get to know each other and the dynamic starts to build that will make the days ahead truly great.

Staying in Las Loicas lets us leave early, be first in line at customs and gain hours of skiing that are worth their weight in gold.

Day 1 — The Heart of the Pehuenche

Early breakfast, border formalities and crossing into the between-borders zone. As soon as we drop the gear at our base Los Castaños, we head out to find the first lines of the trip.

Day one is active reconnaissance: we read the terrain, assess aspects, check the snow based on wind and temperatures from the days before. We don’t ski just to ski — we choose well to make the most of every day that follows.

As the afternoon fades, we head back to base. Dinner, mountain talk and planning the next day under a sky with zero light pollution.

Day 2 — Border Lines and Laguna del Maule

The most ambitious day of the expedition. Pre-dawn departure toward the Chilean border, where the terrain opens up, gets more technical and the lines get longer and more vertical.

Skiing here means skiing with Laguna del Maule watching over you. A vast body of water surrounded by volcanoes and snow that turns every descent into something hard to forget and even harder to put into words. This is the kind of day that makes the whole trip worth it.

Day 3 — Exploration and Untracked Snow

With two days of terrain reading behind us, day three is the one with the most freedom. We go deep: less traveled sectors, lines we stumble upon by chance, or an attempt to ski all the way down to the shore of Laguna del Maule if conditions allow.

This is the day of pure discovery. No fixed map, no set line. Just one of the largest natural amphitheaters in the Andes and the group deciding where to drop.

Day 4 — The Wildcard

The last day works as our weather buffer. If the conditions held all week, the morning is for a short session close to base — last photos, last laps, the quiet ending that an expedition like this deserves.

Then border formalities on the way out and the drive home, legs heavy and a head full of lines you already want to ski again.