La Hoya ski resort is located a few miles away from the city of Esquel in the province of Chubut, Patagonia Argentina. It is a well known destination for its snow quality and for being a true family resort.
As most small ski areas in the Andes La Hoya features a few lifts only but access some great terrain on and off-piste.

The name La Hoya means bowl in English as that is exactly the shape of this place. Molded by a glacier millions of years ago this south-facing basin holds excellent snow conditions, it is located 29 kilometers from the Esquel airport and delivers a fantastic experience for those looking to explore rustic and remote ski areas.

La Hoya as its name states is a big glacial basin facing south offering several intermediate and advanced groomed trail as well as super fun off-piste lines. Short hikes and traverses will access the all areas of the wide cirque above the El Filo chair and Del Sol poma surface lift. There is a lot of expert terrain to explore at this area.

With a pretty good vertical drop of almost 2,400 feet this resort offers some steep faces and rocky lines that will entertain most skiers looking for a challenge. Even this is a low resort the snow holds excellent here as most southern faces are not exposed to sun specially during the months of June, July and August. Corn skiing in September is fantastic.

Ski season extends from mid June to mid October being the months of July and August the best ones to hit deep and dry powder.

Keep in mind as this is a family resort you may find more skiers during the last two weeks of July as local and Chilean holidays take place at this time. But do not expect crowds, long lines or anything like it. La Hoya is a great place to relax and ski a lot during the entire season.

La Hoya ski resort offers the typical services you will see in any given small ski area in the Andes or anywhere else: A couple of restaurants, ski school, ski rental and mountain patrol services. La Hoya also features a fun snowpark.

When it comes to accommodation all hotels and lodges are down at the city of Esquel. Here many different options are available from deluxe lodges to standard inns. Also there are many great restaurants in town where classic Patagonia cuisine is almost worshiped. Note Esquel is head city for one of the best fly-fishing destinations in the world.

At night pace slows down considerably and only a couple of bars and a disco will remain open during certain days of the week.

La Hoya is one of those places off the beaten path that offers so much more than you expect. With the right snow this resort delivers! And we mean that as fun and challenging off-piste lines are waiting to be skied holding some of the best powder in Argentina.

As another small resort in the Andes – and also based on its location a bit away from major ski areas – La Hoya is worth to try at least one time. There is a special feeling of skiing at a remote ski resort in the Argentinean Andes in the heart of Patagonia.

We recommend to consider La Hoya as a great trip extension or to include it in a second visit to South America. Our tailor-made adventures team will easily put a special trip together to La Hoya for you.