Los Penitentes is a ski resort

Ski resort

A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing and other winter sports. In Europe a ski resort is a town or village in a ski area - a mountainous area, where there are ski trails and supporting services such as hotels and other accommodation, restaurants, equipment rental and a ski lift system...

 in Mendoza

Mendoza Province

The Province of Mendoza is a province of Argentina, located in the western central part of the country in the Cuyo region. It borders to the north with San Juan, the south with La Pampa and Neuquén, the east with San Luis, and to the west with the republic of Chile; the international limit is...

, Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 about 25 km off Paso de Libertadores, which marks the border between Argentina and Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

, and 180 km from Mendoza Capital City, at the foot of Mount Aconcagua

Aconcagua

Aconcagua is the highest mountain in the Americas at . It is located in the Andes mountain range, in the Argentine province of Mendoza and it lies west by north of its capital, the city of Mendoza. The summit is also located about 5 kilometres from San Juan Province and 15 kilometres from the...

 on Ruta 7.

Etymology

The name Los Penitentes (The Penitents

Penitentes

thumb|Penitentes are the name of the caps of the [[nazarenos]]; literally those doing penance for their sins.Penitentes, or nieves penitentes , are a snow formation found at high altitudes. They take the form of tall thin blades of hardened snow or ice closely spaced with the blades oriented...

, in English) comes from the curious forms the ice on the mountain sides has, which remind the viewers of "penitents" climbing the mountains or praying on their knees.

History

In 1978, Emilio López Frugoni, a ski lover from Mendoza, bought 51 hectares of land and started a project to build a ski centre next to Mendoza City. The ski resort was inaugurated in 1979. Today the ski runs (25 in total) cover a surface of about 300 hectares, for all-lever skiers and with ski lifts to reach different levels and runs. About 1950 people can be accommodated in Los Penitentes since there is a variety of facilities provided, such as apartments, apart hotels, and hostels.

Weather

In winter, the average temperature is about 1º C, ranging between -4º and 7º C. The weather is dry and sunny on most days.

Activities

This centre has 25 runs of different lengths and drops for beginner, advanced and expert skiers. The season ranges from mid-June to late August. The activities that can be carried out there include ski, snowboarding, and heli-skiing.
There is also a number of services available, such as ski school, snow garden, shopping center, restaurants, hostels, hotels, kindergarten, and disco.

External links

• Official Site
• Los Penitentes at welcomeargentina.com