Cerro Castor

Cerro Castor Ski Resort in Argentina is the spot to ski the “end of the world” considering its location near Ushuaia aka “Fin Del Mundo” and that it’s the most southern ski resort in the world. Cerro Castor Ushuaia is reasonably modern by Argentina standards, and considering the relative ease of getting there from Buenos Aires, lots of folks from Buenos Aires head to Ushuaia.

Centro de Ski Cerro Castor doesn’t have the gnarly steeps of Las Lenas or Cerro Catedral, but this doesn’t bother the non-pro skiers and snowboarders that make up the majority of visitors to Castor.

Pros and Cons of Cerro Castor Argentina

Pros

• The Cerro Castor ski resort offers great views towards the Beagle Channel and also across to the Chilean border.
• The facilities and services are reasonably well developed and include good grooming and nice on-mountain restaurants.
• The lift infrastructure is very modern by South American ski resort standards.
• Relative to some other Argentina ski resorts, the snow is reasonably consistent.
• Cerro Castor typically doesn’t suffer from crowds, although it is much busier on weekends compared to weekdays.
• The nearby city of Ushuaia is rather vibrant.

Cons

• Cerro Castor Ushuaia is reasonable sized, but it doesn’t offer the same magnitude and variety of terrain compared to Cerro Catedral.
• The lodging at the Cerro Castor ski resort is limited to one option and there is very little to do there other than ski or snowboard. The other option is to stay in Ushuaia which has a lot more on offer, although transport connections between Ushuaia and Cerro Castor are not particularly efficient or regular.
• It can be rather expensive, particularly during high season.

Ski Cerro Castor Terrain

Cerro Castor is a medium sized resort with 650 hectares (1,600 acres) of skiable terrain and 35 marked trails. It has plenty of vertical (861 metres), with elevations from 196m to 1,057m. The ski resort attracts some international ski racing teams, so to some degree, the size of the ski resort can shrink if the terrain is closed off for race training.

Cerro Castor has 5 quad chair lifts, some of which are detachable, plus a few pomas and magic carpets.

The upper part of the ski resort is above the timberline and consists of large bowls with several groomers and rocky terrain features, including some chutes. The lower half is below the treeline and includes some tree skiing and sheltered groomed runs for beginners and intermediates, although at the end of the day beginners will want to download the last part of the vertical which is rather steep. The official trail breakdown is 30% beginner, 30% intermediate, 25% advanced and 15% expert. Cerro Castor also has a small terrain park (which the resort claims is the largest in South America) and skier/boarder cross course.

You can also ski Cerro Castor for the fantastic slackcountry (lift accessed BC) and backcountry skiing, and with a split board or touring skis there are extensive skinning opportunities.

Cerro Castor Snow

The jury is still out regarding both the quantity and quality of the Cerro Castor snow. The resort doesn’t advertise the snowfall statistic, possibly because it’s only 3 metres (118”) or maybe 5-6 metres per season. It’s renowned for having the most consistent snow in Argentina (which isn’t necessarily saying much) although it’s certainly had some rather lean years of late. To top up the natural snowfall, there are lots of guns for manmade snow that covers 30% of the trails.

As a general rule, Cerro Castor Ushuaia doesn’t receive big dumps of snow, but rather semi-regular snowfalls of small volume.

Even though the base area is at rather low elevation, the snow quality is maintained thanks to its southerly location (parallel 54º) at the “end of the world”. Also favourable is that the lower slopes mostly face southwest and the upper slopes have a SW to SE aspect.

Where is Cerro Castor Argentina?

Cerro Castor is located 26km (16 miles) northeast of the city of Ushuaia, which is located in the far south of Patagonia Argentina in the Tierra del Fuego Province. Most skiers and snowboarders arrive in Ushuaia via plane and it’s a 3.5 hour flight from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia. From the airport, there are ground transfers available for those staying on-mountain. Most people stay in Ushuaia and self-drive to the ski resort each day (along a fully paved highway). There is also a daily shuttle bus between many of the Ushuaia hotels and Cerro Castor, but it can be a long trip by the time the bus does multiple hotel pick-ups/drop-offs.

Cerro Castor Accommodation

There is only one option for lodging at the base of Cerro Castor. Castor Ski Lodge isn’t really a “lodge” but rather a collection of 15 Patagonian style cottages that are self-contained with a kitchen, dining area and living area. The cottages cater for 2-3 guests, 4-5 guests, or 6-7 guests, and are only available for week long stays from Saturday to Saturday. The lodge has a restaurant and kids club.

Lots of people to prefer to stay in Ushuaia where there’s a good choice of restaurants, bars, shops and a couple of casinos. There are plenty of Ushuaia hotels in the downtown area and on the outskirts of town, ranging from basic hosterias to 5 star hotels. Other Ushuaia accommodation includes bed and breakfasts and hostels.

Ushuaia Hotel Listings
Ushuaia Ski Packages

Ski Resort Facilities

Cerro Castor is reasonably contemporary and has some lovely amenities for skiers and snowboarders. There are several on-mountains restaurants to choose from, ranging from inexpensive cafeterias to somewhat deluxe dining establishments.

At the base are a few ski and snowboard rental shops, although on weekends they can experience some difficulty in managing the logistics of customers arriving en masse. The other option is to rent your equipment at one of the Ushuaia ski rental shops, and there are overnight storage facilities at Cerro Castor if you don’t want to cart your gear back and forth each day.

In addition to ski and snowboard school (not in English), other amenities include first aid and a ski/snowboard retail shop. Childcare is available for kids aged 3 months to 3 years, although it’s not available between 1 and 2pm when parents need to pick up the children for lunch.

Other activities include ice skating and cross country skiing, and equipment rentals are available.