El Colorado Ski Resort Amenities

At El Colorado ski resort there are two main areas that house the resort services and facilities. The base lodge called El Parador houses lift ticket sales, a cafeteria, restaurant, ski rental, ski school and lockers. A smaller hub is at Cururo/Los Zorros near the Colorado Apart Hotel that has ski school, equipment rentals and lift ticket sales.

Eating On Mountain El Colorado

El Colorado has lots of great lunch spots to soak up the sun and the wondrous views.

The aptly named El Mirador is a small mid-mountain restaurant and bar at the base of the Leon lift. Burgers and sandwiches are the main fare. They also sell hot and cold drinks including beers. For sunny days there’s a great deck and at 10,000 feet the views can be superb.

At Los Zorros the cute El Andinista pizzeria has nice homemade pizzas and it also has seating out on a deck with spectacular views.

The cafeteria in El Parador building has a salad bar, sandwiches and a creperie with sweet and savoury crepes. This restaurant is a common lunch spot for many of the racing teams so sometimes it is absolutely packed and has huge queues to buy food. There is a large outdoor deck that overlooks the slopes and a small outdoor bar selling delightful pisco sours and beers.

For table service try the restaurant upstairs in El Parador building.

The restaurant and bar at El Colorado Apart Hotel is also open for lunch, and it has a nice deck to take in the views on nice days.

Eating On Mountain Farellones

For daytime eating with easy access to the slopes, El Montanes restaurant and bar is the main place in Farellones. This restaurant is really cute and the fare includes share plates and pizzas. The vibe of the place is fantastic.

Facilities for Children

There is no child care available at El Colorado or in Farellones. Other than mini ski school for kids, the only other activity for kids is tubing down in Farellones.

El Colorado Ski School

The ski resort has a few snowsports schools (escuela de ski y snowboard). They provide individual or group classes for skiers and snowboarders of all levels. There are also kids’ specific schools (mini escuela). The only catch is that you’ll have to speak fluent Spanish to participate in a group lesson or you can pre-book a private lesson with an English speaking instructor. Adaptive lessons are also available.

Equipment Rental

There are lots of arriendo buildings spread out across the village. With equipment rentals at Las Terrazas, Colorado Apart Hotel, Los Zorros, El Parador, and El Montanes at Farellones, you’d think there’d be plenty of equipment choice. However the options are incredibly limited, with only very basic ski and board sets available. Don’t expect high performance gear or touring setups. One exception to this is the rental shop at the Monteblanco building which tends to have higher quality gear rentals.

If you have specific equipment requirements, you may be better placed at one of the Santiago ski shops. There are various shops on Las Condes Avenue and Camino Farellones on the way out to the Tres Valles ski resorts.

And if you’re not too fussed about quality and have a very tight budget, there are various rental tents on the way up the hill!

El Colorado Ski Shops

At El Colorado there are various shops scattered around the base of the ski area. None of ski shops at El Colorado are particularly large, so it can be difficult to find what you’re looking for. The El Colorado ski shops mostly focus on basic ski and snowboard accessories such as gloves and goggles. Hardware in particular is hard to come by, so if you’re in the market for new skis or a snowboard you’ll need to go to one of the Santiago ski shops.

Other Shopping El Colorado

The Monteblanco apartment building has a mini-market selling basic groceries and some wine. Prices are reasonable for an on-mountain grocery store, but are more inflated than what you’ll find in Santiago.

Language

This ski resort has some international influence considering the many Northern Hemisphere racing teams that train at El Colorado. To cater for the English speaking visitors, there are a few signs around the resort in English, but otherwise you’ll need to brush up on your Spanish (or Spanglish). Ditto for verbal communication as very few staff around the resort speak fluent English, and only some staff speak a little English. Have your google translate app ready for culinary translations because many of the restaurant menus will not be in English. Otherwise just order a cerveza and papas fritas!

Other Information

The El Colorado village is at an elevation of about 2,750 metres, so there is some risk of developing altitude sickness. Take standard precautions to minimise the risk including the consumption of non-alcoholic fluids.