Renting a cabin in Malalcahuello – winter activities

Malalcahuello comes alive in winter with ski and snow enthusiasts. The small town cuadruples in size and local businesses and entrepreneurs maximise their activity and earnings offering all sorts of activities and products.

Skiing/Snowboarding

From July to September skiing and snowboarding are the main winter activities in Malalcahuello. Cross country or backcountry skiing is a much lesser known activity for Chileans so most of the activity centres around Corralco ski resort on Volcano Lonquimay https://www.corralco.com/

The website of Corralco boasts 1800 skiable area with 29 pistes and 6 ski lifts. The centre is located within the National Reserve Malalcahuello that is over 31,000 hectares in size and includes the majestic Volcano Lonquimay. The highest chair lift gets you to within 465 metres of the summit (1525 ft) so some fit and expert skiers climb the rest of the way to ski into the crater or to ski down one of the faces of the volcano.  If you are not such an expert, Corralco has many other options from a nice wide, gentle beginner slope to everything in between.

Thermal baths

There are several commercial thermal bathing operations within driving distance from Malalcahuello. The closest one is around one and a half kilometres ( 0.9 mi) from the town centre. It is a beautifully designed construction of Oregon pine, testimony to the prior use of the area as a native timber processing area. The indoor thermal pool is large with options of all kinds of massage and therapies. It also has a restaurant on site as do most of the thermal bathing centres https://www.malalcahuello.cl/

The most natural thermal bathing centre is a little further from Malalcahuello, approximately 40 minutes by car, half of that along dirt roads. Cañon del Blanco offers small pools surrounded by native forest and rivers. They offer nocturnal bathing, staying open until midnight in peak season, which most of the other centres don´t offer http://canondelblanco.cl/termas/

Snow shoeing/sled dog tours/backcountry skiing/splitboarding/tobogganing

If you are not into skiing or snow boarding, but would like to get out in the snow, snow shoeing is an easy option. It involves strapping some wide, flat plastic “shoes” to your boots and walking. It´s a fairly natural action, you just find that you have to walk with your legs a little further apart than usual. Stocks can help you to keep your balance. A popular alternative for children is tobogganing which can be hired at many places in Malalcahuello.

There are many places within and outside of the reserve to go snow shoeing and guides who offer their services for snow shoeing, climbing or backcountry skiing/splitboarding.

One company offers short tours with snow dogs, trained especially to take customers on sleds through the snow.

Cabin-based activities

If none of the above activities sounds like you, or if the day is miserable, it may be a more suitable option to stay in the cabin by the log fire (yes, many still have slow combustion heating), read a book, play cards or board games. Many cabins also have hot tubs and some have spas or other activities which one can enjoy without having to go far, for example www.chilewild.com