All year skiing: From China to Chile

SEPTEMBER

PORTILLO, CHILE

Portillo offers an old-school ski-resort experience about 160 km northeast of Santiago, in the Andes, attracting a loyal clientele that includes many North Americans.

The ski area's 35 runs range from gentle groomers to nerve-rattling steeps, and all are above tree line, showcasing views of lofty peaks and glistening Laguna del Inca.

In typical South American style, the partying goes late, with dinner at the Hotel Portillo served after 8 pm, live music nightly at the bar and post-midnight shimmying at the disco. (www.skiportillo.com)

OCTOBER

TEMPLE BASIN, NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand's public ski fields have been an anomaly in the skiing world since they opened in the 1930s.

Temple Basin, two hours northwest of Christchurch, on the South Island, has been the kingpin of the Kiwi fields since 1948. Since it doesn't open until July, Temple typically stays open until late October.

The wide, treeless bowls - set in the Tolkien-esque beauty of Arthur's Pass National Park - are perfect for novices and intermediates. Experts typically head straight for the thousands of acres of backcountry hemming the resort's boundaries. The fields were designed to provide cheap skiing for club members, and an all-inclusive three-day package runs $340. (templebasin.co.nz)

NOVEMBER

KILLINGTON, UNITED STATES

Killington is capable of pumping 720,000 gallons of water an hour through 240 snow-making guns to cover 30 hectares of terrain with 30 cm of snow.

No wonder it has consistently been one of the first Eastern resorts to open in the last two decades. The resort's seven peaks have the highest vertical drop in the East (930 meters), the tallest being Killington Peak (1,290 meters).

The K-1 gondola is the fastest way to the top, and the fastest way down is Cascade, a thigh-burner directly under the lift. When the sun goes down behind the Green Mountains, there is only one place as rowdy as the hill: the Wobbly Barn, which, built in 1963 from 10 dilapidated outbuildings, is still giving the greatest apres parties in New England.

DECEMBER

HUAIBEI, CHINA

So you want to ski the Great Wall of China? Well, you can't, really, but you can ski in sight of it, albeit as more of a novelty trip than a serious ski adventure.

Snow-covered Changbai Mountain in China's Jilin

About an hour north of Beijing, where one of the many tendrils of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) wall traces a spine of the Yanshan mountain range, lies Huaibei Ski Resort.

Its stark stripe of white snow standing out in the brown landscape tells you one thing you need to know about skiing near Beijing: Winters there are bone dry.

All the ski resorts within driving distance of the capital rely heavily on artificial snow, and that means ice becomes a hazard as the day wears on.

If you are set on more serious skiing, you can take a three- to four-hour drive from Beijing to Wanlong Ski Resort, a newer, more expansive area than Huaibei. Wanlong has more than 20 trails and attracts a more upscale crowd. While you can't see the Great Wall, you are not far from it.

New York Times Syndicate