We rate Mallin Alto as being one of our top 10 skiing experiences, so it must have been pretty special!

Staying way up in a remote part of the mountains, in unique lodging with beautiful food, phenomenal views, great skiing, and delightful people was truly magnificent and a definite highlight of our ski trip to South America! It was amazing and a special way to disconnect from the world.

Mallin Alto has evolved so much in the 7 years since we last visited. It used to be a wild trip that was high on the adventure spectrum and included a bit of roughing it. Now it still has enough adventure, a little bit of wild, and lots of luxuries thrown in. Back then, the machine wasn’t too well oiled and the refugio was like glamping. There was one stand-alone dome tent with plastic windows, other guests slept in the mezzanine level above the kitchen, the dining area was tiny, and there was one communal bathroom. Now the handmade lodge has expanded a lot and it’s become rather glam but remained very rustic. It has been a labour of love for Kao and plenty of love has gone into it. The dome tents have large glass windows and are fully integrated with the main building, so they’re not really “tents” anymore and the guest rooms have ensuite bathrooms that have views. The upstairs dining area was somewhat new and the large downstairs dining area and bar were brand new. The views from both were impressive and we have no idea how they got those large windows up there (they didn’t use a helicopter). The food and beverage offerings used to be good and now they’re really impressive. Miguel the chef (who looks just like George Clooney) created masterpieces and entertained the guests with his showmanship, whilst Kao the owner was truly in charge of making sure everyone had a fun time. Overall, the lodging was superb!

Whilst the 4WD drive to get to the snowline was still a bumpy adventure, the on-snow transport has become very comfortable. Rather than sitting on the back of a snowmobile, they now have a UTV with a heater and covered sides.

We’d come from Cerro Catedral where it had been raining and we were worried that the snow at Mallin Alto would be naff considering that both areas are reasonably close and at a similar elevation. However it had been snowing up at Mallin Alto, which apparently is quite common because its location deeper into the mountains provides a bit of a fridge effect. It got colder over the next couple of days and we had a reset each night, mostly from fresh snow plus some wind to provide some extra powder. It wasn’t knee deep powder, but we felt pretty lucky to have lovely boot-deep fresh lines on every run. Most of the terrain consisted of fun open bowls of about 30-35 degrees that usually mellowed out before the snowmobile pick-up.

The guiding was good without being exceptional. Generally the guide +/- the owner on a sled would cut a slope initially, and then on subsequent runs on the same slope the guide would stay at the top and observe from above which seemed appropriate. In addition to slope testing, a snow pit was dug on a couple of occasions. The safety factors were covered but were not always evident to guests.

The snowcat rating doesn’t apply but the snowmobiles were great and an efficient way to get up the hill that provided adrenaline for those that sought it, or the ATV was a comfortable ascent.

On the face of it, the sled skiing may seem a little expensive. However once there we could see the value associated with it, especially considering how special and remote the setting was, and the high staff to guest ratio. The value became more apparent too after staying at Cerro Catedral where a hotel stay with meh accommodation, lift passes, and food prices had sky rocketed. Mallin Alto costs about the equivalent of cat skiing in Canada and is significantly cheaper than heli skiing in South America. It’s pretty special!

You can also see our thoughts on the pros and cons of Mallin Alto.
See our video here

I don't say these words lightly - this experience will change your life. I was snowboarding around Chile, Argentina/Patagonia July to September 2019. I have snowboard across Europe, USA, Canada, Japan - and now South America. This IS the place to be each and every year, and Mallin Alto IS the best place to be on the planet. If you do one 1 trip in your season, then make it here.

It is raw, it is luxury, it is incredible, it is being part of a family, it really is. I was collect at my hotel in Bariloche from the owner Kao and his partner. As soon as you meet Kao, he has that vibe in his face, the vibe where you know how knows how to live. It is easy to connect with him. We took a 3 hour drive across their land across bumpy roads and through streams, no mobile phone access, just an emergency radio. We stopped to say hi to his Dad and have a cup of tea, so cool. We swapped to a snow buggy for the last part of the trip and up to the igloos where we were greeted by the staff, although it does not have that feel, it feels like you have just made more friends. Inside, fire on, make more friends, no TV, no music, no phones, it was talking, board games, swapping your travel story’s, and all like minded laid back easy to get on with people, this is not a ‘show off’ place for ‘show off’ people.

Great food by a lovely wonderful cook, then under your 4 duvets and in to bed as the generator goes off overnight - this is proper backcountry. Wake up, generator on, fire on, food, assess the snow, leave when everyone is ready….no stress, no clock. Ride inside your comfort zone, be safe, no waivers like the USA as there is an unspoken rule that you respect the mountain and you respect the crew. It works - this is a long established successful business.

Jump on the side of ski doo - hold on! Then as you go across the top of the first peak, you will shake with adrenaline, you can ride whereever you want!!! (once the snow pack has been assessed). Bowls, chutes, steeps, trees, trees, trees and trees!!! Large open faces! And you can ride all day. The ski doo service is quick, easy, logistically impressive. Give me a Cat, give me a Heli - no way, just get me to Mallin Alto.

I live in London, England, yet each year I will head here, it is that simple. As I said…it WILL change your life, and I love my new friends.
See our video here

I went to MA as a part of guided tour. It was the greatest skiing ever... The entire mountain was just for a few of us. Riding snowmobiles was great fun. I would not recommend it to people with abilities below Strong Intermediate/Advanced. The place is relatively far from the nearest town, so you want to make sure you can ski big mountains and not hurt yourself. If you're going for more than one day, it also would help if you go with people you like, but even going alone could be a blast! I hope I can ski/ride these mountains again.
See our video here

This is probably the coolest thing I’ve ever done. I had the best time. The skiing and the views were amazing (the runs were super long and I got more vertical per day then I would riding the lifts at a resort, and all on fresh powder). Riding the snowmobiles with the crew there was maybe ever more fun than the skiing and they did an amazing job while we were going down to go scope out new locations and fresh powder stashes for us to ride, we ended up so far out there in the middle of mountains, it was a humbling experience to see how wild and vast it is out there.

The hut is in a beautiful location, it is warm and clean on the inside, I stayed in one of the private rooms and it had a comfy bed, a nice bathroom, a fireplace and amazing views. The food was delicious with hot meals 3 times a day and there is local home brew beer on tap and a wine cellar. Everyone working there was friendly and helpful. I loved it!
See our video here

I decided very last minute (only two days in advance) to hop over from Chile to Argentina alone to attend this trip. As a female solo traveler (who doesn't speak Spanish) in Argentina for the first time, I had no idea what I was getting into, but this ended up being one of the best ski experiences of my life. Kao (the owner) did everything possible to make my stay as comfortable and awesome as possible, including finding me an English speaking guide to translate for me on mountain and in the lodge.

There was another small group of 5 people at the lodge for part of my stay that I spent time skiing and socializing with, but I also very much enjoyed skiing alone with the guide and relaxing in the quiet dome once the group had left.

Snow/Terrain -- I visited during an unusually low snow season and there had not been any recent snowfall on the region. Somehow we were still able to find some stashes of untouched or wind blown powder with the help of Kao's expert knowledge of the mountain. Given the circumstances, I can't think of a better place to have been skiing in the region, and can only imagine how amazing this place is after a fresh snowfall. This place is massive, like a ski resort to yourself, with plenty of variety of terrain. I did not grow tired of the options, I never had to ski over anyone else's tracks, and got to ski everything from long wide-open cruisers to rocky steep faces. I was able to ski a new zone of the area each of my 3 days.

Snowmobiles -- The most efficient way to ski! It was really quick loading back up the mountain to do a lot of long runs (15-20 in just a few hours) and explore new terrain options in different areas of the mountain. Much faster than a snowcat or ski lift, but a lot more exciting! I felt safe and comfortable riding on the snowmobiles with our guides.

Transportation -- Super timely and an adventure on its own. I got a call as soon as my flight arrived in Bariloche and the driver was waiting for me outside the airport. The off-road journey to Mallin Alto is definitely a part of the rugged experience that I enjoyed.

Lodging/Meals -- The hut itself is unexpectedly luxurious for how remote it is. Safe drinkable water, adequate warmth from the wood stoves, and comfortable beds. I slept two nights upstairs in the dome which is the warmest room in the lodge (but without any view.) The third night I switched rooms to sleep in the smaller dome that had an incredible view of the stars at night and sunrise in the morning. The meals were a major highlight of the experience! Breakfasts, lunches, and dinners featured delicious local cuisine and wine carefully prepared by the chefs.

I will definitely be visiting again!
See our video here

My son (age12) and I just returned from a fantastic 2 day, 2 night stay at Mallin Alto. We highly recommend this adventure.

Getting to the Dome
Our adventure began during the insertion to Mallin Alto. Carlos picked us up at our hotel in Bariloche around 5pm. We drove for about a hour out of town until the road ended at a remote ranch owned by Kao’s great uncle (age 86!). They called this “stage1”. During “stage2” we were soon fording rivers that were up to the floor boards of the car. At points we were driving straight up the stream bed itself. “Stage3” started at the snow line where we transferred to a tracked vehicle that took us up to the domes which are perched in a remote alpine setting. It was snowing so hard that we had to wait another full day before we could see the amazing views. Living in the dome was very relaxed and quite comfortable. The food was excellent and the wood burning stove/heaters made for a great atmosphere. However, we would not recommend Mallin Alto for those who have “high maintenance” standards.

Skiing
There are seemingly endless lines with great terrain at Mallin Alto. We had great snow during our visit to Mallin Alto. High winds, snow and clouds on the first day kept us skiing mostly in the trees with a few late-afternoon runs higher on an open ridge. Second day after the wind died, we enjoyed repeated laps on wide-open lines in untracked, light powder. Amazing! In our opinion, a skier who is comfortable skiing black diamond runs at a resort in a full range of snow conditions (powder, crud, wind slab, hard pack, trees) will get the most out of a visit to Mallin Alto. We also found that wide skis were a definite advantage in Mallin Alto’s snow conditions.

Snowmobiles
Kao and his team are master snowmobile drivers which allows them to summit steep terrain and maneuver between tight trees. As other reviewers have said, riding a snowmobile is a thrilling, demanding and active process. You don’t get the same rest between runs as you do on a lift or cat skiing. Our max was 14 runs on the second day for a vertical of 12,000 feet.

Overall
Kao and his extended family/team are excellent hosts. Memories from our Mallin Alto adventure will last a lifetime.
See our video here

Whilst the snow quality wasn’t particularly favourable to bucket list powder skiing, the overall experience at Mallin Alto was definitely the highlight of our ski trip to South America. It was amazing! Staying way up in a remote part of the mountains, in unique lodging with beautiful food, phenomenal views, and delightful people was truly magnificent.

The trip definitely would not have suited princesses or the unadventurous. Some funny things happened whilst we were away – keep your mind open!

Travel
It took a mighty long time to get there but this was part of the adventure! We travelled in an old 4WD car and stopped along the way at the land owners shack, an amusing legendary old man who lives with the gauchos and tries to make something of the land. They were cooking some sort of armadillo looking creature in a pot, and it smelled disgusting so it was time to get out of there!

The trail became super bumpy as we crossed creeks and rocks. When we reached the snow line we transferred to snowmobiles and an ATV 4-wheeler (thank god we’d packed reasonably lightly!). Sure we got bogged along the way which now provides an adventurous tale or two, but we arrived safely at the warm hut at the top of the mountain to be greeted with snacks and a bevvie.

Lodging:
The main hut was like a cubby house with dome tents (like yurts) attached to it – Kao’s little creation that he keeps adding parts to. This whole experience was uber rustic yet the lodging had more than enough creature comforts to keep us very happy. We stayed in the private “honeymoon suite” (the separate dome tent) which felt somewhat luxurious with its wood fired heater. A definite highlight was the big window that afforded the most amazing views across the mountain. At night time there was a small glow of the snow capped mountains and as the sun started to rise it was difficult to continue sleeping because I just wanted to gawk at the views.

The hot tub added to the whole relaxing experience. It was wood fired and sitting on the corner of the deck, it also afforded spectacular views.

The food was pretty amazing. Our chef (we called him the Argentine George Clooney) was a bit of a marvel at creating lovely food, especially considering the location we were in.

Sled Skiing:
Obviously the snowcat rating isn’t applicable.
We missed the most amazing skiing by a couple of days. A big dump of snow had hit the Bariloche area but then the temps had warmed a little, so the snow quality was far from optimal. As there’s only a little bit of tree skiing at Mallin Alto, most of the snow is unprotected from the sun and elements, although there are some good aspects that are shady.

Not having done sled skiing before, I was a little surprised at how much energy it took to ride up on the sled on the side (and more so when occasionally I was towed behind). Super fun of course, but more tiring than snowcat or heli skiing.

Whilst you could easily do 2000-5000 metres of vertical each day, we chose to keep the skiing to just the morning (when the snow was soft but nice) and then hit the deck for some R&R, hot tubbing, wine and more food!

Value:
On the face of it, the sled skiing may seem a little expensive, particularly considering it’s not luxurious accommodation. However once we got there we could definitely see the value associated with it, especially considering how special the setting was. Firstly there’s just the logistics of getting guests, gear, food and drinks up to the hut. High staff to guest ratios are also required to manage the logistics once up at the hut, whether it be lighting the fire for the shower or the hot tub, or the amazing food. The service levels were very high, and the staff ever so friendly.

Overall:
It was a bit of a shame that we didn’t hit Mallin Alto with primo conditions, but it seemed that skiing or snowboarding is really only one small part of the experience. Being out in the remote backcountry and living it up was pretty special!
See our video here