Portillo is a ski resort on the main road between Santiago and Mendoza, at a height of about 2,900 metres, and it is one of the oldest and most famous in South America. The big yellow hotel sits on the shore of the Laguna del Inca, a deep blue lake that freezes in winter, with steep, bare mountains rising on all sides and the road tucked in at the foot. The resort hosted the Alpine World Ski Championships in 1966, the first ever held in the southern hemisphere, and it still has the slightly old-fashioned glamour of a place that was famous before most of its rivals were built.
The road to get here is the star. From Los Andes the highway climbs steadily up the valley of the Aconcagua River, with the vineyards and orchards of the lowlands giving way to dry rock and scrub. Then comes the real climb, a series of tightly stacked hairpins known as Los Caracoles, twenty-nine bends that zigzag up the face of the mountain. The surface is paved and generally good, but the road carries a heavy load of trucks heading for Argentina, so overtaking needs patience and a clear view. The best time is early morning in summer, when the traffic is light and the sun is low.
Fuel and food are the usual concerns. The hotel offers meals, and a few simple places nearby serve sandwiches and hot drinks. In winter, the pass can close because of snow and avalanches, sometimes for days, and a rider with a motorcycle should check the status before leaving. The tunnel at the top, the Cristo Redentor tunnel, lies a short ride beyond and carries the road into Argentina.
The landscape is what lingers. The rock is red, grey and ochre, with streaks of snow that survive the summer, and the sky is a deep, hard blue. Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Americas, lies not far away on the Argentine side, though you will not see its summit from the lake. The silence and the thin air make the lagoon feel like a place outside time. A coffee on the terrace, with the mountains around you, is one of the best breaks on any ride across the Andes.