As spring skiing winds down in Chile, Valle Nevado offers the best chance in South America to find decent late-season snow. The reason? Twenty-two thousand acres of terrain. Add to that the neighboring resorts of La Parva and El Colorado, for a grand total of 42 lifts, and it's time to call your travel agent. From the top of Cerro Negro at over 12,000 feet, you can often find powder in October, and, lower down, Valle Nevado's wide-open intermediate bowls allow high-speed arcs. Bonus: After September 1, room rates at the cluster of hypermodern buildings perched on treeless slopes are slashed to less than half.

Where: 37 miles from the Santiago International Airport (an hour and a half drive)