Overview
- Operators and local reports say snowfall at Portillo rose from about 1.3 meters on July 17 to totals exceeding 4.5 meters within a few days, with heavy accumulation continuing.
- Ski Portillo has suspended all operations, closed land and air access and left slopes shut with no reopening date announced.
- The Los Libertadores / Horcones mountain pass that links Santiago and Mendoza is closed to all traffic, cutting the international route that runs past the resort.
- Argentine authorities including the road administration, the Gendarmerie and Mendoza provincial police evacuated roughly 50 people from high‑altitude areas and assisted stranded residents and staff.
- Rescue and road‑clearing work is being slowed by strong winds, low visibility and elevated avalanche danger, and different outlets report varying totals because measurements use different time windows.