On the last leg of the drive up to the Arpa Valley you really do get the sensation of being in the middle of nowhere. Just outside the town Los Andes (80km north of Santiago, the road winds up towards the valley and eventually turns into a rugged 4x4 track. After almost half an hour of challenging driving you discover the Casa de Avalanchas, a rustic hut that serves as Ski Arpas base of operations.

Ski Arpas owner is Toni Sponar, an Austrian born ski instructor from Aspen. Toni owns almost all the land we can see, a purchase he made over 25 years ago. He explains how his cat skiing operation came about.

"The cat skiing came out of necessity. I never had any money to build a ski lift." With limited financial investment, difficult access and absolutely no assistance from Government or Tourism Chile, it made sense to purchase a snow cat instead of building costly resort infrastructure.

We are the first group of 2008 to ski here, with the massive June snowfalls in Chile theres plenty of snow around. The sky is overcast but not affecting our visibility at all. Our guide is an American mountaineer named Patrick, who spends his winters in the backcountry of Idaho. He explains that much of the snow up top is wind affected, but down lower there should be plenty of powder.

Sounds good to me. Lets load up.

Our vehicle of choice is an ageing Piston Bully 200D. Not quite as fast as the new machines but Toni tells us it can coast down the mountain quicker to collect us after our run. The cat steadily climbs up 4km to the summit of Cerro Blanco. We unload into one of the most amazing vistas I’ve ever seen. The vast expanse of the Andes surrounds us. Cerro Aconcagua, the tallest mountain in South America is in the distance. The next valley over, La Honda (also owned by Toni) looks like it could easily encompass a small ski resort.

Patrick shows us where well be skiing first today, the massive bowl of Plateau Alto. We drop in, taking care on the solid wind packed snow. We head towards Sacachuros and already we can feel the snow loosen up into the South American powder we came here for.

Three runs later and weve covered most of the lines off Cerro Blanco. With some hiking, its possible to ski the expert terrain of Alto del Arpa and Las Cornices. One day is just not enough to cover the 4000 acres of terrain in these valleys.

Arpa valley has plenty of terrain variety, from the expert to the confident intermediate. The elevation of the ski area is between 2,700m and 3740m (9000 and 12,500 feet), all alpine and above tree line. If you book for your own group (min 2 persons) you are able to choose what terrain you want to ski, provided the guide is confident in your abilities.

Theres no bar at the refugio, but the packaged accommodation at Casa San Regis in Los Andes will give you a warm reception at the end of the day. Sit by the fire drinking pisco sours and the best wine from local vineyards as the hosts prepare you some delicious Chilean home cooking.