Las Leñas first opened in 1983 and is named for a desert plant. That's right, one of the world's great ski resorts is named for a shrub. The shrub in question is adesmia pinifolia, called coli mamul or "yellow wood" by the Mapuche people. The botanist Peregrino Strobell named the valley 'Valle de Las Leñas Amarillas,' or Yellow Wood Valley.

In addition to 40 miles or so of marked terrain, Las Leñas offers over half a million acres of off-piste skiing.

There is lodging at the resort for about 3,000 people, and it is all 'ski in, ski out' (all lodging is within 200 yards of a lift).

Built in 1983, Las Lenas has the the most modern lift system in South America. Lift lines are extremely rare at Las Lenas, since the mountain has 16 modern ski lifts that boast a total uphill capacity of 9200 skiers per hour. Ski lifts are named after Roman and Greek Gods: Venus, Eros, Minerva, Vesta, Vulcano, Jupiter, Apolo, Neptuno, Mercurio, Caris, Selene, Juno, Iris, Marte, Urano, and Cenidor. Lifts run nonstop from 9am to 5pm daily.

The casino is located in the Piscis Hotel and is managed by an Austrian company: "Casinos Austria." This fully-stocked casino has American roulette, baccarat, red dog, a large number of blackjack tables, and over forty slot machines.

Las Lenas is also home to South America Snow Sessions, the premier ski/snowboard camp in the world. SASS offers everything anybody could want in a camp. Wonderful staff, the best coaches, the best location, spanish language classes and the most fun possible.

What makes this resort great is the Argentinian people. While not many speak English , they are some of the nicest people in the world. And the women are utterly stunning. The women are so beautiful, it is worth visiting Argentina just to surround yourself with them.