Page Contributor(s): Leo Lagos, Chile
INTRO
La Parva takes the Farellones climb and keeps going. From curve 0 near Corral Quemado, the road follows the same numbered switchbacks past the village of Farellones - the segment where Tom Pidcock set his Strava KOM during his Q36.5 team's 2026 altitude camp in the area - then continues climbing to La Parva's ski center at close to 2,800 meters (9,200 ft), one of the highest points a road bike can reach above Santiago.
La Parva sits in the middle of the "Tres Valles," the combined ski area it shares with El Colorado and Valle Nevado, and it feels different from Farellones the moment you arrive: fewer hotels, more private mountain chalets stacked up the hillside, and, on a clear day, a panoramic view straight down over the Santiago basin that makes the whole climb worth it on its own.
Watch for Andean condors working the thermals along the upper switchbacks - they're a regular sight on this stretch of the Andes - and check current conditions at the top before you go with our Weather tool, since La Parva's summit lift tops out above 3,600 meters.
PLAN YOUR ROUTE
We've partnered with Sherpa-Map.com to bring you the best route planning tool. With a PRO Membership you can use this climb as a reference when creating your route. The first two-thirds of this climb are the Farellones switchbacks - curve 1 to curve 41, averaging close to 5% and rated Hors Categorie by European climb databases - and from curve 0 (about 1,370 m) to La Parva's base near 2,800 m, riders gain in the neighborhood of 1,400 meters (4,600 ft) in total. The final kilometers past Farellones climb through fewer, more spread-out curves as the road narrows toward the resort, so the numbered-hairpin rhythm of the lower climb gives way to a steadier, more exposed grind at altitude.
Fill up at the YPF station near curve 1, at the base of the Farellones switchbacks - it's the last reliable water and food stop on the entire climb. Farellones itself has restaurants, but they run on a ski-season schedule and can't be counted on in summer; past Farellones, La Parva is a private resort community with no guarantee of anything open to outside riders outside winter.
This is a high-altitude finish - La Parva's base sits near 2,800 m and the resort's upper lifts top 3,600 m - so budget extra time to acclimatize if you're not used to elevation, and pack layers for the descent, which gets cold fast even on a warm Santiago day.
La Parva is about 50 km northeast of Santiago via Ruta G-21, the only road in. Ride it in the Chilean summer (roughly November through April) when ski-season traffic controls and chain checkpoints are gone and the upper road is quiet - this is the same window Tom Pidcock's team chose for its 2026 altitude camp in the area.
Because this climb shares its first two-thirds with Farellones, El Colorado and Valle Nevado, it's a natural one to pair with a second climb on the same trip - the descent back to curve 0 gives you a running start on whichever of the others you tackle next.
ROUTE MAP
