Page Contributor(s): Leo Lagos, Chile
INTRO
El Colorado shares its opening act with every other climb out of this valley: curve 0 near Corral Quemado, then the same numbered switchbacks - the segment where Tom Pidcock set his Strava KOM during his Q36.5 team's 2026 altitude training camp in the area - up through the village of Farellones. Past the village, the road forks toward El Colorado's ski center instead of La Parva or Valle Nevado, climbing to one of the oldest and largest ski resorts in the Andes.
El Colorado is linked to Farellones by cable car as well as road, which makes it feel like more of a working extension of the village than a separate destination - the two share infrastructure and a certain amount of foot traffic in winter. The riding, though, is all yours: a quieter, less-trafficked finish than the Farellones switchbacks below, with the same Andean condors regularly working the ridgelines overhead.
The final kilometers gain real altitude - El Colorado's base sits above 2,400 m and its lifts top out past 3,300 m - so check conditions at the summit before you commit to the top with our Weather tool.
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 Farellones switchbacks - curve 1 to curve 41, averaging close to 5% and rated Hors Categorie by European climb databases - make up most of this climb's work. From curve 0 (about 1,370 m) to El Colorado's base near 2,430 m, riders gain roughly 1,050 meters (3,450 ft). The fork toward El Colorado past Farellones is shorter and less steep than the continuation to La Parva or Valle Nevado, making this the most moderate of the three finishes above the village.
Top off water at the YPF station near curve 1, at the foot of the Farellones switchbacks - it's the last dependable stop before the climb. Farellones has restaurants, though they run a winter schedule and shouldn't be relied on in summer, and El Colorado above it is even more seasonal, with little open to outside visitors once the lifts stop turning.
El Colorado's base sits above 2,400 m, high enough that the thin air and strong Andean sun matter more than the climb's moderate grade suggests - sunscreen, eye protection and a layer for the descent are worth the extra weight.
El Colorado is roughly 39 km northeast of Santiago via Ruta G-21, the only road up. The Chilean summer, November through April, is the best window - ski-season chain checkpoints and vehicle traffic controls are gone and the upper fork to El Colorado is nearly empty. Tom Pidcock's team used this same window for its 2026 altitude camp in the area.
Since El Colorado shares its lower two-thirds with Farellones, La Parva and Valle Nevado, riders based in Santiago for a few days often work through more than one of these finishes from the same curve 0 start.
ROUTE MAP
