Las Leñas

Getting There: Las Leñas is located in Argentina Mendoza Province, 68 km (42 miles) from Malargue, 200 km (124 miles) from San Rafael and 400 km (248 miles) from Mendoza.

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.