When you carve turns down the slopes at Chile’s Nevados de Chillán ski resort, you can often see (and sometimes smell) smoking white fumaroles to the east. These natural smokestacks might at first look like signs of an avalanche, but here they’re no cause for concern: They’re merely reminders that you’re skiing under a volcano. It’s one of the most dramatic backdrops a skier can find: The perfectly conical crag—for which the ski resort is named—often puffs for weeks on end, though it hasn’t experienced a major eruption since the 1800s.

Descend some of its longest runs—which can span eight miles—and you might spot additional features unique to this volcanic landscape, such as a ridge of peaks poking at clouds on the southern horizon and two sprawling hot springs that offer muscle-relaxing apres-ski dips in snow-lined geothermal pools… (continue reading over at Bloomberg)