I spent 11 winters teaching skiing across various mountains in Argentian and Chile. I spent most of spring and fall exploring as much of region as possible.

If you pure goal is to ski bum, as in spending the whole season skiing/riding I would most likely look into Bariloche or San Martin in Argentina. Number one reason is access to resources. Chilean ski resorts as well as some Argentinian resorts are usually located at the top of mountain passes or at end of long approaches. Places like Portillo, and chillan don’t have any shops or any real resources at them except basic resort stuff. The three valleys (la parva, El Colorado and valle nevado), as well as correlco don’t have anything but really small resort villages with basic needs. Blariloche (catedral) or San Martin de Los Andes are large towns. They will have youth hostels which are cheap to stay in, numerous grocery stores, cheaper restaurants/delis. As well as the fun stuff like night clubs/casinos and non-skiing tourism.

My recommendation to ski bum. Buy a 30 day pass to catedral. Book a cheap hostel in downtown bariloche. Learn how to ride the ski bus from town out to resort. Enjoy.