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Taos Ski Week, Day 6

Today is the last day of the Taos Ski Week. In the morning Dano immediately takes us up to hike the ridge. Any upper-level (or even mid-level) Taos Ski Week class would be incomplete without a crowning run on the famous Highline Ridge.

At the top of lift two we pop off our skis, sling them over our shoulders, and hike up through the trees to the ridgeline. I take the lead and Dano hollers at me to pace myself, but I’m too excited. I have hiked the ridge before, many times, but for some reason it feels different today. It’s a celebration. The culmination of a full week skiing hard and pushing ourselves past our own boundaries. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I’ve never in my life skied better than I have this week. [more]

Taos Ski Week, Day 5

The meat of the morning is the video analysis. I had heard rumors about this, but didn’t know if every class did it. Our instructor lines us up at the top of Moe’s, a short black run on the back side full of moguls. At the bottom of the run, another ski instructor stands with a video camera. When he give the signal, the first person in our group drops into the moguls and makes a few turns. Her form is beautiful. The next person goes, and he also does well. I move to the back of the line. I want as much time as possible to remind myself of everything I’ve learned this week, and prepare myself to display it. [more]

Taos Ski Week, Day 4

Apparently, ski boots don’t have to hurt. I did not know that. I thought it was just the price you had to pay for a day on the slopes. Dano tells me I should go to the Boot Doctor, one of the shops at the base of the mountain, and have them take a look at my boots. It could be that they’re too big, and I have to crank the buckles down too hard, cutting off circulation to my toes. Or, it could be that I need a new footbed. I don’t even know what a footbed is. [more]

Taos Ski Week, Day 3

You would think that after a storm like that the snow would be up to my eyeballs. Well, it certainly did snow enough, but the wind came and messed it all up. Today I get to chair one early enough to a few runs before the ski week class starts. As I ride to the top of the mountain, I scope out Al’s Run below me. Snow drifts four and five feet high cut diagonally across the run, but in between the drifts – a shield of ice. The wind has scoured the slopes at Taos, picking up every flake from the front side and carrying it away to...somewhere else. Although the base depth is still more than eighty inches, it’s hard as a rock.

When my group and I meet up with Dano at the mid-mountain Whistlestop cafe, he says as much. “Today, we learn how to ski the crud.” [more]

Taos Ski Week, Day 2

Monday, 8:45am - I’m lined up with the early-birds, hoping for first chair or as close to it as I can get. I want to take a run before my second ski week lesson starts at 10:00.

It’s snowing, but not that nice fluffy snow that falls slowly, gently ironing out the mountain’s bumps and troughs. No. This snow is wind powered. It shoots horizontally across the base of the mountain. Those of us lined up at chair one duck into our coats, pull balaclavas over our faces, but we don’t get out of line. [more]

Taos Ski Week, Day 1

It is a sunny Sunday morning in the Taos Ski Valley. I buy my special January Ski Week ticket for $75 at the Ski School office, park my skis in a rack at the base of the mountain, and walk inside Tenderfoot Katie’s Cafeteria to put on my ski boots. I’m not sure what to expect today, and I’m nervous. Will I be stuck with a group of ski school students who timidly snowplow their way down the groomers? Will I be struggling to keep up to an instructor who leaves his/her students behind? Will the instructor be a hard-ass or a cheerleader? The last time I took a skiing lesson I think I was ten years old, and no matter how many times I caught an edge or was tossed in the back seat by a mogul, the instructor applauded and told me I was doing great. I wasn’t doing great. It frustrated the hell out of me. [more]

Taos Ski Week

I’ve been skiing since I was about four years old, but not consistently, and often not well. I didn’t start skiing regularly until college, and I learned in the same way most people do – I simply tried to keep up with my friend, who was much better than me, by mimicking his movements and following his advice. This method worked, to a point. Now, I can get down anything that Arapahoe Basin, Keystone, Vail, Wolf Creek, Taos can throw at me, but it’s not pretty, and I’m often spending more time searching for my skis, poles, and goggles than I am actually skiing. In the last few seasons, my skills have plateaued. I just can’t seem to get any better. So, I decided to look into the Taos Ski Week. [more]

new EIS required

Developer Red McComb’s plans for a 287-acre “Village at Wolf Creek” at the base of one of Colorado’s last small family-owned ski areas have, for now, been squashed.

On Saturday, February 9th, the Durango Herald reported that Leavell-McCombs Joint Venture has agreed to start a new Environmental Impact Statement for the access road they want to build across public land, “a task that could set them back several years.” [more]

Bad News for Residents, Good News for Skiing

The small town of Chama, on the northernmost edge of New Mexico, is buried. 33 inches of snow fell on Chama and most of Rio Arriba County in three days, from February 2nd to February 5th. This is bad news for residents of Chama, many of whom are literally unable to open their front doors.

But it’s good news for the nearby ski areas. The steep slopes of Taos, 115 miles southeast of Chama, received 30 inches in the last three days, bringing their summit base depth to 108 inches. [more]

Burgers, Beers, Hot Springs, Repeat

Congratulations. You’ve skied a full day at Wolf Creek. You caught the first chair and skied ten runs before noon. The snow was so good you didn’t even pause for lunch, preferring a frozen Clif Bar and an apple on the lift. After another dozen runs or so the lifts closed – just in time – the powder turned your legs to Jello. You are hungry. You are sore. You are ready for après ski, Pagosa Springs style. [more]

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