Taos Ski Valley to Finally Welcome Snowboarders

the end of an era

Taos Ski Valley to Finally Welcome Snowboarders

By Carson Bennett, 12-15-07

Taos Ski Valley opened yesterday with more snow for the first day than they’ve had in thirty years. Three thousand skiers showed up throughout the day. My friends and I were among the first thirty or so, at 8:15am, racing for first chair.

As we stepped off the shuttle from the parking lot we were greeted by a Taos Ski Valley employee. He had some announcements. “Only the front side is open today. We have seventy eight inches of snow, and plenty of powder. The back side will be open on Saturday. Oh, and we’re opening the mountain to snowboarders on March 19th.”

Did I hear him correctly? I stood on the first step of the stairs to the ticket office and looked around at the other skiers. Most of us looked confused. “Snowboarders? But, this is Taos.”

Taos Ski Valley has never allowed snowboarders. It has been a purist ski paradise since it opened fifty-five years ago. Now, only Alta, Mad River, and Deer Valley will still prohibit snowboarders.

The news was all over the mountain within minutes, and was the main topic of conversation all day. I heard mixed reactions on the lifts, in Tenderfoot Katie’s Cafeteria during lunch, and from my friends who have been skiing almost exclusively at Taos for years.

“It’s the end of an era,” my friend Randall said. “It was inevitable, but I hate to see it happen. It’s going to change the whole culture of this place.”

I rode up Lift 2 in the afternoon with a man in a green wool hat and well-worn ski pants, and asked him what he thought. “I’ll tell you what I think. Those f***ing knuckle-draggers are gonna ruin this mountain. They’re gonna f*** up the lines, scrape all the snow off Blitz or anything steep, f*** up the bumps on Al’s. And you know they’re gonna be lying around the mountain like a bunch of god damn slobs,” he spat. He shook his head in disgust. “That’s the end of this mountain.”

The most common remarks were something along the lines of Ernie Blake “rolling over in his grave.” As legend has it, Ernie Blake, the legendary founder of Taos Ski Valley, made a dying wish that Taos would never open to snowboarders. As his granddaughter (and TSV Marketing Director) Adriana Blake told Albuquerque Journal reporters, “It’s a lie; it’s totally not true. His death-bed wish was that his grandchildren—and there are thirteen of us—have college educations…and he died in 1989. Snowboarding then wasn’t an issue. It would have never occurred to him.”

According to the new TSV snowboarding website, the Blake clan made the decision for family reasons. “Taos has a long-standing tradition of being family oriented, and now with so many young people snowboarding, we are turning away more and more families, particularly families that traditionally come to Taos. Opening to snowboarding allows us to refocus on being a family oriented mountain.”

Opening up to snowboarders will bring more families, more people, more business, more money—but what else will happen? More restaurants? More condos? Higher ticket prices? Over-crowded catwalks and narrow runs? Will Taos devolve into the next “family oriented” mega-resort, or will it be able to maintain its home-mountain culture? We’ll find out, I suppose, in March; when we’re all standing at Taos in the same lift line for the first time.

What do you think about Taos opening the mountain to snowboarders? Leave a comment. Let us know.

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By Carson Bennett, 12-15-07 | comments (36) | email story | print story

Comments

By Jakob Heller, 12-15-07

You might want to change the headline -- it's Taos, not Toas. Then again, who reads headlines?

By Matthew Frank, 12-15-07

Yikes. Thanks for the heads-up, Jakob. I fixed it.

By julia, 12-16-07

If the gentleman you interviewed on the lift is in any way representative of the current clientelle at Taos, I really can't imagine how us snowboarders are going to change the culture of the mountain for the worse. I am in my 30's, have a family of my own, my little 3 year old is about to get on the snow this season for the first time, and I really don't see how we are going to "change the whole culture of this place." I think it is great that the ban is ending, as it is arbitrary and based on ridiculous misinformation. These views that snowboarding brings with it such negativity are archaic and naive. Everyone should be able to just have a good time together playing in the snow! IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By Al 'boardking' O Riordan, 12-17-07

An interesting article by all accounts but super advanced boarders like myself will not ruin anything. We might only make the skiers look like amateurs, lol.... Anyway I think open up the mountain and lets all have a jolly good time...

By Ron, 12-17-07

I like the no boarding atmosphere at Taos, but my biggest concern is that they seem to be putting the cart before the horse. They should add on before opening the moutain up, otherwise they won't be able handle the increased number of people. Jury is still out how many boarders will like Taos, once the novelty wears off. 90% of them don't like steeps, Taos is 51% expert, they just want to scratch up all the handrails. I have some good friends that board, but they are expert boarders and can handle anything. Taos better come up with a way to haul all the snow from the bottom back to the top once the army of 3 ft wide snow plows (beginning snowboarders) get done with the mountain everyday. Good like getting from the backside to the front on a snowboard, that cat trail is a b**** with poles.

By short dan, 12-17-07

in a world where i cant say mary christmas at the store it about time you freaken conceded liberal telemarks let us come and ruin your mountain, cuss hey lets face it most of you couldn't finish a turn any way till there was side cut in your skies, o where did that come from? it wasn't fro any skier i ever heard of. thanks boys and lets just get a long and have some fun. peace tele loven knckle dragger

By nymountaindog, 12-17-07

Of course they make the decision the year after I visit Taos and have to spend all my days elswhere. Maybe someone should consider developing a snowboard only resort - Hmmmm?

By Chris Hansen, 12-18-07

Man, this is such a tired argument, and I can't believe its still going on. The detractors sound like Klansmen at a segregationist rally. And the ones at Taos are just spoiled because they've never had to share the hill with snowboarders. That's far less annoying than the whining that comes from the former crowd.

Sure, there are bad apples in every bunch, but after a season of shared use, the controversy will die down and that will be the end of it. Just look at Aspen: once Ajax allowed snowboarders, there was a crescendo of outcry and boarders descended on the mountain like it was the new mecca. But after a while things settled down and now you don't find a whole lot of them there because the riding is better elsewhere in the system of Aspen mountains. It's no big deal.

The "family" reason for changing policy is probably as good as they could come up with (or borrow, rather) because this sport's been around long enough that there are now multiple generations on trays and it's not going away. As a snowboarder, alpiner and tele-skier with two kids learning proficiencies on all the snow-sliding tools, I say it's about time. And I'm glad for Taos' sake they will not go down in history as the last winter resort area to allow snowboarders. Question is, Who's it gonna be?

By Jp, 12-18-07

"purist" more like fascist.

Forget that crappy resort in a state that gets no snow anyway. Spend your money in other places that aren't so ridiculous. Look at that picture and then google Whistler, that choice is easy. Skiing is something that would be dead without snowboarding, just ask your kids who the hell The Hermanator and then ask them who Shaun White is, that will be a true guide. Who cares about Taos?

http://www.shaunwhite.com

that is a real rider.

By Ron, 12-18-07

Jp - Maybe you should look at the snow reports before you speak. Taos has 68 in base right now and Whistler has 63 in. I skiied Whistler three or four years ago with a group of about 10 that traveled all the way up there from all corners of the country and you had to take the lift back to the base because it was all grass and mud on the bottom 3/4 of the mountain. Only place there was any decent snow was hiking up to Blackholmb Glacier and it wasn't that good. A couple of us went a couple weeks later to Taos and skied powder. GO WHISTLER!!!

By Rich, 12-18-07

Really, who cares. Let the skiers keep Taos. Forever. Or until it goes out of business from lack of business. Come ride in California. It's all good.

By Taoseno Snowboarder, 12-19-07

Ya, I was upset for about a day that they finally decided to allow boarding. Now I'm over it and can't wait to hit up Kachina Peak in the middle of the day during regular season!!! Don't worry you old and tired Taos skier traditionalists, I wouldn't get close to Al's or Blitz or Winston and all the other steep bumped up runs. You can continue shakin your hips like you're at a disco as you go down show off. I'm going to be hitting up the sides of the chutes maybe in the trees where there aren't any bumps. Then, I'm going to hit up the far right side of Lorelie Trees, then Walkries (maybe not the chute, it's pretty harry and hardly ever opens). Then I'm going to go back over to the kachina side and ride el funko and those other runs over there that aren't on the map.

Stop being elitists! It's just one or two boards strapped to your feet as you have a blast hauling a$$ down the mountain.

By Ron, 12-19-07

Rich - You can have Tahoe and that 'Sierra Cement' you call snow. I did that for 4 years when I lived in Concord, CA and now when I go to the Rockies I fall to me knees and sob uncontrollably when I see the powder, not that thick we nasty crap California has to offer.

By Jason Brininstool, 12-19-07

It is about time and hopefully the other mountains will catch a clue. And I couldn't agree more about one of the above posts about opening a mountain exclusively for snowboarding. While Deer Valley, Mad River, Taos, and Alta have shunned the fastest growing form of winter recreation other mountains have harnessed it as a positive change.

If there was a mountain strictly for snowboarders, the same dude that was complaining on the lift would be bitchin' about that as well. The likes of him will never be happy in any situation.

As for scraping off steep chutes, it is universal no matter which way you stand on the mountain. Gapers are gapers, whether they ski or snowboard and I've seen plenty of skiers ruin great steeps throughout the Rockies, the Sierras, BC, and the Northeast. So don't go blaming "knuckle draggers" for ruining your runs. Besides sculpted, purposeful bumps, has anyone really seen how bumps are formed in the steeps? Skiers, making their wide, lame, non-stylish turns...out of fear. Point that shiz down the mountain and ski the fall line so that my knees make it long enough that I can drag my knuckles well into my 60s-70s. I hate scraped entries just as much as the next person, and I prefer to stand sideways.

By Powderhorn, 12-21-07

I learned to ski at TSV (rhyme not intended) 25 years ago. The fact that it remained snowboard-free for so long may be an economic question mark, and Ernie's death-bed wishes an urban legend, but I would maintain that anyone taking Rubezahl back to the base from Kachina is going to regret the decision. At the same time, getting down the front via Whitefeather is going to be an unholy mess, given the narrowness of the slope.

I'm glad to see that they're doing it on a trial basis, but it sounds like this is to stay. The first thing I did when I heard about this was call Ernie's widow, and she was classically blunt about it: "The skiers are dying and we still have to make money." (Rhoda's quite the pragmatist) I doubt the man who used to greet every skier on his mountain would agree, but business is business.

However, I don't think opening the mountain to snowboarding is going to be what makes Taos lose its niche. That boat has sailed. The Inn at Snakedance already removed the view of the mountain from the parking lot, then the Edelweiss was rebuilt to obscure Strawberry Hill, and now the Thunderbird has been torn down. Dadou got out years ago, but Jean Mayer is still keeping the St. Bernard as is -- for now. When he sells, it's all over. For all the protestations of not being Vail, when everything is condos and people turn to nightlife, the idea of Taos being special ceases. It won't be the snowboarders. I used to want to live and work in Taos. Now, well, it's be fun hearing Rhoda tell stories, but the valley has lost its humanity.

I miss the days where I could walk into a store there and have someone remember me. If Adriana's claim is that the personal service is still there ... well, may as well let snowboarders in, because the real reason it was special is gone.

By Taoseno snowboarder, 12-21-07

Just my opion, I know. Taos is still special. Sure, the views are gone or going away, people don't know your name anymore, people are going to applebees instead of El Taoseno (thats unforgivable). But, we still have the same mountain with the same wonderful snow (THE BEST DAMN SNOW THAT IS). If you're a skier, you'll at some point find yourself makin those quik turns on Blitz somewhere probably on some really soft moguls and you'll forget about that view from the parking lot. You'll realize, there aren't any snowboarders on my beloved blitz anyway and this view is much better than any view from that parking lot. I think I might even be there soon depending on how long my knees last snowboarding. For lunch, go to the phoenix and get one of those green chili cheeseburgers. Now that is special!

Hardly anybody takes lower ruby anymore after they installed that lift that goes from the bottom of Bob's bowl to the top of Bambi so I don't think that'll be a problem. As for whitefeather or goldmine corner, that place has always been a mess so I don't see how it can get worse but I agree and know it will. They better put a big wall on that corner next to the cliff or there's gona some people stuck in the trees. It's gona be kinda funny to see people getting bumped off into rasberry.

By Kevin, 12-25-07

It is a shame. There are plent of other resorts out there and Taos really had a unique niche. No more. I wish my children could have grown up skiing there like I did.

By TM, 12-26-07

{ “I’ll tell you what I think. Those f***ing knuckle-draggers are gonna ruin this mountain. They’re gonna f*** up the lines, scrape all the snow off Blitz or anything steep, f*** up the bumps on Al’s. And you know they’re gonna be lying around the mountain like a bunch of god damn slobs,” he spat. He shook his head in disgust. “That’s the end of this mountain.” }

Taos should consider itself lucky that snowboarders will ruin its culture. Ruining is exactly what fascist skier snob culture needs.

By Taoseno Snowboarder, 12-27-07

Hey Kevin, what's keeping your kids from growing up skiing there now? The unique niche? Are you worried about us snowboarders being a bad influence or something? I can assure you that I wouldn't keep my kid from experiencing Taos Mountain just because they allow snowboarding now even if I only ski. That would be a shame! I can just see you now, telling your kids, “this mountain used to be magical before those guys that ride on 1 board ruined it all.” “Before, it was perfect and unique because only us split boarders were here.” STUPID STUPID STUPID! Get over it! Be grateful you had the mountain to yourself for as long as you did and then go hug a snowboarder, we’re not all that bad.

By Taoseno snowboarder, 12-28-07

Have any of these people that still bitch about snowboarders ever been to a mountain other than Taos? I've been in CO for the last couple of years so that I could snowboard and the difference between snowboarders and skiers is not an issue anymore what so ever. When I go up to Breck or Winter Park/Maryjane (all the other CO resorts too but there's to many to name), you see snowboarders and skiers together everwhere, becuase it's not an issue anymore and why should it be? Once, in the last few years, I rode up a lift with a Texan who talked Sh** about snowboarders and he was a TEXAN-gaper (had to reiterate). Some of my most reliable buddies that I go up with ski and on powder days, sometimes they ride a board but we still ride together and have a good time whether it's on skis or a board.
To all you old pissed off skiers, grow up some more I guess. Move away from the mind set of the 80s and 90s and realize that what you ride doesn't define who you are, just how you move down the mountain.
I was watching a Warren Miller flick last night and at one point the commentater said, "If snowboarding had been invented first, they wouldn't let skiers on the mountain." Pretty good point, however, it wouldn't matter to me how people want to ride the mountain.

By Mattskity, 12-29-07

i dont think they should open it up to snowboarders if its been all ski for that long...the guy on the lift is right snowboards to tear up the mountains...im not going to deny it...i snowboard.............................................i think it should say ski only

-mattskity

By Deena Bennett, 12-30-07

Though I would prefer to snowboard, rather than ski, I still think that there should be some places for just skiiers. Snowboarding is a different style and a different use of the mountain. As the man in a green wool hat and well-worn ski pants said, the snowboarders are "gonna f*** up the lines, scrape all the snow off Blitz or anything steep, f*** up the bumps on Al’s." I think it's crap. I also think there should be an all-snowboarders mountain. The snowboarders can't argue, it would be fun. There are enough mountains open to everyone, Taos was a special place, as Carson said, "a purist ski paradise." Now the drive for more profits, veiled as refocusing on being a family-oriented mountain, will most likely bring in more buisnesses, condos, that sort of thing. We don't need another run-of-the-mill expensive ski town, we need to preserve those unique places, those purist ski paradises. I think it's a real loss.

By ken, 1-03-08

Unfortunately the reality of the situation is snowboarders are much more discourteous than skiers as a whole. I can't think of a single time I have ever been skiing when a snowboarder didn't really piss me off! What I usually see is a snowboarder flying too close to a novice skier at 50 mph or snowboarders using novice skiers as slalom cones and dangerously zooming around them.

By Veronica, 1-05-08

MAN, WHY CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG YOU BITCHES!!! IT'S THE NEXT BEST THING TO HAPPEN.... EVERYONE IS STARVING IN TAOS.... MOVE ON ALREADY. . . CHANGE IS GOOD...

By Taoseno Snowboarder, 1-07-08

Thank you Veronica for making the most important point. Who cares about 1 or 2 boards! Feed Taos for God's Sake! And to all the boarders wanting to boycott, pretty much all the kids in the town of Toas always wanted snowboarding and many helped Burton in protesing years ago along with the free taos campaign. So again, to those wanting to boycott, where were you when we were protesting in the beggining? If you weren't there to protest in the beggining but now you want to boycott, you're the gaper!

By Taoseno Snowbaorder, 1-11-08

What a bunch of BS KEN! Before I snowboarded, I used texans as slalom cones WHILE ON SKIS. I bumbed many a texan down rasberry and not on accident. I was dangerous on skis and I was a kid. Now I'm an adult on a snowboard and I still use Texans or novice skiers and snowboarders as slalom cones. See, I'm and a-hole regardless of what I ride. Again, what you ride doesn't define what kind of a person you are. A-holes are A-holes, whatch out for us, we're on skis too. Sorry Deena, I think you're a texan right? Oh ya Deena, I could care less if I could ride a mountain with out skiers. Why would that be more fun? I think it would be just another crappy reason to keep me from rideing with my skier buddies.

By Lynne, 1-12-08

Same thing happened in Aspen.... people get over it...

By fred 1-25-08, 1-25-08

well Im from Texas and also BOARD. The big double whammy,
will be there opening day, with bells on my STICK.

By Jo, 2-13-08

i think its about time taos opened its doors to boarders, and hopefully alta, deer valley, and mad river glen will follow. ive never tried skiing but i have a lot of friends who ski and i love to hit the slopes with them just as much as my snowboarding friends. and the whole thing about snowboarders being rude is just a stupid stereotype, just like all skiers being snobs. if you're going to get mad about it have a real reason. ive met plenty of rude skiers as long as snowboarders. i can't wait for Taos until march!

By scott, 3-24-08

hey all,that's a lot of firey talk about the no-longer ban on boards!I'm a frequent Taos skier who lives in Maine so I know all about sharing with snowboards-no big deal basically.Everybody relax,the Blakes probably just want to keep the mt. operating-what with fuel the way it is these days.What I want to know is-has anyone actually been to the place since the change and what are your reactions?Lots more people,crazy liftlines,insane close encounters?

By Lynne, 3-24-08

It functioned just like any other mountain with boarders and skiers, everything seems to be going smoothly. I know I had fun!

By boarder boy, 4-02-08

i thin that snowboarding is a blessing i skiied for almost six years and i was even on a ski team, my parents took me to taos for my birthday last year and the pow was amazing but since i started snowboarding about four months ago i have never had a gnarlier feeling than beeing sven feet up in the air 180 switch grabbing or barringling down a mountain no carving or stopping. i think it would do the clientelle at taos ski valley some good to have a little diversity on the mountain, as for the guy in the green hat and worn snowpants...your pathetic

By taoseno snowboarder, 4-03-08

Yes, I was there! The staff was passing out bumper stickers that read, "3/19/08 The Day Hell Froze Over, Ride Taos". There was a mob of about 7 or 8 of us, my brother being the only skier in the group which was fine. A boarder gave my bro a flower first thing in the morning when everybody was starting to get in line and said something about everybody getting along. I saw Jano at one point and thanked him. He remembered me from grade school to my suprise. I let him know that I can now bring my family to the mountain which made him smile. He turned to one of the patrols and said it was one of the happiest days of his life. Everybody up there seemed to be really happy. Actually, one patrolers wife or girlfriend was in the lounge first thing in the morning shaking her head and mouthing obsenities at all of the boarders. Other than that, everybody seemed like they finally got to take a much anticipated crap, very relieved.

The crowd... What crowd? I think I got used to Colorado weekends at Breck, Copper, and Jane. I heard Taos sold out on the 3/19 date but I swear, you'd still see an empty lift every once in a while. Even when the lift line went to the end, you were still going up the mountain within 15 minutes. With that being said, a busy day at Taos reminds me of a weekday in Colorado. Not bad at all. All you Colorado people need to come check out the ridge for a good time if you think you've got the ingredients. Off to Parson's bowl until next year when I can go home to enjoy the mountain all year with the skier wife and undecided 2 year old.

By Jonathan Carpenter, 4-23-08

I think it is great that Taos is opening to snowboarders. I also read that Taos is on Federal Forest land so it is total bull@#%$ that we were not allowed use that area even though my tax dollars go to the subsidies that help Taos. F&$# all you skiing haters.

By Samantha Whyle, 2-08-09

I am so stoked to hear that they finally opened it up to snowboarders! The <a >Taos Hotel</a> I stayed at was telling me about this and couldn't wait for it to happen knowing that it would really boost their revenue.

By heather, 2-24-09

YEAH Snowboard <a >Taos NM</a>! It's About time.

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the end of an era