Ski season marked by skim natural snowfall winds do
Ski Santa Fe, Taos Ski Valley closing after dry winter
It was not the season that ski resorts, skiers and snowboarders had hoped for. But mercifully, it is almost over.
In a season that was exceptional for its dryness, resorts relied on their snowblowing capabilities, groomers and creativity. Some were never able to open their entire mountains. Three of the state’s eight ski resorts — Ski Santa Fe, Taos Ski Valley and Sipapu — remain open, said Ski New Mexico Director George Brooks.
Ski Santa Fe and Taos Ski Valley will end their seasons Sunday, while several other Northern New Mexico resorts closed last weekend. Sipapu is offering Friday, Saturday and Sunday skiing and boarding until April 18.
“I think, in general, the snow is better than people have perceived it to be,” said Brooks, summing up a season with a few days left.
Skier and boarder visits for the season will not be available until about mid-April, Brooks said. “I think we are going to see some decreases in what we had last year, but I don’t know how much,” he said. For the 2016-17 season, there were 800,000 skier visits statewide, according to Brooks.
Santa Fe will have all of its lifts and facilities open for the closing weekend, and live music will entertain guests at Totemoff ’s on Saturday and Sunday, the resort said in a news release. The area will have reduced ticket prices.
Angel Fire Resort closed this past Sunday. “That was a week longer than we usually go,” spokeswoman Jennifer Helsel said. “It was a low snow season pretty much across New Mexico. It was tough.”
Helsel praised the resort’s snowmaking and grooming teams for their efforts.
Red River Ski and Summer Area had a “good year,” spokeswoman Nicole Nyznyk said. “We were up in skier visits,” she added, although no final skier totals were available.
“Like most mountains, we couldn’t open the entirety of the mountain,” she said. “That didn’t seem to affect our skier visits.”
Taos Ski Valley also was not able to open its whole mountain this season. “Unfortunately, we did not open Kachina lift this season,” spokeswoman Skylar Kraatz said. “It wasn’t the right [snow] coverage.”
The Kachina Lift, a triple chair that accesses the 12,486-foot Kachina Peak and provides an option of a 45-minute hike, was installed in 2014 and increased the liftserved acreage at the resort by 50 percent.
“Despite a lower than average snowfall, our snowmaking did an excellent job of getting terrain open in the early season,” Kraatz said. Natural snow later allowed runs on Hi-line and the West Basin to open.
As far as paying customers, she said,
“Our total number will be lower than average and lower than last season.”
Taos, promoting the final five days left in its spring pass sale for 2018-19 season, is touting 5 inches of new snow that fell Tuesday night. Season passes purchased during the sale give the buyer entry to a drawing for a chance to win an Alaskan heli skiing and fishing trip for two at the ski valley’s sister resort, Tordrillo Mountain Lodge in Anchorage. The trip is valued at $24,000, and the winner will be drawn April 5, Kraatz said.
Taos is offering discounted lift tickets, live entertainment and a Sunday Easter egg hunt for the final weekend.
Taos Ski Valley is planning major summer work at the resort, such as replacing Chairlifts 1 and 5 on Al’s Run with a single high-speed chairlift to increase capacity. The Phoenix Restaurant at the base of Chairlift 4 will also be remodeled and expanded.