Arizona or New Mexico Skiing

Elle Navorski wrote:
I for one would very much appreciate your reports on Angel Fire or
Red River. I'm thinking of heading up that way.

I skied Angel Fire once about 20 years ago. I went because I got a free
lift ticket for the place with a pair of skis I bought in Albuquerque.
Terrain-wise, it's the least suitable candidate for a ski area that
I've ever seen. It also sucks with respect to snow cover when compared
to other northern NM areas. It's in the snow shadow of the Taos range.
You'll get 20 inches at Taos and 4 inches at Angel Fire from the same
storm. Basically, it's a real estate development with some lifts thrown
in as an afterthought.

Some people really like Angel Fire. I love the name, and I love the
location in the breathtaking Moreno valley. But if you love to ski and
you're headed to northern NM, I'd try Taos, Pajarito, and Santa Fe, in
that order. As Bob Lee noted, Pajarito is only open on weekends.

On Thu, 10 Feb 2005 17:22:18 -0800, "Richard Henry" wrote:


"xenman" wrote in message
.. .
We're going to be driving across Arizona and New Mexico in a couple of
week and
I'm trying to talk my wife into doing some skiing along the way. We tried
Taos a few
years ago and my wife didn't like it. Few runs off each chair meant
crowed runs.
We're looking at:
Arizona:
Arizona Snow Bowl by Flagstaff
Sunrise Park
Mt. Lemmon by Tucso
New Mexico:
Sandia Peak by Alburquerque
Ruidoso Ski Apache
Ski Santa Fe
Ski Pajarito by Los Alamos
Any constructive comments are welcomed.

Sheesh, another newbie. Coming here, expecting "constructive" comments.

If things seems a little strange, try rec.skiing.alpine.moderated, or just
keep your sense of humor tuned up.


Nope, not a newbie. A few years ago I was regular reader and occasional
poster to RSA. It got awful, so I left. I was unaware that there was now
a moderated group.

On Thu, 10 Feb 2005 22:52:30 -0600, Jim Strohm wrote:

Bob Lee wrote:


That's a curious criticism of Taos, I've never heard anyone say that
it's crowded except at Xmas or during spring break. But if you thought
Taos was crowded, you aren't going to like any of those others in New
Mexico - except maybe Pajarito, it isn't crowded, just small and lower
elevation so there's often less snow, plus it's only open Fri-Sun.
Ruidoso is crowded.

Maybe it has something to do with the roads, but he left off Angel Fire
(often crowded by drape-snatchers) and Red River (redneck whitebread
hick town).

Red River's not bad for crowds, except on the traverse from the main
lodge bunny lift to the main mountain lift. And for interesting but not
particularly challenging skiing, it's a little better (lower) on the
altitude than Santa Fe.

Santa Fe is just high enough to get the flatlanders gasping in the
parking lot. OTOH, I understand that the shuttle-served return from the
backside out-of-bounds is very convenient and very popular with 'boarders.

We skied Angel Fire and Red River the same week we skied Taos. At Angel
Fire we were on a lift for 20 minutes while they fixed it. Red River tore up
our skies due to low snow. We have no desire to repeat those experiences.
Yeh I know the southern Rockies have lots of snow this year, unlike the
Cascades.

Don't recall when we skied Taos, it could have been a weekend or holiday.

Yep, going from zero elevation to 10,000 feet in one day can cause all
kinds of problems. Been there, done that.

I was at Sunrise park last February for two days while ostensibly at a
conference in Phoenix. I picked it over the others in AZ because it
had more acerage and I had heard Sunbowl was often crowded. Had a
great time. Lots on snow and the acerage absorbed the crowds really
well. We were there on a Sat and Sunday and never waited in a line
beyond the base are quad and that wasn't much a big deal. There are 3
mountains and lots of challenges. I reccommend staying at the Sunrise
lodge. Close, clean and reasonable. The ski breakfast of choice
should include their granola battered french toast with blackberry
compote -- fantastic. Bring your own gear if an option. I didn't and
it took a while to get situated and that was only with demo stuff.

xenman wrote:

Nope, not a newbie. A few years ago I was regular reader and occasional
poster to RSA. It got awful, so I left. I was unaware that there was now
a moderated group.

And there's still a pretty good skiing newsgroup here under all the
noise. You just have to killfile people like Mr. Henry who insist on
keeping things stirred up.

--
//-Walt
//
// There is no Völkl Conspiracy

xenman wrote:

We skied Angel Fire and Red River the same week we skied Taos. At Angel
Fire we were on a lift for 20 minutes while they fixed it.

I've gathered that Angel Fire used to have a lot of problems with their
lifts. I haven't found any reports of chronic lift problems in the past
couple of years, so I'm chancing a vacation there. Given the layout,
they're in real sorry shape if one of the quads goes down. So, it's a
risk. We'll see.

Red River tore up our skies due to low snow.
Yeh I know the southern Rockies have lots of snow this year, unlike the
Cascades.

So, you didn't like it when the coverage was thin, why refuse to go back
now that there's good coverage? Was there something else? I'm
debating whether to spend a day at Red River or not next week. Other
than the thin cover, what else didn't you like?

Don't recall when we skied Taos, it could have been a weekend or holiday.

Yep, going from zero elevation to 10,000 feet in one day can cause all
kinds of problems. Been there, done that.


--
//-Walt
//
// There is no Völkl Conspiracy

"Gnarlito" wrote
Elle Navorski wrote:
I for one would very much appreciate your reports on Angel Fire or
Red River. I'm thinking of heading up that way.

I skied Angel Fire once about 20 years ago.

Kind of a long time ago... You sure things haven't changed there a lot?

I have a big brochure on the major NM ski areas. Angel Fire's stats put it
between Santa Fe and Taos for # of trails and longest trail. But yes, it
does get less snow than Santa Fe, so of course way less snow than Taos. All
this stuff is on the web, of course.

OTOH, Angel Fire appears so close to Taos, that I don't see why anyone at
advanced beginner or higher shouldn't just go to Taos.

I went because I got a free
lift ticket for the place with a pair of skis I bought in Albuquerque.
Terrain-wise, it's the least suitable candidate for a ski area that
I've ever seen. It also sucks with respect to snow cover when compared
to other northern NM areas. It's in the snow shadow of the Taos range.
You'll get 20 inches at Taos and 4 inches at Angel Fire from the same
storm. Basically, it's a real estate development with some lifts thrown
in as an afterthought.

Some people really like Angel Fire. I love the name, and I love the
location in the breathtaking Moreno valley. But if you love to ski and
you're headed to northern NM, I'd try Taos, Pajarito, and Santa Fe, in
that order. As Bob Lee noted, Pajarito is only open on weekends.

Any thoughts on Apache (southern NM) and Durango Colorado (near the
northern NM border) compared to Santa Fe? I've been doing Santa Fe a lot,
so I can relate to a comparison made to it. I've been holding back on
Pajarito because I think it's easier to get to Santa Fe from where I am,
and Pajarito has less than half the ski-able acres, according to my
sources, than Santa Fe.

Elle Navorski wrote:
"Gnarlito" wrote

I skied Angel Fire once about 20 years ago.

Kind of a long time ago... You sure things haven't changed there a lot?

Well, it's still the same valley. I doubt it's gotten any steeper. The
average snowfall should be the same. If you like the steep and deep,
it's probably not your place, now or ever.

I have a big brochure on the major NM ski areas. Angel Fire's stats put it
between Santa Fe and Taos for # of trails and longest trail. But yes, it
does get less snow than Santa Fe, so of course way less snow than Taos. All
this stuff is on the web, of course.

OTOH, Angel Fire appears so close to Taos, that I don't see why anyone at
advanced beginner or higher shouldn't just go to Taos.

In my case a couple of reasons:

1) High speed lifts.
2) Predominance of cruising terrain vs. gnarly steep stuff
3) Cheaper slopeside accommodations
4) I'm visiting a friend who's an instructor at AF

Plus another reason, that thankfully doesn't apply to me:

5) Taos doesn't allow snowboards

That said, I'm going to spend at least a day at Taos to check it out.
Maybe more, depending on the relative merits of each. I'll let you know
more when I get back.

--
//-Walt
//
// There is no Völkl Conspiracy

I thought of that, and I checked the trail map before posting. There's
no new terrain, so the comments about the terrain are still relevant.
The comments about the lack of snow are also relevant unless Wheeler
Peak has moved out of the way .

Obviously, your impressions may differ. I just know that I prefer to
go elsewhere.

The conditions at Ski Apache can be OK when the storm tracks wiggle
south. I think conditions are pretty good there this year. I don't have
any fond memories of the vibe there. I know it's politically incorrect,
but f*ck it: the Mescalero Apaches who run the place tend to be surly
and they let you know pretty clearly how little your business means to
them.

Pajarito is a real sleeper. It's 10 pounds of skiing packed into a 5
pound package. I really like Santa Fe (I lived there for 7 years and
skied there regularly), but when conditions were equal, I'd drive
across the valley and ski Pajarito instead.

Durango is better yet. the area formerly known as Purgatory is just a
blast to ski. It gets more snow than Telluride.

Jim Strohm wrote:

Maybe it has something to do with the roads, but he left off Angel
Fire
(often crowded by drape-snatchers) and Red River (redneck whitebread
hick town).

Ok. So do I have to wait to find out what a 'drape-snatcher' is until
I get there on Saturday, or are you going to clue me in in advance?

In either case, the drapes stay home.

//Walt (testing posting from Google. Soon to be on the road...)