NMSKI

Spent a couple of days in Albuquerque getting acclimated to the altitude, catching up with some friends and letting my mom spend some time with my kids. Did some nice hikes in the nearby Sandia mountains, and saw my NM Lobos beat Boise State for a share of the Mountain West regular season title. Took a couple pics of the hike. When we rolled into the town of Taos it was warm enough that there were people jogging shirtless, so I was fully expecting spring conditions at Taos Ski Valley. It hadn’t snowed in about 10 days or so when we arrived. My general plan was to ski the backside and lower front side in the morning and kind of work my way around the mountain as the day went on to sort of “follow the aspect” so that I could be skiing somewhat soft snow all day. I demoed some skis at Alpine Extreme lift-side and they set me up with the Atomic Coax 191cm. I fully expected to swap in and out of a bunch of different skis, but these actually really did the trick for me and I stayed on them the whole trip. Took me 2 or three runs to get used to them on groomers, but they were awesome on the ungroomed steeps. As far as the skiing goes, North American and Longhorn were 2 of the trails on the front side that were really good in the morning. The first 10 or so turns on Longhorn were some of the steepest stuff I’ve ever skied although not bumped up I’m guessing due to the steepness. The rest of it was big, soft bumps. If bumps are your thing, the front side is where it’s at. In addition to the famous Al’s run there are a bunch of others beside it that are just about as steep and equally bumpy. I steered clear of this area, as I’ve already checked Al’s off my bucket list a while back, and didn’t want to waste all my energy over there. On the backside of the mountain, my favorite by far has to be Hunziker Bowl. I spent the majority of one full day lapping this area as the snow was so good and there are literally acres and acres to explore. Hunziker is accessed by an uphill herringbone track through a gate, so most people are too lazy to go in there but it’s their loss. Once you make it up there you can traverse clear around a bowl with options ranging from wide open bowl skiing to somewhat tighter chutes. Also, the way the wind blows right up the bowl, combined with its difficulty to get to means the snow is fresh windblown all day long. Even when it hasn’t snowed in 10 days. There are some nice long groomed runs on the backside that I really enjoyed getting some speed on. I only skied 1 or 2 of the ungroomed runs on the upper front-side. These would be more fun on a powder day. Castor and Pollux are right under lift 2 and are very steep and have trees interspersed throughout – not somewhere you’d want to fall and lose control. Took me long enough, and was enough work to make it down that I only did it once. Also on the upper front side accessed from lift 2 is the West Basin Ridge, where they had the Salomon Freeride Championships the weekend before I got there. I hiked up to there to check it out, but it was looking pretty beat up so I opted to go left to Highline Ridge. On Highline Ridge, I skied Juarez a couple of times and really liked that. It’s very steep but also very wide open. It’s also visible to other parts of the mountain, so I felt all right skiing it without a partner (my buddy only skied with me one day). Another time up Highline Ridge, I met a guy from Chicago and a girl from Chile and we made a go at Kachina Peak. Took us about an hour and 15 but it was totally worth it. At one point I was so out of breath, I would take 30 steps, rest, take 30 steps, rest, etc. I will invest in a ski pack before doing this again, as it was a monumental pain in the ass to carry my skis all the way up there on my shoulder. I did that hike on Wednesday and my shoulder is still sore as I write this. The descent from Kachina was amazing. The snow was chalky windblown and nice, and it was just endless steep turns. Overall, Kachina was the highlight of the trip. Wish I had gotten more pictures in general, but it’s such a pain in the ass to stop every 50 feet and pull out a camera. Also, most of what I didn’t capture on camera are either groomers or steep mogul runs, which I’m sure you can picture in your imagination pretty accurately. Here’s some pics: Upper backside Hunziker Bowl Looking good to go Looking across Highline to Juarez

Lol, i'll get my shit together tonight after work.

Can't figure out how the fck to post my pics. Also accidentally erased my TR while trying to figure it out. I know, I'm an idiot. Can someone tell me how to put up pics? I have them on my hard drive but can't figure out how to get them into my post.

Will make sure to get some good pics of Al's. Attempting the zipper line might result in yard sale, but I'll see what I can do.

Got you both, right here:

I was getting my shit together for the trip and had an idea I'll throw out there to do something a little different and fun for a trip report. You guys tell me what you want to see in terms of pics from the trip, and I will do my best to make it happen. If theres something you were wondering about, whether its what a certain run looks like, or terrain features, or whatever I will try to get it on film. Kind of like a scavenger hunt for me. Throw your ideas up here and I will make a list and go from there.

Just bought it online. Also printed out and signed the waiver which I will bring with me, so I can't imagine it will take long to take my picture and hand over the pass. Did not realize that. Saves me a trip down and back up.

I'm going to purchase mine on Saturday. If I'm at customer service at 7:30 when they open, will I be able to be on the slopes at 8? Can someone tell me from experience how long it took to process?

Thanks for helping me narrow it down a little. Those slicers are interesting from what I can tell. I'm not really a park guy, but as long as they can do the things I want and they feel good to me, I guess having the twin tip won't hurt me. Maybe It'll even give me reason to get in the park a little. Definitely going to start with these and the 98's. I'm hoping for a pow day while I'm there because I've never skied a really fat pow ski and want to demo one as well (really just for the experience, would be a waste of money for me to buy one). If I'm lucky enough for a powder day, should I start with the Rossi Super 7's and Atomic Bentchetlers, or would you suggest something else? Thanks.

Thanks man, this is interesting. Even though it ain't 40 degrees, Sno is still keeping some pretty decent company from looking at this list.

That makes sense when you compare them like that. Based on the picture I drew while bored at work, 40 seemed reasonable, but I guess thats way off.

So I made a reservation to demo when I'm at Taos in a couple weeks, and the brands offered are K2, Salomon, Atomic, Rossignol, Fisher and Dynastar. I'm looking for something in 95-105mm range that is versatile enough to carve, handle some crud/pow, and fairly quick in the trees. Rather than waste half a ski day figuring it out which ones are good to try, does anyone have opinions for/against specific skis in the brands offered? Of course I can look up gear reviews online but I'm interested in what you guys think.

If you like wings, you will love the long trail brewery too. Some of the best I've had.

That adrenaline rush you get when looking over the headwall and not seeing the ground in front of you until you are right up at the edge is the best. I had not experienced that in PA until skiing white lightning. Elevator at JF might be similar steepness, but not comparable in terms of length. Anyone have any guesses in terms of the degree of steepness? 40 degrees?

I guess there's a beer thread, but oh well, gotta say that I've been loving the Oskar Blues beers all around. Ten Fidy and G'Knight are the 2 best in my opinion, and they come in cans for easy bring along to the slopes, camping, etc. I get 'em at whole foods. I'll bring some if I'm at blue this weekend.

We were expecting crowds to be worse than they were. No lift lines whatsoever in the morning, and 5-6 people waits at the worst later on.

Came up to Sno for a quick overnight getaway with the wife while my in-laws watched the kids. Got in to the area on Saturday afternoon and got checked into the hotel - upgraded to a room with a fireplace and jacuzzi (didn't know they had that at the Hampton inn). Figured we'd check out the ski lodge so we headed up to the mountain and had some beers and appetizers at the Sno Grill and made some new friends, had a great time there, good band and beer selection. Turned out that there was a torchlight parade and fireworks display while we were there, which was pretty cool. My wife had never seen anything like the torchlight parade, so this was one of the highlights for her. Had some dinner at the place near the hotel which was nothing fancy, but really tasty and CHEAP. $40 for 2 appetizers, 2 dinners, and 3 drinks. Can't find that in Philly. Sunday was the day on the slopes, and I took turns teaching my wife to ski and lapping the lower mountain terrain. For anyone that has not checked out Sno yet, there is some awesome steep terrain here. I skied white lightning 4 or 5 times, and hands down this is my favorite run in PA. Overall, the snow conditions were good not great, but as good as you can hope for with the winter we have been having. Considering the wet snow/rain that fell on Saturday afternoon, the place was in nice shape on Sunday. Every single person we encountered was so friendly, from the lifties, to ski patrol, to the waitstaff and bartenders in the grill. We will definitely be coming back, maybe will bring the kids next time.

Good stuff, glad you had a good time! Looking forward to the pics.

I'm usually satisfied with blue because 1) with the exception of true glade skiing, there is good terrain variety, 2) you can lap the shit out of the mountain because the lifts are fast (singles line of course). I'll usually do 20-25k vert in a half day easy.

My wife and I will be up there on Sunday. Been hearing good things, so figured its about time I check it out.

You sure its good for the rest of this year too? If so = no brainer!

Was thinking the same thing. Good way to bring in some cash if they are hurting. I'm seriously considering getting a pass for next year, would only have to get out 11 times to make it work.

Just saw that next years season passes are on sale for $499. Anyone know from past experience how long before the price goes up?

Awesome. Appreciate it.

Hmmm tempting. Where in CO? I'll be mainly in northern NM and southern CO, but if I get a wild hair up my ass I might be down for a little more driving.