Taos, a four-letter word for Steep

“We’re going to Taos on Tuesday, you want to come?”

Brett asked me on Sunday night.  Taos, the name has always conjured up images of jaw dropping steeps, and I had vouchers for two free days of skiing courtesy of my Winter Park/Copper Mountain Rocky Mountain Super Pass+.  We only had to pay the condo cleaning fee of $50 for the three days we would be staying there and split four ways that was an offer that was hard to refuse. But did I really want to leave my home base of Winter Park when we had just received over three feet of snow in the past three days. ”Yeah count me in.” I told him.  I had to ski the legend.

   As we pulled out of Winter Park early on Tuesday morning the snow continued to pile up (it eventually would total 41 inches in five days).  ”I hope we’re doing the right thing.”  Mike said ruefully from the back seat of Brett’s overloaded Subaru.  ”Well, I went online and Taos is reporting 10 inches today so it can’t be too bad.”  I told him hoping it was an honest 10 inch count.

  Six hours later (The time of four and a half hours printed on the Taos billboard down in Berthoud Falls notwithstanding) we pulled into the parking lot of our accommodations only ten miles from the ski area to see not a hint of any fresh snow.  Our fears were allayed 15 minutes later when we pulled into the Armadillo parking lot at the ski area base, eighteen inches of dry New Mexico powder had come down at Taos.

The rock skier's left of the Twin Trees Chute off of the Highline Ridge at Taos Ski Valley Resort, NM

    If you could only use one word to describe Taos that word would have to be “Steep”. Many of the runs we did on our trip had slopes of forty-degrees or better, Stauffenberg a chute off of the West Basin Ridge has a pitch of sixty-degrees at the top.  And when you combine eye-popping steeps with abundant light powder you have the makings for a powder addicts paradise.  Add that to a mountain that still retains it’s ski area “charm” in the face of corporate ski resort conformity (75 cents for overnight ski rack storage, now including snowboard storage racks, a double chair with a pole in the middle, reasonable lift ticket prices) and you have a true classic gem of a ski area.

The Bottom of the Cabin Chute with 18 inches of fresh powder, Taos, NM. 1-28-09

  Our final tally for the two days of skiing at Taos came to a grand total of $30 apiece for gas and accommodations and maybe that much more again for pizza and beer.  We can’t say that we had much of an impact on the local economy, but in these tight times we have to cut back on everything except FUN!

Main Street, coming off of Kachina Peak from Lift 4 at Taos.

Brett and Brian on the hike to Kachina Peak at Taos.

Kachina Peak and the Highline Ridge as seen from the start of the hike.

If you’ve never been there then you have to go.  Taos gets four thumbs up from our crew!