Taos Ski Valley, Inc. Alpine/Downhill Resorts Resort (Are you this resort?)

General Comments/Likes

What makes an area for me, or doesn’t make it is the skiing. NOTHING ELSE REALLY MATTERS. Using this yardstick, Taos succeeds. I grew up skiing Taos a few times a season, and continued to visit it over the years, although I’ve never spent an entire season there (I usually only ski it in February and after, thus missing the skinny snow conditions that many would complain about – but hey, it’s Taos – you are not SUPPOSED to ski the steep stuff in December unless you want to destroy your skis.)

I love the place, love the steeps, love the fact that you have to work for a lot of the best turns, I love Werner Chute, Valkyries Chute, Longhorn, Lorelei, love the West Basin, Kachina Basin and Kachina Peak. I love the incredibly long bump runs on the front side. I love the shape of the bumps, made by excellent skiers. I love the fact that as the season goes on, the snow only gets better and better at Taos. I love the fact that the lifties are locals and that a lot of them don’t ski and have very dry senses of humor. I love the fact that there are real consequences when you fall in the steeps at Taos. If you love the soul of skiing, go here – you simply can’t miss. If you’re looking for a modern resort with all the namby-pamby groomed snow, high speed quad lifts, “safety first” attitudes, movie stars, etc., don’t come here. It’s Taos baby, you come here to ski, period.

Dislikes

What is there to dislike? I suppose you can complain about early season New Mexico snow – so what? The positives so far outweigh the negatives its not worth discussing.