Trip Report Taos, NM
February 24, 2005
I spent President's weekend skiing at Taos, NM. By far the most enjoyable skiing experience I've ever had. The terrain is awesome, a ton of expert runs and hike to terrain that will get your blood flowing. The resort is renowned for its bumps, I skiied Al's Run which is a mile long mogul run with what I was told was 1700 ft worth of vertical. Lift lines were non existant, and on most of the black and double black terrain there was rarely another soul. Weather was superb with 4-6" of fresh snow Saturday and Sunday. I will try to post some pics from the trip. Feel free to ask any specific questions. Oh, and my $.02 on the no snowboarding issue, it is not a good setup for boarders. Too many moguls and a lot of the connecting runs are flat and long.
Cheech -- did you fly sw, where did you stay, what did you pay... how long did it take to get thar, etc... etc...!
Flew Southwest to Albequerque, booked late so it ended up costing more than I'd like, around $330. Stayed at the Kachina Lodge in Taos, mucho affordable at $170 for two nights for two double beds. Breakfast inclusive, and the hotel had a daily shuttle to the resort. The Drive from Albequerque to Taos was about 2.5 hours, and then another 35-40 mins to the resort. No rental car, one member of our group was from Albequerque and we used his truck. The roads in and out of the resort are salted and sanded, so fwd isn't really necessary. One word of caution, New Mexico cops set a plethora of speed traps on the route up to Taos.
Two Day full day lifts were $104 and I spent another $40 on a group mogul lesson. Small group of 3 and I got a ton of personalized instruction out of it. Helped me ski the 60-70% of the mountain that tends to be covered in bumps. All the instructors at the resort are PSIA Level III and I got a lot out of the lesson. Didn't buy lunch, made sandwiches and ate them on the mountain. Dinner in the city of Taos was quite affordable, the resort area can get pricey.