I always love seeing this sign driving into the resort... and all the fresh snow made it look perfect
@KingGrump is fond of saying that some resorts "have a lot of gravity", as a way of saying they're steep. And that certainly seemed true for me this year at Taos. This was my sixth trip to Taos in the last seven seasons, and each season I've done a bit more difficult skiing, and steeper runs. That's mainly thanks to the Ski Week lessons, my skills getting better, and learning how to handle more terrain. This week, I skied several difficult runs that I'd not been on before (and some multiple times), and even hiked the ridge for the first time. So I had a wonderful trip with some amazing views, lots of fun with friends old and new, and great skiing.
For this trip, the snow conditions certainly helped too in that steep terrain... Taos got 17" just before the Gathering, then reported 16" Sunday morning, and then 10" and 7" days later in the week. It had been a bit below average season before that, but 50" in a week sure changes things. Conditions were generally great - everything was anywhere from deep powder to soft bumps and groomers all week. There were only a couple of drawbacks... One, because of the snow, I had the first significant lift hold I've ever experienced, when just about everything was shut down Wednesday afternoon. And two, Kachina Peak hasn't opened yet this year, though there is still plenty to ski at the resort without that lift.
On to the pics!
Ski Week always start with the ski-off Sunday morning. I skied first and got sorted... @mdf (Mike) and @A Grump (Andrew) were shortly after me, and got sorted higher here. I like going early and watching others come down and get sorted. Seeing how some people treat the ski-off is kind of interesting too... some people seem pretty nervous about it, when you can always switch groups and re-sort based on what you like to or intend to ski (which happens a fair amount).
Looking downhill further into the ski-off... a main instructor doing the sort will call out a group and the other instructors will confirm whether it looks like they should be in that group. It does a pretty good job getting a good sort.
@Matt Merritt got sorted into my group and we had a great time, though unfortunately he had to head home mid-week.
Getting some instruction from Rick Baca on day 1. This was my third year in a row with Rick - just out of coincidence, as I've been moving up in level a bit. I click pretty well with him (he's also an engineer in his past life) and have made good progress in those three years, from barely getting down a bump run, to skiing some pretty difficult ones.
The afternoon of the first day, with all the nice snow, I decided I wanted to ski Al's Run for the first time... it's a single black 1600 vertical foot bump run under the main lift. So I've been looking at it the last 5 trips without ever skiing it. It was a good time, and good snow, though was longer than I expected. This shot is looking down from near the top.
Later that day, I caught this partial sun halo through the clouds on the ridge. I always love the scenery at Taos.
Looking down into the village near the end of the day.
Every day of Ski Week, you meet at the Whistlestop Cafe mid-mountain at 9:30. Here's Matt with some nice scenery (the far part of the West Basin Ridge) in the background.
Very wide angle view of Lift 1 from the base area on a bluebird Monday. The incomplete building on the far right is the new St. Bernard hotel. The old one was torn down last year, after being a long time Taos institution. They saved some pieces of it to re-use in the new one, which looks to be a bit taller than the old one. Hopefully they'll still have good (and sometimes affordable) food when it returns.
Part of my lesson group riding lift 2 behind me... @DebbieSue, Cliff, and Matt.
Several of us had lunch at the Bavarian on Monday. Sunny days there for lunch are terrific... they set up a bunch of extra tables on the snow, as you can see. In the background is the brand new lift 4. The bottom station is closer, and no longer up a hill, from the Bavarian. Makes for a nicer setup, IMO.
On to Tuesday, another bluebird day. Riding the lift with Rick, and @fundad77 (Sean).
Cliff and DebbieSue in Blitz. This was one of the steepest runs I'd skied in past years, and we skied it a couple of times this go-round. With the good snow, and nicer bumps, it seemed much easier than in the past. (Hopefully because I'm better too!)
Looking down Blitz.
DebbieSue coming out of Blitz
Riding the lift with DebbieSue and Cliff
More Blitz pics... Sean in the foreground, and DebbieSue coming behind.
Cliff in Blitz.
Sean and DebbieSue further down
DebbieSue making nice turns, as she would all week.
That afternoon, I met up with Mike and @David Chaus, on his first week at Taos.
We also skied with @Neurodrive (Nick) and Matt.
Looking down Papa Bear run, late in the day.
Tuesday was a grey day with a lot of clouds, a sign of more snow to come - though it would take a day or so to arrive. Still, nice scenery with the moody clouds.
Cliff coming down toward the lift 4 area... Cliff was on touring gear, learning some skills and getting ready to get more into touring.
DebbieSue, Cliff, and Sean watching Rick follow us down, demo-ing some slide-y turns.
Later on Tuesday morning, we headed into Hunziker Bowl which has just opened after all the snow... it was a bit tracked, but the snow was terrific... deep and soft piles everywhere, and bits of untracked here and there. This is the view at the top of the short hike/side-step/skate that it takes to get back in there.
DebbieSue and Rick skiing the soft stuff in Hunziker. Unfortunately, it would close when the new snow came in, and not open again before we left, due to the avy zone above it.
That afternoon, the snow started to come in, and we got a squall during après ski.
The next morning (Wednesday) was very grey, windy, and snowy. This is the view up lift one. We'd manage to get our full lesson in, just prior to all the main lifts closing.
A particularly dim moment up the mountain. We found some good runs and stayed near or in the trees and more sheltered runs.
Lift 1 on hold, and almost everyone inside, meant a lot of skis and snowboards strewn about.
With lift 1 not running, @Dean, Mike, and I decided to lap the bunny hill and do some drills. Lots of one footed skiing, and skiing switch. I think I came out of it a little better at both. There's also a tiny tree run at the bunny hill at Taos that was kind of fun. We'd do about 10 laps to end the day - lift 1 never did run the rest of the day. @Dean enjoying the steep part of the hill here.
Me, Dean, and Mike on the Pioneer lift up the bunny slope.
Mike heading backward.
Dean wanted to try some kind of pole-holding spin game... which only resulted in Mike having a fall.
One of Dean's classmates was able to do it successfully, briefly, with him.
That evening we attend a "Tech Talk" given by Doug DeCoursey, PSIA Examiner, and Taos instructor. He talked about the history of Taos, why Ski Weeks are important, and went over some of the things they teach in class with some visual aids, including some Deb Armstrong footage. (Deb was floating around all week too, teaching classes.)
The next day (Thursday), I didn't feel like doing a warm-up run ahead of class, so I was first to the Whistlestop Cafe. Taos reported another 10" from the grey day/night before.
Beautiful trees frosted after the snowfall. Colder temperatures moved in too, keeping everything frosty, and the snow soft.
More trees.
Still more trees.
Riding the lift with Rick and DebbieSue.
That morning we skied Spencer's Bowl, shown here, which is my new favorite run at Taos, I'd ski it a couple more times before leaving. The trees back in there are towering and beautiful, it's not terribly steep, and I really enjoyed it. It was bumped, but very soft and piled, and easy to ski. Here is Cliff, Rick, Sean, and DebbieSue.
The lower part of Spencer's, heading into Edelweiss.
Heading into Edelweiss, where it got a bit steeper and more of a gully. It was a bit more difficult, but still in great conditions, and great fun.
Rick heading down into Edelweiss. You can really see how soft everything was here.
This was a pretty big day for my group... Spencer's, Jean's Glade (our first double black), Al's, and Wayne Abbey all on the "lower front". Here's Sean waiting to ski down part of Al's.
Looking up toward Rhoda's from Al's.
We headed into Wayne Abbey, which parallels the bottom of Als, and has a big natural half-pipe that was great. Here's Sean skiing, with Rick and DebbieSue in the background.
DebbieSue coming down Wayne Abbey.
Cliff heading down.
Cliff finishing a turn, with Rick mirroring him above.
Rick in the soft snow.
That afternoon, we headed over to the lift 4 (back) side again. Fog was still prevalent. This is actually typically a nice view of Kachina peak, which is there behind the fog somewhere. At the bottom you can see the bottom station for lift 7A, which comes from the top of lift 7, the last few hundred feet to get back to the front side.
I was on these skis all week... the widest I own. They're Blossom Pure 99's - not very rockered, and fairly stiff, they worked well for lessons and in mixed conditions.
Me and David on lift 7.
A nice view of Wheeler Peak - hidden in the clouds. Wheeler is the tallest peak in New Mexico, but it just a small prominence sticking up along the ridge.
après with @Neurodrive (Nick) on the right, and @dusty (Other Nick) on the left.
Friday Taos reported another 7" overnight, but the sun was coming back out for a bluebird powder day! These are trees in the new Dadou run, named for Bernard "Dadou" Mayer, long-time Taos instructor. Dadou passed away last year, and this tree run is newly opened terrain.
Early lift with Dean, Sean, and his wife May (sp? Mei? Mai?).
Al's and Rhoda's trees in the morning sun, with some fresh tracks.
My lesson group (minus Matt)... Sean, me, DebbieSue, Rick, and Cliff. Great group to ski with!
Clouds came and went all day... this lift 2 ride was cloudy.
We took Blitz from the top this time... then took the traverse "through the rabbit hole" as they call it to get over to the Fabian/Spitfire/Oster runs. This is looking up Oster from where the traverse comes in. It's a double black, and about 42 degrees.
Looking down Oster after a few turns. It was steep and narrow, but like everything had good snow.
More frosted trees!
The sun was beginning to come out. So rather than take the rabbit hole again and ski the bottom of Stauffenberg, Rick decided we should hike and do the whole thing. (Cliff and DebbieSue had hoped to hike the ridge for the first time.) So off we went. The hike was more than I thought it would be - well, more "up" anyway, though not much longer than I thought in terms of time. I rested for a moment a couple of times on the way up, but made it fine. This is the view you come up to at the top.
We put our skis on and made our way over to Stauffenberg nearby. It's an imposing view looking out over it. I'd looked up at it many, many times in the years I've been going to Taos. And I've watched freeride competitors, among others, coming down it. I really didn't expect to ski it (or anything off the ridge) this trip. Getting into it seems imposing, but really the whole skiers left side could be entered pretty easily, with a short traverse to get out past the large rocks at the top. (And I wish I'd taken a pic looking down, but I was wow'ed by the view.)
The top was STEEP (tops out at about 45 degrees), and the snow was deep in spots. It was a great run... definitely the most imposing run I've ever skied. This is looking up at Sean and DebbieSue here.
Wider angle view from further down, where the pitch was getting gentler. The rest of the group is in there somewhere.
Lower down, DebbieSue, Sean, Cliff, and Rick from left to right.
Looking back up at it after we got to the bottom. Stauffenberg is the main run that goes from about the upper left, down to the middle, of the photo.
That was our last real run of the day. We did a bit more, just heading to the Martini Tree spot. It's a tradition they've now brought back, where you hear a story of Ernie Blake getting a panicked woman down the mountain by having her brought a martini for courage... then you split a martini out of a flask, and try to drink it as far from your mouth as possible. Rick demonstrating here.
DebbieSue's turn.
Later that day, riding the lift with Sean and May.
Skiing a small glade... this was the second tree run I ever did a few years ago, and was fun to do again.
Kachina peak in some sun... it didn't open, and you could see some slides on it depending on lighting.
Pano of the lift 4 area in some nice sun.
Dean and Mike riding lift 7.
Trees in the fading light.
Beautiful view from Spencer's on my last run of the week.
View northwest down the valley, from the bottom of Inferno.
The last bit of Inferno onto the cat track and return to the base... ending my week. It was a great one!
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