Unusual Ski Areas \ Locations

[sledhaulingmedic]

I don't exactly think of New Mexico as exotic. Taos is about as mainstream as you can get and suffers from too many skiers on too few acres. I prefer Ski Santa Fe. That's a fun little mountain with great terrain and no people.


Ski Santa Fe. In good snow, I'd recommend it to anybody. Interesting terrain. Tons of tree skiing. Delightfully uncrowded.

WHile Taos is a large resort, I don't think I;d describe it as "Mainstream". Never hit any crowds, some great "Side Country", a near retro feel and the pluse of being able to get green chiles on your cheeseburger.

Ski Santa Fe is a jem. One of the best 2000' vertical areas you could ever ski. Get there when Big Tesuche is skiable and you're really in for a treat.

When were you last at Taos? I was there last January. I'd just skied a totally empty Ski Santa Fe on a Saturday on a fantastic skiing surface. Taos was mobbed on a Sunday and quite busy midweek. The entire state of Texas was there. There was a butt in every quad chair with 10 minute liftlines and the conditions had degraded to eastern hardpack 5 days after a major dump. Even the hike-to was completely packed out. This was January. The slow season. I'm not planning to ever go back unless it's to grab a day in transit between Ski Santa Fe and Wolf Creek. Taos just isn't retro enough given the number of acres thay have. With double chairs instead of quads, they'd likely have a better product.

2002 and 2003.

Not many Texans on Highline Ridge, Katchina Peak or the chutes. (Even the glades around Lorelei Trees). Our experience with Texas infiltration was much greater at Angel Fire and Ski Apache. Even so, Texans rarely leave the SUn Deck and when they do, almost never hit anything steeper than a wheelchair ramp.

I'm with you 100% on Ski Santa Fe. Great place. A true local's hill, but very welcoming to outsiders.

 

[snowmonster]

Skiing in Hawaii is done on Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii. It's not a resort. No lifts (therefore, no lift lines haha). No lodge. No nothing. You have to hike for your turns up there. There's an observatory near the summit and I think the skiing there began when the scientists got bored and started going down the mountain. There's also no ski patrol, so if you break something you're on your own.

I also read about skiing in the Himalayas. There's a place in India called Garwhal that promotes its ski industry/ ski resorts. Actually, there are a number of places in India that you can ski:

www.travel-himalayas.com/himalaya-adventure-activities-sports/snow-skiing.html

Neat to know but I don't think I'm planning a trip there anytime soon.

But, if this warm spell continues, maybe I'll get desperate enough to ski in India.

 

[skibum1321]

I hear there is some pretty good skiing in Vermont :lol:

 

[ski_adk]

TGR did a scene in India while filming Tangerine Dream. Pretty neat stuff. The curry powder skiing was great.