TAOS New Mexico....BETA.....?

[arroyonm]

We just moved down to the Taos area and got passes at ski valley. Resort looks top shelf. Anyone in the area got sum knowledge to share? Thanks....

[ill-advised strategy]

haha...

where to begin.

[Meadow Skipper]

PM Yetim...wait...fuck, never mind.

[skinnyskier]

I should post Yetiman's awesome PM on this very subject, back when we were thinking about moving to Taos. It turned the tides...

[arroyonm]

Just moved down here from pc/slc area. Time for a change. The mtn. Looks as steep as alta/bird from what I can tell. Since last years snowfall was subpar last season, I'm hoping this season is better.....

[ill-advised strategy]

see there was this midget who always used to get shitfaced at Abe's, and one night WHAMMO...hit by a car.

I love Taos, don't get me wrong...it's just that I love Taos in a sort of "ex that gave me VD" kind of way.

feel free to post the PM. I can't remember wtf I said. I'm sure it'll be amusing for everyone.

[ill-advised strategy]

Since last years snowfall was subpar last season, I'm hoping this season is better.....

first I was like



yeah but srsly..


1st half of run: hammering rocks.
2nd half of run: trying to edge on hardpack with blown sidewalls.

[grskier]

Taos can be epic, and the steeps are all time.. it just blows when there is no snow. As has been said a good hundred times.

SEARCH JONG

[JFE24]

Yep, all you see at Taos is blown sidewalls, everywhere. Srsly..




The photos are Ryan Heffernan's, President's Day Weekend, 2011.

Last season was definitely a low snow year, and we still caught a number of really good days.

[arroyonm]

Well...it doesn't take a brain surgeon to know it s better than snowmass...

Search* flat resorts in colorado

[arroyonm]

Dope pics....glad I brought a quiver of skis that I can wreck! Sound like ski repair is a good business to be in around here!

[up an down]

i was there from '78-'85 as a full time ski bum and i get there for visits once in a while (hopefully again this winter), but i don't feel that i can give a valid beta anymore...as you spend time at tsv and make friends i am sure you will get plenty of the "shared knowledge" you seek.... there used to be a 6-8 week long, one day a week race clinic/lesson program that was filled with locals with good skills.. if that is still happening it would be a good way to meet new skiing partners...and, cybercop had a new mexico/taos thread ongoing here at one time for hookups.
you are living in seco? i spent 1 winter living across hondo seco road from the snowmansion in what i think is now an office building, and a couple other winters at places off el salto road.. don't believe anyone who tells you abes was better back in the day. it wasn't.... except for the prices..

[Meadow Skipper]

It's not for everyone. Taos can be a great place to live, but it can be rough, TSV can be a great place to ski, but it can be rough. It's not really a ski town, at least by Colorado/Utah standards. There are some dark corners to the social fabric in Taos, and sometimes you can go a long time between snow at TSV. The whole place is kind of complex with a lot of history and can take a while to understand.

But when it's good, it's great. I know people/families living there that are living the dream.

[changodeoro]

oh it will be a change from park city/slc THAT'S for sure! you are here at a great time of the year --green chili's roastin, snow's comin, balloons in the burque...tsv is not a huge mountain and the chairs are all slow (a good thing at times)...when there is not much snow you'll be hiking to places where there still wont be much snow...i'd say for your first year just hike around the ridges checking it all out...watch out for rocks at the top of most stuff in the west basin...i'm good for at least one ejecto slide-a-chute per year over there...you cant go wrong with a combo plate at tims...welcome and enjoy...

oh ya, and SEARCH JONG! yetiman and someone were going back and forth about taos a year or so ago, and most of it was spot on and fucking funny...

[Meadow Skipper]

YM's opinion can vary, depending. Catch him in a nostalgic mood:
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...79#post1049879

[ill-advised strategy]

But when it's good, it's great.

No place better.

[skinnyskier]

Sorry, I deleted that pm. YM pointed out that some weird shit happens there, and that Anglo newcomers occupy a, shall we say, unique place in the social order compared to a place like Park City.

[keipow]

i was there from '78-'85 as a full time ski bum

(thread drift) What's a part-time ski bum?

[ill-advised strategy]

lol...go to Petaca and ask for directions to the "ski resorts".

Go to Abe's and tell them you're looking for Jason Snowhawk.

http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...HOS-and-MORONs


Edit to add without bumping the thread: What I really should say is that as long as I was a ski bum everything was great in Taos. It was when I started trying to settle down and have a real job with local coworkers (rather than skiers) and a house and a GF with blonde kids in public school that things got off track. If you're just there to ski and you don't try to grow roots you'll probably have the time of your life. Trying to settle in can be kind of heartbreaking, the local politics are almost obscene and there is a nasty kleptocratic undertone of racism, corruption, and crime that constantly infects the way things run in that town. Hippies and hipsters and gangbangers and country mexicans and ski bums and indians and post-apocalyptic desert survivalists and rich retirees and artists all mashed together in one giant clusterfuck. It's all cool if you stick to your group and your thing. It's when it all starts mixing together that things become tense and confusing.

Don't go expecting Utah snow conditions though....I went from Crested Butte to Taos to Utah and really everywhere in Utah is just on a completely different level as far as snow conditions and coverage. You can ski a lot of fresh at Taos but it tends to be hollow, thin, and bony. I really wasn't kidding about hammering your skis on the steeps, then skidding around trying to hold an edge on hardpack with your grabby, chewed-up edges. Heh...that's just how it goes.

Beta:
Go enjoy the hot springs: John Dunn bridge or Stagecoach. If you want to know how to get there, go get a cup of coffee at World Cup on the Plaza and discuss it with local people on the bench in front. Get smothered hashbrowns for breakfast at El Taoseno, a Trujillo for lunch at Mante's, and Shrimp Guadalajara at the Guadalajara grill for dinner. Get a dirtbike and go ride Alcalde. Go jump off the bridge at Pilar. Pick up hitchhikers. Go play a round of backcountry golf at Valle Escondido. Don't eyeball the hispanic women, beware of drunk locals trying to fight/stab/shoot you, be suspicious of locals robbing your car/residence. I know lots of people who have been repeatedly robbed. If you're the typical "ski guy" from out of town with your Subaru with Utah plates, lock your doors, get a gun...you probably won't need it but it's a good idea. Don't count on the police for anything....don't count on the local govt. for anything for that matter. Get a few pairs of rock skis and try to be prepared to do ski repairs...either with your own bench and tools or by way of working at one of the shops (avoid Cottams...you don't want to be a Cottamite). Abe's = good times... Taos is a great place to ride motorcycles. There are DUI checkpoints at times, try to be aware in advance and prepare accordingly. The little backroads are fun, recognize that every dirt road on the Mesa gets really ugly if you get caught out there in the rain. It's a long walk to the highway and a bummer to hitch into town. Be careful as a renter, there are some real shitholes out there...places with no water/electricity...etc. Taos is a flake magnet and hippies will borrowsteal your stuff. Avoid going onto the Pueblo after dark. Resist the temptation to drive aggressively in Hondo canyon, that road was not made to be safe and it kills and maims people...and you're sharing it with lots of people who wake/bake right before their commute. If you're a racer, the town league is a really good time and you'll have good competition. The ski hill is pretty straightforward, ski the lower frontside, then ski the upper frontside, then work the ridge....IMHO. It's better to have skis that handle tight trees than your big wide-open charger skis...IMHO. Be really careful with the snowpack if you're outside of the ski area, it tends to be pretty hollow. I never had health insurance when I was there, so when I got sick and needed some basic healthcare I went to the clinic at TSV...they were always helpful and understanding about it. Don't go in the bar in Valdez or in Hondo. In general, just be aware that there are a lot of shady and hostile people around (not really TSV, but out in the county) and you have to watch out for yourself and be aware of little micro-cultures. Be especially careful with drug deals, if you're going to buy pot or anything else. I would suggest being patient and only dealing with skiers you know from TSV on that front...

[ill-advised strategy]

heh...here's some more beta



edit: youtube vids keep getting taken down.

[skieurmalade]

I just moved back to these parts Arroyo. SLC was getting to be too much for me, too. Heads up at Abes but if you drink enough tequila and show enough respect you'll be their brother. I'm living in an even rougher town half way between Santa Fe and Taos. Only gringo on my street, possibly my town (so far it appears so). I'll be mostly ski touring some peaks that are sicker than the Wheeler region so if you want to come down for a tour sometime shoot me a PM...

[Altaholic]

Just moved down here from pc/slc area. Time for a change. The mtn. Looks as steep as alta/bird from what I can tell. Since last years snowfall was subpar last season, I'm hoping this season is better.....

first I was like




yeah but srsly..


1st half of run: hammering rocks.
2nd half of run: trying to edge on hardpack with blown sidewalls.

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, it is lookin' like this year you should have researched the weather patterns a 'lil better. They are predicting the Southern Rockie to be be dry, all the La Nina flow is stay mid to northern Rockies.

[ill-advised strategy]

I'm living in an even rougher town half way between Santa Fe and Taos. Only gringo on my street, possibly my town (so far it appears so).

haha

[strawjack]

show enough respect you'll be their brother..

i agree. when i lived there (almost 20yrs ago) i was the only gringo on the construction crew and then worked in the repair shop with two other gringos. one had been there forever and the other was a local NM native. every chicano i met ended up being cool with east coast white boy. of course i respected them and busted my ass. once you get there respect they are there for you. cool people imo. ya, some are real rough around the edges, but so are people in chicago, ny, boston, etc etc.

closest to east coast terrain that i've ridden out west. tight, steep, killer! i had moved from JH which was a GS ski hill (dating myself ) and tsv was a SL hill. the place is great...enjoy! hope it snows...a lot!

[f2f]

heh...here's some more beta

this movie scares me. i'd much rather have remained oblivious and enjoying the bits of mesa that i had access to. that settles it, pagosa springs is my future vacation home, not taos. unless there's something wrong with the cowboys up there. is there? IS THERE?