World-class ski resorts located in the Southwestern state of New Mexico includes the southernmost major ski resort in the United States, as well as the longest aerial tramway in the Americas. The following table is comparison of their various sizes, runs, lifts, and snowfall:
Name | Nearest city | Skiable area (acres) | Top elevation (feet) | Base elevation (feet) | Vertical (feet) | Runs | Lifts | Snowfall (in/year) | Date Statistics Updated |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Angel Fire Resort | Angel Fire | 560 | 10,677 | 8,600 | 2,077 | 80 | 7 | 210 | November 2021 [1] |
Chama Cross Country | Chama | 9,000 | 7,800 | 1,200 | 0 | 100 | October 2021 [2] | ||
Enchanted Forest Cross Country Ski Area | Taos | 10,078 | 9,800 | 475 | 33 | 0 | 240 | October 2021 [3] | |
Pajarito Mountain Ski Area | Los Alamos | 750 | 10,440 | 9,000 | 1,440 | 44 | 5 | 137 | September 2023 [4] |
Red River Ski & Summer Area | Red River | 209 | 10,350 | 8,750 | 1,600 | 64 | 7 | 214 | November 2021 [5] |
Sandia Peak Ski Area | Albuquerque | 200 | 10,378 | 8,678 | 1,700 | 30 | 6 | 125 | March 2021 [6] |
Sipapu Ski & Summer Resort | Vadito | 215 | 9,255 | 8,200 | 1,055 | 41 | 6 | 185 | March 2021 [7] |
Ski Cloudcroft | Cloudcroft | 74 | 9,100 | 8,400 | 700 | 24 | 2 | 120 | December 2020 [8] |
Ski Santa Fe | Santa Fe | 660 | 12,075 | 10,350 | 1,725 | 68 | 7 | 225 | March 2021 [9] |
Ski Apache | Ruidoso | 750 | 11,500 | 9,600 | 1,900 | 55 | 8 | 180 | November 2021 [10] |
Taos Ski Valley | Taos Ski Valley | 1,294 | 12,481 | 9,200 | 3,281 | 110 | 14 | 300 | November 2021 [11] |
Taos is a town in Taos County in the north-central region of New Mexico in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Initially founded in 1615, it was intermittently occupied until its formal establishment in 1795 by Nuevo México Governor Fernando Chacón to act as fortified plaza and trading outpost for the neighboring Native American Taos Pueblo and Hispano communities, including Ranchos de Taos, Cañon, Taos Canyon, Ranchitos, El Prado, and Arroyo Seco. The town was incorporated in 1934. As of the 2021, its population was 6,567.
Angel Fire is a village in Colfax County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 1,192 at the 2020 census. Angel Fire Resort is a popular skiing and snowboarding destination, with over 500 acres (2.0 km2) of slopes. Angel Fire and nearby communities experience cold winter temperatures and mild temperatures in the summer.
Red River is a resort town in Taos County, New Mexico, US in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The population was 542 at the 2020 census. Red River is on the Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway, and is 36 miles (58 km) from Taos.
Taos Ski Valley is a village and alpine ski resort in the southwestern United States, located in Taos County, New Mexico. The population was 69 at the 2010 census. Until March 19, 2008, it was one of four ski resorts in America to prohibit snowboarding. The Kachina lift, constructed in 2014, serves one of the highest elevations of any triple chair in North America, to a peak of 12,481 feet (3,804 m) above sea level.
Wheeler Peak is the highest natural point in the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is located northeast of Taos and south of Red River in the northern part of the state, and just 2 miles (3.2 km) southeast of the ski slopes of Taos Ski Valley. It lies in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the southernmost subrange of the Rocky Mountains. The peak's elevation is 13,167 feet (4,013 m).
Carson National Forest is a national forest in northern New Mexico, United States. It encompasses 6,070 square kilometers and is administered by the United States Forest Service. The Forest Service's "mixed use" policy allows for its use for recreation, grazing, and resource extraction.
The 56-mile (90 km) High Road to Taos is a scenic, winding road through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains between Santa Fe and Taos.. It winds through high desert, mountains, forests, small farms, and tiny Spanish land grant villages and Pueblo Indian villages. Scattered along the way are the galleries and studios of traditional artisans and artists drawn by the natural beauty. It has been recognized by the state of New Mexico as an official scenic byway.
Colorado offers many world-class ski resorts. The following table compares their various sizes, runs, lifts, and snowfall:
Sipapu Ski & Summer Resort, also known simply as Sipapu, is a small ski resort in Taos County, New Mexico owned and operated by Mountain Capital Partners (MCP) headquartered in Durango, CO.
Sipapu participates in the Power Pass program which includes 11
Ernie Blake, originally Ernst Hermann Bloch, was the German-American founder, together with his wife Rhoda, of Taos Ski Valley, New Mexico. He was born in Germany, grew up in Switzerland and went to university in Germany and Switzerland before emigrating to the US in 1938. He worked for US military intelligence during World War II, when he assisted in the interrogation of the leading Nazis Hermann Göring and Albert Speer. His code name was Ernie Blake, and after the war, he chose it as his real name.
New Mexico State Road 75 is a 20.6 mi (33.2 km) long state highway in Northern New Mexico, located in the Southwestern United States. NM 75 is located on the western slope of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains starting near the Rio Grande, passes through Pircuris Pueblo, and ends as a segment of the High Road to Taos near Peñasco.
Advanced Air is an American scheduled commuter and private charter airline based in Hawthorne, California, at the Hawthorne Municipal Airport, where it also owns a fixed base operator, Jet Center Los Angeles.
Taos Air was an American virtual airline that operated seasonal scheduled public air charter service between Taos Regional Airport in Taos, New Mexico, and several airports in California and Texas. The airline was owned by Taos Ski Valley, Inc. Service to Texas began in the 2018–2019 winter season while the 2019–2020 winter season saw the introduction of California routes. The carrier operated Fairchild Dornier 328JETs with its own livery from 2018 through summer 2022, then switched to Embraer 135 regional jets operated by JSX beginning with the 2022–2023 winter ski season. Taos Air effectively ceased operations permanently in April 2024.
Ski Santa Fe or Santa Fe Ski Basin is a medium-sized ski resort located in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States, 16 miles east of the state capital of Santa Fe. It includes 8 lifts and 88 runs at elevations of over 10,000 feet (3,000 m). It is the southernmost major ski resort of the Rocky Mountains, and one of the oldest and highest in the nation.