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Taos Ski Week in 2020, what week fits in your schedule better?
- Thread starter marzNC
- Start date
marzNC
Angel Diva
Taos Ski School also offers Power Weekends that include morning and afternoon lessons on Friday and Saturday, finishing with a Sunday morning lesson. That would be far to intense for me. Was something new in the last season or two.
One of the features I like about a Ski Week is that the lessons are only in the morning. That leaves the afternoons for recovery off the slopes if needed, or practice and/or free skiing.
One of the features I like about a Ski Week is that the lessons are only in the morning. That leaves the afternoons for recovery off the slopes if needed, or practice and/or free skiing.
Susan L
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
New last season but they ended up cancelling due to low interest.
MissySki
Angel Diva
A friend of mine did the Femmes of Freeride weekend last season and said it was fantastic, and really had a big impact in a compact timeframe. She’s a really good skier as is, but said it upped her comfort level in really steep challenging terrain and the ladies she skied with were great. From her pictures it did look like they went some cool places. Seems like a good option if someone can’t or prefers not to dedicate a full week to lessons.
marzNC
Angel Diva
Makes sense to me. Ernie Blake and Jean Mayer knew what they were doing when they went with the Taos Ski Week as the unique element to a TSV ski vacation. Ernie founded TSV, but without Jean at the head of the TSV Ski School and the St. Bernard, hard to say if TSV would still be around today.
Considering that the long-time regulars who do a Ski Week year in, year out, aren't going to switch, the market for a Power Weekend would be limited. I can't think of too many people who would want to travel to TSV for a long weekend that is mostly 2.5 days of lessons. JH and Alta have intense multi-day programs like that but only a few specific times per season.
Feb 2016, Santa Fe New Mexican article about a Ski Week with Derek Gordon
Learning from the best at Taos Ski Valley
Derek is one of the longtime instructors who is also a trainer. I've been lucky enough to free ski with him for a few runs. He is soooo smooth. Just following him on an easy groomer is useful to try and mimic his pace. Every turn is completely round and unhurried. He's well over 70 now. Have heard that he realized in recent years that he needs to work on his technique even more deliberately to make adjustments for being an older skier who isn't quite as strong and flexible any more.
MissySki
Angel Diva
So I am someone who loves to do lessons, but I can also see a weekend of lessons being enough for me on a trip west since I usually only get one trip west each season and I’m not positive that I’d want to spend that much time in lessons during that trip. (Though I would love to do a ski week at some point as well). I could see potentially wanting to do a weekend of classes and then spend the rest of my week freeskiing. On some previous diva west trips we’d have a day or two of clinics and then the rest just skiing and I liked that mix. Obviously might be in the minority though if they didn’t have enough interest, but I’d see it appealing for still being somewhere a whole week with less lessons and not necessarily only going to the mountain for the long weekend in totality or for someone local.
Doh! I didn't think of the possibility of tacking the women's weekend on to a longer trip. Clearly posting too late at night. I just took a closer look, and the info I saw was for last year's weekend. If they do it again this year, it really is a good deal. Two 2 hour clinics each day, with different topics and levels to choose from (blue/green, steeps, bumps, carving, etc.), morning and apres-ski yoga, and a ski tuning and wine tasting evening. All for $75 (not including lift ticket.)
marzNC
Angel Diva
Certainly can understand having to squeeze in lessons and skiing into limited vacation time. I didn't take lessons at all when taking ski trips when I was working. These days, for my trips to destination resorts, one or two semi-private lessons early in the week works well. You are in very good shape from a fitness standpoint, so spending an entire day in advanced lessons would be more likely to be fun. I've seen the folks who do the Alta multi-day advanced clinics come in after the afternoon session. They are pretty whipped even though all are very good skiers and in great shape. I know a few who did the clinic annually.
But for me, a 2-3 hour lesson is all I can process in one day. I prefer morning lessons because I'm fresh and can concentrate better. I think that's true for most intermediates who want to improve or advanced skiers who are working on bump skiing. Working on technique related to skiing bumps on steep terrain is the core of a Taos Ski Week. Doesn't matter if the week is spent on green/blue bumps or blue/black bumps or mostly on double-black terrain.
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marzNC
Angel Diva
The Taos Ski Week lesson program with morning lessons, 6 days in a row, with very experienced instructors, for under $400 is unique. That's why the number of advanced/expert skiers who do lessons during 5, 10, 15, 20 ski vacations over the course of a decade or two is probably unmatched by any other destination resort. Plus there are local advanced/experts who do the multi-week program.
As I've said elsewhere, Taos Ski Weeks are addictive. Especially for folks interested in lessons related to bump skiing, which provides skills that apply to ungroomed terrain in general. Makes the extra effort to get to TSV worthwhile.
I did two Ski Weeks last season. Wasn't the original plan, but I had different friends going for different weeks. I had two different instructors. Moved up a level of difficulty for the second week. Directly related to what I learned the first week, which was in January when there was less snow but more than enough intermediate bumps to improve technique. If I lived where I could take a non-stop flight to ABQ, would probably do that again.
Now that my ski buddy Bill has done 3 Ski Weeks over 3 seasons, it's gotten harder to keep up with him even though my skiing is improving too. Even though he was an advanced skier in high school (Aspen bumps) and is approaching 70, what he's learned from Taos ski instructors has made his skiing smoother and faster on steep terrain that he didn't even ski at all when I started skiing with him at Alta 10 years ago. A lesson or two during a trip from very experienced instructors at Alta and JH made a difference, but it was harder for him to fully ingrain new skills. What he picks up during a Ski Week is clearly still in place during the next trip we take later on that season.
As I've said elsewhere, Taos Ski Weeks are addictive. Especially for folks interested in lessons related to bump skiing, which provides skills that apply to ungroomed terrain in general. Makes the extra effort to get to TSV worthwhile.
I did two Ski Weeks last season. Wasn't the original plan, but I had different friends going for different weeks. I had two different instructors. Moved up a level of difficulty for the second week. Directly related to what I learned the first week, which was in January when there was less snow but more than enough intermediate bumps to improve technique. If I lived where I could take a non-stop flight to ABQ, would probably do that again.
Now that my ski buddy Bill has done 3 Ski Weeks over 3 seasons, it's gotten harder to keep up with him even though my skiing is improving too. Even though he was an advanced skier in high school (Aspen bumps) and is approaching 70, what he's learned from Taos ski instructors has made his skiing smoother and faster on steep terrain that he didn't even ski at all when I started skiing with him at Alta 10 years ago. A lesson or two during a trip from very experienced instructors at Alta and JH made a difference, but it was harder for him to fully ingrain new skills. What he picks up during a Ski Week is clearly still in place during the next trip we take later on that season.
Ski Sine Fine
Angel Diva
My doc says no bumps. I just want to get better on steep groomed runs. Does that mean I’d either get pushed into harder terrain than my comfort level, or drag the class down and disappoint the others in the group? It would be bad either way.
I also cannot do a full day lesson. Tried it at Liberty and bailed in the afternoon every day.
santacruz skier
Angel Diva
If only. That's why I need to go back.
marzNC
Angel Diva
Is your doc a skier? The term "bumps" means different things to different people. In the mid-Atlantic, a bump run usually means bumps that would be considered blue bumps at TSV. Except for a tiny section in the beginner area at Roundtop, I've never seen a green bump run in PA.
What's a bit unusual about Taos is that there is terrain that makes it easy to progress from groomers to green bumps to blue bumps. "Green" skiers can do a Ski Week. Often a solo lesson or perhaps two skiers. Can take a few years for some people to get to blue bumps if they only ski the one week per season, which isn't that uncommon for families driving from Texas during school vacations. The focus would be on fundamental skills that can lead to efficient and smooth skiing on bumps if that's of interest. Meaning not just skills that only apply to carving down groomers.
Best person I know to answer your question is @alison wong's friend. @EuniceG was an advanced beginner for her first Ski Week. I don't know what trails her group was on. Last season she was starting to ski bumps though. And had a grand time! Was already planning for their next Ski Week trip before the end of the week.
You could call in the fall and talk to Taos Ski School. I doubt there's anyone around before Labor Day who would know enough to answer the question well.
marzNC
Angel Diva
Remember, Bill had been taking a few lessons with me for three seasons before he did the first Ski Week. So he'd already started figuring out how to make the most of time with an instructor. It was fun seeing him asking his first instructor questions on Day 1. My other ski buddy and I happened to come across his group as they went over to Lift 4. So we followed for a bit. Bill didn't ask any questions during the first semi-private lesson with @snoWYmonkey at JH. Now he's happy to talk about technique with anyone.
For the third Ski Week, Bill put himself into an advanced intermediate or low advanced group instead an advanced/expert group. His first instructor for the first two years who taught expert groups had retired. Bill decided that working on technique was worthwhile given that he gets to ski so much at other times. Cannot work on fundamentals on double-blacks in the same was as on blue/black trails.
One of the Pugski advanced/expert skiers who hadn't ever had a lesson switched groups midweek last Feb. At the end of the week, he admitted that while the second group was more fun since they hiked for powder turns every day, he was learning more in the first group.
santacruz skier
Angel Diva
I think in 2018 we were in an advanced group. However, with limited terrain available, we did not really ski advanced terrain. So did go back to fundamentals. For me, it had been decades since I had a lesson, so was good!
marzNC
Angel Diva
What are your main goals for a Ski Week? I know you enjoyed the Race Week, which obviously has a speed and carving focus.
For myself, I want to be able to ski as much ungroomed terrain as possible in any sort of conditions. Never interested in speed, although I ski a lot faster on groomers now than before I started taking lessons regularly. The goal for a ski trip out west that has to be planned well in advance is to ski as much as possible every day. Being more efficient and having to think less about technique on complex terrain means more fun no matter what. Also makes it easier to get away from crowds on groomers if I happen to be skiing during a busy period for whatever reason. So I'm willing to invest time to work on ingraining good fundamental technique.
What I didn't expect when I started taking advanced lessons is that I now have more fun skiing solo at my tiny home mountain because I have a much larger collection of drills that I can work on. Technique improvement happens on green and blue terrain. In the mid-Atlantic, even the hardest black trails are more equivalent to blues at destination resort.
marzNC
Angel Diva
Yep, that group was considered Level 9/10. TSV used to use a 10-point ability level scale. But last season they had switched to just using the trail rating colors since few, if any, ski schools use a 10-point scale. At the ski-off, the question was more about green, green/blue, blue, blue but wanting to do black, black, or double-black.
My Feb 2019 instructor shifted gears as the snow kept falling. I was a black/double-black group with mostly older skiers. The only skier under 50 had never had a lesson but had been charging down double-black terrain with friends at Mammoth for a decade. She was very strong and muscled every turn. As the instructor told us towards the end of the week, she'd focused more on tactics than technique. Before we'd ski off-piste terrain, she would point out where it would be easier and what areas to avoid. Meaning in general terms that would apply to similar terrain. She also pushed very hard for the group to do the hike to the Ridge. One senior woman (over 70) was the hardest to convince. She was a local who does an annual Ski Week and was willing to let the group go without her. But finally agreed on the blue sky day after yet another powder storm. It was the group support that made it possible. No one complained about having to wait for her.
On the last day, the instructor offered a bonus hike as the last run for anyone interested. Half the group went with her and half the group went to lunch. I was driving to ABQ that afternoon so opted out for lunch at the Bavarian.
