Instructor Recommendations for Taos Private Ski Week

[tothetrail]

Might anyone have any recommendations for ski instructors to request for Taos?

Three friends and I, one expert, and two intermediates, one beginner/intermediate, are looking to do a Private Ski Week in March. We were thinking the four of us would go the first day, and then see how we should split it up from there, to give the expert at least one day to train by himself.

I'm thinking I need to reserve this ahead of time and just wanted to have some ideas in case we have options for our instructor.

 

[marzNC]

Welcome! Have you been to Taos before? If not, what region do you normally ski in?

You definitely should get the Private Ski Week set up ahead of time. Fair to say that the best instructors get booked months in advance.

I've set up Private Ski Weeks a few times in the last five years. One season the group had a range of abilities, while most of the time it was a group of four advanced skiers (over 50). I've also set up semi-private lessons elsewhere for friends where the small group was mixed ability. While it can work, I'm glad you are thinking of splitting up the week so that the expert won't be with the other skiers all week.

Note that often when ski clubs include a Taos Ski Week, intermediates often skip the lesson on Wednesday. Some even don't ski at all that day.

Have you found the thread from last season about Taos Ski Weeks?

Taos Ski Week, a 6-morning lesson program, 2022-23 notes

Couldn't decide if this topic should be in Skiing Tips or Resorts . . . so General Skiing was simplest. It wasn’t that long ago that I didn’t know much about Taos Ski Weeks or Taos Ski Valley terrain. Going to a resort that requires a 2-3 hour drive after flying to NM didn’t seem worth the...

www.theskidiva.com

 

[Susan L]

Any reason why the four of you want to split a private week? I’d think each of you could benefit more from an individual ski week that is appropriate for your abilities than to get just one or two days out of a private week.

 

[tothetrail]

Welcome! Have you been to Taos before? If not, what region do you normally ski in?

You definitely should get the Private Ski Week set up ahead of time. Fair to say that the best instructors get booked months in advance.

I've set up Private Ski Weeks a few times in the last five years. One season the group had a range of abilities, while most of the time it was a group of four advanced skiers (over 50). I've also set up semi-private lessons elsewhere for friends where the small group was mixed ability. While it can work, I'm glad you are thinking of splitting up the week so that the expert won't be with the other skiers all week.

Note that often when ski clubs include a Taos Ski Week, intermediates often skip the lesson on Wednesday. Some even don't ski at all that day.

Have you found the thread from last season about Taos Ski Weeks?

Taos Ski Week, a 6-morning lesson program, 2022-23 notes

Couldn't decide if this topic should be in Skiing Tips or Resorts . . . so General Skiing was simplest. It wasn’t that long ago that I didn’t know much about Taos Ski Weeks or Taos Ski Valley terrain. Going to a resort that requires a 2-3 hour drive after flying to NM didn’t seem worth the...

www.theskidiva.com

Hi, thanks for the great info!

We have not been to Taos before. We ski Mammoth and June mostly, and some Colorado and Utah resorts and backcountry. I skied Tahoe and Big Bear a lot as a kid.

I did find the thread, but didn't remember any instructor names mentioned. I re-read it and clicked on the links to previous ski weeks and hit the jackpot! Thank you, that gives me a great start on requesting instructors!!

 

[tothetrail]

Any reason why the four of you want to split a private week? I’d think each of you could benefit more from an individual ski week that is appropriate for your abilities than to get just one or two days out of a private week.

Part of it was that we could receive instruction in a smaller group. And one-on-one instruction for an advanced skier is super expensive.

The other reason we are looking into a private ski week is because the newly created "Snowboard Week" is that same week, so we were not sure they would provide regular ski week that week.

 

[marzNC]

Part of it was that we could receive instruction in a smaller group. And one-on-one instruction for an advanced skier is super expensive.

The reason my "crew" (4-5 adults from multiple states) and I started doing annual trips to Taos was because the Taos Ski Week was such a good deal. We started going after Taos got on the Mountain Collective Pass and continued after it joined Ikon. We are all advanced skiers, mostly over 60. The first few times we did the ski off and a regular Ski Week. We weren't quite at the same level within the category of "advanced" so ended up in different Ski Week groups. Eventually we set up Private Ski Weeks, but it took a while to learn what combination of ability and goals worked best.

Note that the lower level Ski Week groups can be relatively small. Meaning 3-5 people. Although we go in late January or the first half of February (before Pres. Day week). Might be a different story during early March.

I've done lessons together with friends who were intermediates. They were single lessons with an instructor who was very experienced and I knew well. Plus I've been taking lessons regularly from PSIA Level 3 instructors since needing knee rehab about ten years ago (not a skiing injury). I like small group lessons with friends because I learn a lot when the instructor is teaching someone else. So for me, I don't care if we are spending a lot of time working on a basic drill.

 

[VickiK]

Note that the lower level Ski Week groups can be relatively small. Meaning 3-5 people. 3 people that dwindled to 2 in my case this past season.

I don't care if we are spending a lot of time working on a basic drill. Worked for me too.

 

[MissySki]

I also think doing the ski off and going with an appropriate level class for a ski week would be most beneficial. Taos has some extremely steep and bumped terrain that is AMAZING, would be a shame to miss out on it if the expert likes those options and wants to learn in them. It’s really nice to have an instructor lead you into it there. I found the ski week I did last year had reasonable group sizes and we built each day to doing harder terrain and hiked two of the days. This was based on the consensus of what the group wanted to do. I didn’t think I would want to necessarily hike and do some of the steeper more challenging terrain that we got on until we skied a bit, and I was really glad I got to with a group of all very similar ability and goals. Of course only your group knows what you each want to get out of a ski week, so if it varies a bit for each of you I think it does give a nice chance for people to do their own thing in class and then ski together in the afternoons for free skiing when you meet back up.

 

[tothetrail]

I also think doing the ski off and going with an appropriate level class for a ski week would be most beneficial. Taos has some extremely steep and bumped terrain that is AMAZING, would be a shame to miss out on it if the expert likes those options and wants to learn in them. It’s really nice to have an instructor lead you into it there. I found the ski week I did last year had reasonable group sizes and we built each day to doing harder terrain and hiked two of the days. I didn’t think I would want to necessarily hike and do some of the steeper more challenging terrain that we got on, but I was really glad I got to. Of course only your group know what you each want to get out of a ski week, but I think it does give a nice chance for people to do their own thing if desired and then ski together in the afternoons for free skiing if the levels don’t all match up.

Thanks, I really appreciate the info!

 

[MissySki]

Thanks, I really appreciate the info!

P.S. Our instructor at Taos was Lindsay and I really liked her. She actually taught for a number of years at Mammoth before moving to Taos, and was a really great match to our group of ladies overall.

 

[tothetrail]

P.S. Our instructor at Taos was Lindsay and I really liked her. She actually taught for a number of years at Mammoth before moving to Taos, and was a really great match to our group of ladies overall.

Thank you, I have added her to my list!