A tiny TSV Museum created by the Ski Patrollers!
Last week, my instructor, Stephanie, told me she had heard a rumor that there was a museum in the old lift 6 building, and asked if I wanted to join her to check it out -- DUH! Of course I did! So we got off Lift 2, skied past the Ski Patrol hut, and ran into veteran Ski Patroller Kevin Beardsley (been around since 1980, knew all the old-timers), who was delighted to show us around. He told us it's free and open to everyone.
The room is tiny, maybe 15x20', and behind a rear door that no one would ever think to open (no sign on the door yet). Kevin told us the Patrollers had been working on this project for 2 yrs, in their spare time - it involved building a room in the back of the building that used to house Lift 6, building shelves, collecting all of the "exhibits", etc. It's clearly been a labor of love.
I took some photos of Kevin explaining the exhibits to Stephanie and me -- they even have a desktop computer set up with lots of old Taos marketing videos, including some created by Ernie Blake himself, (converted from a Super-8 film roll), and some interviewing folks like Jean Mayer, about their vision for TSV. Amazing stuff! Here's a precious bit of Taos trivia: All the lifts used to close daily from 12-12:45 so everyone on the mountain could have lunch (there's a photo of an old lift sign)!
I'm wondering if the Old Guard who are left are starting to feel a need to document and preserve the history of TSV, which has been mostly passed down by stories and local legends, now that there are fewer and fewer of them remaining each year.
Here's the door to the museum, in the old Lift 6 bldg next to the Ski Patrol hut.
Last week, my instructor, Stephanie, told me she had heard a rumor that there was a museum in the old lift 6 building, and asked if I wanted to join her to check it out -- DUH! Of course I did! So we got off Lift 2, skied past the Ski Patrol hut, and ran into veteran Ski Patroller Kevin Beardsley (been around since 1980, knew all the old-timers), who was delighted to show us around. He told us it's free and open to everyone.
The room is tiny, maybe 15x20', and behind a rear door that no one would ever think to open (no sign on the door yet). Kevin told us the Patrollers had been working on this project for 2 yrs, in their spare time - it involved building a room in the back of the building that used to house Lift 6, building shelves, collecting all of the "exhibits", etc. It's clearly been a labor of love.
I took some photos of Kevin explaining the exhibits to Stephanie and me -- they even have a desktop computer set up with lots of old Taos marketing videos, including some created by Ernie Blake himself, (converted from a Super-8 film roll), and some interviewing folks like Jean Mayer, about their vision for TSV. Amazing stuff! Here's a precious bit of Taos trivia: All the lifts used to close daily from 12-12:45 so everyone on the mountain could have lunch (there's a photo of an old lift sign)!
I'm wondering if the Old Guard who are left are starting to feel a need to document and preserve the history of TSV, which has been mostly passed down by stories and local legends, now that there are fewer and fewer of them remaining each year.
Here's the door to the museum, in the old Lift 6 bldg next to the Ski Patrol hut.
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