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Taos 2022-23, conditions and latest upgrades at TSV

marzNC

Angel Diva
How concerning is the wind for Taos? Do they often have lift holds etc.? Or is some protected enough to keep running etc.?
When there are big snowstorms, often right afterwards only Lift 1 and Lift 8 run first thing the next morning. That happened the other week, as reported by @TNtoTaos in Post #90. Ski patrol needs much more time to do their work on the backside before Lifts 7/7A and Lift 4 can open. Sometimes that's just a delayed opening of an hour or two. Although Taos has an app, the info about lift status isn't updated that frequently.

Lift 2 and Lift 8 can go on wind hold. I was on Lift 8 once when it kept stopping because of wind gusts in the afternoon. There was someone midway up with a radio watching and letting the lifties know if they needed to stop the lift. Needless to say, once I got to the top then it was time to call it a day.

When it's windy on the front side, often it's not as bad on the back side. And vice-versa. Lift 8 can be a nice place to run laps that include Powderhorn bumps (near Whistlestop), White Feather Gully and/or Tell Glade in the afternoon. There is also a short section of bumps instructors use for teaching and practice near the top of Stauffenberg (unload right off Lift 8). Can go from there to Tell Glade or Poco Gusto if heading to Lift 2. Lift 8 never has much of a lift line. Especially if the Kachina Lift is open on the backside.
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
Lift 2 and Lift 8 can go on wind hold. I was on Lift 8 once when it kept stopping because of wind gusts in the afternoon. There was someone midway up with a radio watching and letting the lifties know if they needed to stop the lift. Needless to say, once I got to the top then it was time to call it a day.
I've had that happen at Sunday River and couldn't get off of that lift soon enough!
 

TNtoTaos

Angel Diva
How concerning is the wind for Taos? Do they often have lift holds etc.? Or is some protected enough to keep running etc.?
On the front side (Lift 1), I have seldom seen significant lift holds, sometimes they'll start up 30-60 min late, but it's usually more related to avalanche mitigation work. The front side seems to be more protected, so I've seen lifts running in 30-40 mph gusts without any issues. The back side is much more prone to lift hold or closure, again, usually d/t avalanche work. Often it won't open for several hrs, esp after a snowfall. But, in general, it's rare not to be able to get some skiing in -- the front side is plenty big for a full day of skiing. Last wk, during the big storms, the back side didn't open at all on Tues, and only opened partially (Lift 4 remained closed) on Wed afternoon.
 

Bookworm

Angel Diva
I brought my Blaze 86 home from Maine yesterday to bring to Taos, as I am really liking them in bumps. I hope I don't regret not bringing the Sheeva 9 if there is a bit of snow coming while we are there! :bounce:
Hey, I can't remember: is it you who wants to try my Blossoms?
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Perhaps just as well that the big storm this week will blow through before Diva West starts. Bet the locals will be getting to the parking lots early on Saturday morning, Feb. 25. May be more people than usual skiing TSV on Friday at all the New Mexico mountains. :snow:

From OpenSnow for New Mexico, Feb. 21
Screen Shot 2023-02-21 at 5.30.26 PM.jpg
 

TNtoTaos

Angel Diva
All lifts are now closed at TSV d/t high winds (which is not yet posted on their Lifts and Trails page, btw), which are predicted to hit 90mph at the top of Lift 2 around noon. It's also snowing hard there. There's a banner at the top of the Weather & Cams page that states that all lifts are closed for 2/22. The cams are a blast (pun intended - they're shaking!).
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
All lifts are now closed at TSV d/t high winds (which is not yet posted on their Lifts and Trails page, btw), which are predicted to hit 90mph at the top of Lift 2 around noon. It's also snowing hard there. There's a banner at the top of the Weather & Cams page that states that all lifts are closed for 2/22. The cams are a blast (pun intended - they're shaking!).
Ah, must say I would've missed the yellow banner looking at the TSV home page. It's on the Conditions webpage too but I tend to immediately scroll down so that disappears quickly.

Screen Shot 2023-02-22 at 2.08.53 PM.jpg
 

TNtoTaos

Angel Diva
Ah, must say I would've missed the yellow banner looking at the TSV home page. It's on the Conditions webpage too but I tend to immediately scroll down so that disappears quickly.
Last night they had a banner telling people to check conditions before driving up to the mountain, too, d/t predicted dangerous blizzard conditions.

Looking at the Base of Lift 1 on the web cam, the guys in blue jackets walking around the lift area look pretty miserable :brr:
 
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TNtoTaos

Angel Diva
And now they're picking up anything that can possibly blow around at the base, incl ski racks, heavy signs, and those metal lane divider racks. It's also snowing and blowing like crazy in Taos right now! It's kinda fun to watch the webcams -- makes me feel so glad I decided to stay home this AM, LOL.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Last night they had a banner telling people to check conditions before driving up to the mountain, too, d/t predicted dangerous blizzard conditions.
Wolf Creek opted to stay closed all day. (2 hour drive from Taos.)

Hard to miss the announcement about Feb. 22 on the Wolf Creek homepage.
Screen Shot 2023-02-22 at 4.38.44 PM.jpg
 

Eviesnowcat

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Just back from an amazing day at Angel Fire (about 45 mins from Taos). Everything was open and it was one of those days where the runs fill in again while you ride the lift! Big smiles on our faces now as we thaw out in the condo!
 

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Eviesnowcat

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Just back from an amazing day at Angel Fire (about 45 mins from Taos). Everything was open and it was one of those days where the runs will in again while you ride the lift! Big smiles on our faces now as we thaw out in the condo!
 

TNtoTaos

Angel Diva
2 feet fresh powder in park city today!
Wish I brought the Sheeva 10’s
I learned a couple of yrs ago at Alta to never try to predict the weather. I didn't take my powder skis and ended up having to rent them for several days. Same thing happened to me at TSV a few yrs ago. Now I just bite the bullet and bring both prs with me -- it's a big hassle lugging them around in the airport, but if you need them, it's a whole lot cheaper than renting all week. It would have been very difficult here at TSV last wk without my powder skis -- it was just too deep.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Now that I know where it to look, the yellow banner on the TSV website says that they won't open at 9am on Feb. 23 and the next update will be 10am MT.

Looking at the grooming list reminded me that Lower Stauffenberg wasn't groomed in 2018 right after a storm dropped 9-12 inches of snow midweek. Skied it with my advanced Ski Week class. Maxi's was also a fun powder run since no terrain park feature had been built. The more challenging bumps was the short shot just above Maxi's (go towards loading area for Lift 7A and then down). That was the low snow season when essentially no black terrain was open even mid-February. The Women's Week was Feb. 11-16 that season, just before Pres. Day weekend. Makes more sense to have it farther away from a busy week.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
With a big snowstorm, it's much more obvious that the main plaza is heated. Still some shoveling that needs to be done, especially in front of the Snowsports office. The snow pile on top of the roof of the entrance of the Hondo is impressive.

With a little patience, it's possible to control where a TSV webcam is pointed.

Screen shot at about 7:30am MT, Thursday, Feb. 23
Screen Shot 2023-02-23 at 9.34.01 AM.jpg
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Guess there is some value to having the Taos app. I got a notification on my iPhone shortly after 11am MT that Lift 1 and Rueggli (children's teaching trails chairlift) were open. The website banner had changed at some point that an update would be made around 11am MT.
 

TNtoTaos

Angel Diva
Well, today was a helluva day at TSV. After yesterday's shutdown, I thought I could maybe get a few turns in today. I knew from the app that the lift would open late -- it was snowing and blowing somewhat -- so I got there around 9:30, got booted up in a leisurely fashion, and then waited. And waited. Lift 1 finally opened at around 11:10 -- this was the lift line:
IMG_2546.jpegIMG_2547.jpeg
I've never seen such a long lift line at TSV! After waiting for about 30 min, I finally got on the lift, but found that all of the exposed trails were very blown-off and icy, and then there were drifts in other places.

The avalanche mitigation activity was continuous (and loud), and I later found out why it was taking so long to get going. Apparently, in addition to the avalanche danger, there were trees down in several areas: there was a tree down on Rubezahl, and another on one of the cat-tracks that had to be removed with a grooming sno-cat. Also, there was a slide next to Lift 7 (pre-opening) that had to be removed. Also, a tree came down yesterday (before they closed) very near an instructor -- winds were gusting over 50 mph when they closed, and were over 75mph overnight!

Sooo, after a couple of runs I decided to call it a ski day (see, What constitutes a ski day?), and headed home. I found out later that Lifts 2 and 8 opened later, but I think I'll just get there early tomorrow.
 

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