Taos 2022-23, conditions and latest upgrades at TSV

[marzNC]

. . .

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.

Thanks for the first-hand report!

Here's the latest snow depth. The 72-hour Top of 7 number is probably a reporting error.

It's going to be a busy weekend, starting today even though it's Friday not Saturday. I'll be watching to see when the Kachina Lift opens. Expect it will take a few days at least. It's possible Tell Glade was groomed at some point during the storm. Could make for some nice soft bumps that aren't huge in a day or two. Same for Powderhorn Gully and Poco Gusto.

 

[marzNC]

Looks like Lift 1 started loading a few minutes early this morning. That often happens on Saturday mornings too if ski patrol says it's okay.

TSV is using "front row" these days for Lift 1 (only detachable quad), which works out well when the maze is actually full at the start of the day. There is a liftie with a scanner at the front of every row, plus a liftie managing the line. The singles line and the main ski school entrance is on the left when looking from the end of the maze.

Private lessons and Ski Week groups get into the maze from the corner closest to the Private Lesson flag. Someone moves a barrier to make a temporary opening. That's really only happening first thing in the morning. People in lessons only get scanned the first lift ride.

 

[marzNC]

The view for Pioneer and Wheeler is one way to see the end of the Lift 1 maze when controlling the Base Cam. There has been a steady steam of people walking in from the parking lots since I started watching at 9:00am MT. The maze has been half-full since about 9:05.

The singles lines for Lift 1 and Lift 4 move pretty quickly when the mazes are relatively full.

 

[marzNC]

The flow of people from the parking lot continues to be steady as of 10:30 MT. I'm seeing more snowboarders than Mon-Thu. Wonder if there were people who made the drive starting yesterday evening or this morning?

Lifts 1, 2, 8 are open as far as I can tell from the website.

The maze is pretty full. But that's still only about a 5-min wait.

 

[marzNC]

Not sure when it opened, but Lift 4 is running as of 10:45 MT. That means once someone takes Lift 1 out of the main base, they probably won't be finding lift lines of more than a minute or two this Friday.

Taos has a good selection of webcams.

 

[marzNC]

Per usual, by 2:30 MT there isn't a wait to load Lift 1 or Lift 4. Plenty of skis in the racks put there by people enjoying an aprés drink of some sort, or just a bit of socializing.

The Food Court building closes at 4:30. The Bavarian closes at 3:30.

Lift 1 closes at 4:00.

On the back side Lift 4 closes at 4:00, or maybe 3:50. Lift 7 closes at 3:45, with the assurance that Lift 7A will still be running when the people on last chair for Lift 7 will be able to load Lift 7A in order to get back to the front side. The Kachina Lift closes at 2:30 on days it is running.

 

[TNtoTaos]

Not sure when it opened, but Lift 4 is running as of 10:45 MT. That means once someone takes Lift 1 out of the main base, they probably won't be finding lift lines of more than a minute or two this Friday.

Taos has a good selection of webcams.

Did you see me on the webcams?

Took some photos -- will post a bit later.

 

[marzNC]

From OpenSnow for NM, Feb. 24:

Here are the final snow totals for the February 22-23 storm. The first number is the storm total, and in parenthesis where applicable are Tuesday overnight + Wednesday + Thursday.

14" Taos Ski Valley (2" + 8" + 4")
10" Angel Fire (2" + 8" + 0)
10" Sipapu (2" + 6" + 2')
7" Red River (1" + 5" + 1")
7" Ski Santa Fe (2" + 4" + 1")
6" Ski Apache
4" Pajarito

 

[TNtoTaos]

The snow today was unbelieveable -- was like skiing on silk, even on the catwalks! After yesterday's rather disappointing conditions, today turned out to be a great powder day: not exactly 15:1 "Champagne snow", but maybe 10-12:1 powder, definitely soft and fluffy enough. After getting another 5" or so last night, it was a perfect depth; I used my Sheeva 9's, and I absolutely loved how they performed. While I could have possibly used my 107mm Backlands firts thing in the AM, the Sheeva's did a good job in the powder, and I was glad I had them as soon as the snow started getting tracked up and the bumps started forming. It was a little colder than expected before lunch, d/t the low clouds covering everything, and the front side was pretty windy, but I headed right for the back side (Lift 4 opened at 10), and the trees surrounding all the trails completely broke the wind and made the conditions excellent. Then, after around noon, the sun started breaking thru, the clouds lifted off the ground, and the afternoon was perfect!

Today's Ridge-A-Thon participants, starting out (upper right, starting to hike): they lapped the hike-to terrain to raise donations for the Emergency Medicine Fund @ Taos Community Foundation.

Among the first tracks on Maxie's, looking uphill...

...and downhill


Bumps were hard to find in the morning -- these are the "bumps" on Shalako!


In the Shalako bump field -- no pole-planting here!

Here is the Japanese Flag Glade bump field.

After lunch the bumps started forming again, and I had a great time trying to hit as many soft bump fields as my little legs could bear! I managed to get to Shalako, Japanese Flag Glade, Tell Glade, Topa Papa and Papa Bear, Mucho Gusto, Maxie's, and Bambi. Not to mention all the unnamed bumps that sprang up everywhere. I'm hoping tomorrow will be really nice, too, as the sun will be out more, and it will be warmer.

 

[marzNC]

Looks like a pretty day at TSV now that the winds have died down and it's warmed up. There are plenty of people still making their way to Lift 1 as of 10am. The maze is full but not really packed, meaning there is plenty of space between people. There is no line to speak of at Lift 4. Usually takes most people a while to work their way over to Lift 4. Can be done in 15-20 minutes if go directly from Lift 1 to Lift 2 to the base of Lift 4, but not really much reason to rush.

The 72-hour snow amount was fixed for Top of 7.

 

[marzNC]

For people willing to hike, looks like Kachina Peak is open on Feb. 25. Plenty of hikers making their way across the Highline Ridge towards Kachina Peak around 11am. Typically Kachina Peak opens to hikers a few days before the Kachina Lift runs. The expert skiers who make the long hike over from the top of Lift 2 help to pack down the new show.

All the backside double-blacks are showing as open on the website. Hunzinker Bowl and Staub are showing as closed. Very hard to tell without going to look if that's really the case or not.

 

[marzNC]

Given that it's a relatively warm Saturday, there are plenty of people going to the Bavarian for a late lunch. Since table service is require for sitting indoors or outdoors, a bit of a wait to get seated. Can see the line on the Kachina Base webcam.

There is a line for Lift 4 around 12:45 but less than a 10 minute wait.

 

[marzNC]

Looks like the Kachina Lift opened. There is one view from the Highline webcam where you can see dots that are people skiing down Main Street. Never played with controlling that webcam before.

There is almost no wind on Highline Ridge this afternoon. People walking along the ridge make it look easy. Of course, for locals the fact that it's over 11,000 ft isn't as much of an issue. The steepest section of the hike is short. What makes it hard is that you can't stop in the middle for a rest. Need to keep up momentum and there just isn't a good place to pull over to the side in order to let others pass.

I think the gate for the Ridge hike closes at 2:30.

 

[marzNC]

By 1:30 on Saturday, Feb. 25, there is essentially no line for Lift 1. Families with kids in the Saturday morning programs may not stay for the entire day. When Lift 4 and the Kachina Lift are open, most people will be on the back side in the early afternoon. Lift 2 and Lift 8 usually don't have lift lines in the afternoons the all lifts are running.

After the sun starts going behind the ridge around 3:00, it's flat light conditions on the front side. Also can feel chilly pretty quickly even on a relatively warm day. Some people prefer to finish the day taking the long Rubezahl cat track back to the main base instead of White Feather. Several front side black trails finish on White Feather. Advanced skiers tend to be moving fairly fast. The last part of White Feather is a cat track that can get a bit crowded between 2:30 and 3:30 on busier days.

 

[marzNC]

Still a bit of a line for the Bavarian on Saturday around 2:00. It closes at 3:30.

Will be a different situation on Sunday with fewer locals, and some travelers doing a Ski Week. Most Ski Week students have lunch somewhere around the main base. The weather is a big factor for the Bavarian as well. There isn't that much indoor seating.

 

[TNtoTaos]

Here's a great example of avalanche mitigation at TSV. These 3 photos clearly show where the explosive was detonated, and the path of the resulting avalanche. The last photo shows it in context. For those who have been following TSV for a few yrs, this is the exact path of the avalanche that occurred in 2019 that took the lives of 2 skiers in the K3 chute (Hunziker Bowl area above Lift 4)-- the only recorded avalanche deaths in the ski valley's history.

 

[floridakeysskibum]

The snow today was unbelieveable -- was like skiing on silk, even on the catwalks! After yesterday's rather disappointing conditions, today turned out to be a great powder day: not exactly 15:1 "Champagne snow", but maybe 10-12:1 powder, definitely soft and fluffy enough. After getting another 5" or so last night, it was a perfect depth; I used my Sheeva 9's, and I absolutely loved how they performed. While I could have possibly used my 107mm Backlands firts thing in the AM, the Sheeva's did a good job in the powder, and I was glad I had them as soon as the snow started getting tracked up and the bumps started forming. It was a little colder than expected before lunch, d/t the low clouds covering everything, and the front side was pretty windy, but I headed right for the back side (Lift 4 opened at 10), and the trees surrounding all the trails completely broke the wind and made the conditions excellent. Then, after around noon, the sun started breaking thru, the clouds lifted off the ground, and the afternoon was perfect!
View attachment 20639
Today's Ridge-A-Thon participants, starting out (upper right, starting to hike): they lapped the hike-to terrain to raise donations for the Emergency Medicine Fund @ Taos Community Foundation.
View attachment 20640
Among the first tracks on Maxie's, looking uphill...
View attachment 20641
...and downhill

View attachment 20643
Bumps were hard to find in the morning -- these are the "bumps" on Shalako!

View attachment 20644
In the Shalako bump field -- no pole-planting here!
View attachment 20645
Here is the Japanese Flag Glade bump field.

After lunch the bumps started forming again, and I had a great time trying to hit as many soft bump fields as my little legs could bear! I managed to get to Shalako, Japanese Flag Glade, Tell Glade, Topa Papa and Papa Bear, Mucho Gusto, Maxie's, and Bambi. Not to mention all the unnamed bumps that sprang up everywhere. I'm hoping tomorrow will be really nice, too, as the sun will be out more, and it will be warmer.

Oh it’s so nice to see those areas with fresh snow!! We did Japanese trees again and again and again…they were fun!!

 

[marzNC]

Here's a great example of avalanche mitigation at TSV. These 3 photos clearly show where the explosive was detonated, and the path of the resulting avalanche. The last photo shows it in context. For those who have been following TSV for a few yrs, this is the exact path of the avalanche that occurred in 2019 that took the lives of 2 skiers in the K3 chute (Hunziker Bowl area above Lift 4)-- the only recorded avalanche deaths in the ski valley's history.

Installing the Gazex exploders made the work in that area easier and safer for ski patrol. The expanse covered by the 2019 avalanche was enormous. Seeing the avi debris first hand a week later was sobering.

Anyone interested in support Taos Ski Patrol can stop by the patrol hut at the top of Lift 2. The t-shirts start at $20. Also avi dog stickers for $1 each. Much pay in cash only, exact amount appreciated.

 

[marzNC]

Very different weather conditions between this morning and the afternoon on Sunday, Feb. 26. By noon the cold front was moving in and the winds were picking up. Snow started after 2pm. Not sure exactly when the lifts closed, but everything was all put away by 3:30. I wasn't watching the webcams for a couple hours as the temperatures continued to drop and the winds picked up. Gusts up top went over 60mph for a short period.



Highline Ridge, 10am, Feb. 26


Highline Ridge, noon, Feb. 26

 

[marzNC]

Didn't look like any extra tables were set up on the snow at the Bavarian today. There are outdoor tables on the big deck that isn't visible from the webcam. Not only because of the weather forecast, but probably also because there are usually fewer people on a Sunday. As compared to a Saturday with sunshine.

Bavarian webcam at noon, Feb. 26


Bavarian webcam at 1:15