TNtoTaos
Angel Diva
I arrived in Taos Ski Valley on Sunday morning, only to discover that the holiday blackout on my pass extended until Monday (duh), so I had a day to hang out around the village. Luckily, the weather was beautiful, so I spent the day shopping around, checking out ski demo possibilities, etc. Got a couple of ski demos set up at Le Ski Mastery. Spent that night camped out in my van in the Van/RV lot, and woke up to a Bluebird day on Monday, went and picked up my skis, and headed out. Of course, all of the trails had the fresh powder skied-on by then, but the conditions were still beautiful, and despite it being 20° out, it was so sunny that within minutes I was unzipping my jacket.
View up Honeysuckle
View down Honeysuckle
Although Lift 4 was still not open, the front side off of Lift 1 and the back side were open, and the snow was great.
Pocupine bumps
From the bottom of Lonestar
I skied again on Tuesday, and by the afternoon the winds started tp pick up a bit. Wednesday was another Bluebird day, though, and I skied all AM before heading to visit my brother in Springer, NM. I had originally planned to head over to Wolf Creek, CO, on Wed afternoon, but they were predicting 40-50mph winds, gusts to 65 mph, up there, so I bailed on that option in my van.
Some observations about TSV for trip-planning (I’ll also post this section in the Taos Ski Week MOTH thread):
The take-away from this is that those staying in TSV for a Ski Week, etc, should plan on stopping for groceries in Taos on their way to TSV, and plan to prepare food in their room as much as possible. Also, bring snacks/peanut butter, etc, for the daytime, and some sort of collapsible water container, as water is available in the cafeteria and the lobby of Tenderfoot Katie’s, to avoid having to pay $2+ for a bottle of water.
View up Honeysuckle
View down Honeysuckle
Although Lift 4 was still not open, the front side off of Lift 1 and the back side were open, and the snow was great.
Pocupine bumps
From the bottom of Lonestar
I skied again on Tuesday, and by the afternoon the winds started tp pick up a bit. Wednesday was another Bluebird day, though, and I skied all AM before heading to visit my brother in Springer, NM. I had originally planned to head over to Wolf Creek, CO, on Wed afternoon, but they were predicting 40-50mph winds, gusts to 65 mph, up there, so I bailed on that option in my van.
Some observations about TSV for trip-planning (I’ll also post this section in the Taos Ski Week MOTH thread):
- The Covid situation has hit NM, and esp TSV, very hard in terms of employment; e.g., they are short-staffed everywhere, between those out sick and just lack of people to hire, so several restaurants were closed this past week, including 192 (at The Blake), The Hondo, Martini Tree, The Phoenix, and The Blonde Bear. I’m not really sure if the St Bernard was open at all.
- Those places that were open had irregular, spotty hours, incl The Brownell Chalet food truck and 38 - The Taos Ale House (which has replaced Tim’s Cantina). Rhonda’s was serving burgers outdoors only.
- Tenderfoot Katie’s (the cafeteria) and The Whistle Stop were serving grab-and-go food, and required proof of vaccination to sit indoors. The Bavarian was open for lunch.
- The best place to eat seemed to be Cid’s Market, which was doing a very brisk business in prepared foods, grab and go, packaged salads and sandwiches, baked goods, etc. They also had a very limited amount of groceries available, as well as a wine selection, and their hours were very consistent.
- The ice cream/juice bar was also very consistently open, as was the convenience/sundry shop/liquor store.
The take-away from this is that those staying in TSV for a Ski Week, etc, should plan on stopping for groceries in Taos on their way to TSV, and plan to prepare food in their room as much as possible. Also, bring snacks/peanut butter, etc, for the daytime, and some sort of collapsible water container, as water is available in the cafeteria and the lobby of Tenderfoot Katie’s, to avoid having to pay $2+ for a bottle of water.