Claude said the SSF shuttle service he drives for ends this wk.
-
Women skiers, this is the place for you -- an online community without the male-orientation you'll find in conventional ski magazines and internet ski forums. At TheSkiDiva.com, you can connect with other women to talk about skiing in a way that you can relate to, about things that you find of interest. Be sure to join our community to participate (women only, please!). Registration is fast and simple. Just be sure to add [email protected] to your address book so your registration activation emails won't be routed as spam. And please give careful consideration to your user name -- it will not be changed once your registration is confirmed.
Travel Tips, News, and Conditions for Taos Ski Valley (TSV) 2025-26
- Thread starter marzNC
- Start date
That just means that seniors who live in Albuquerque are ready to move on to spring activities. He's a volunteer driver for a senior center that has a couple of large vans available for outings. Probably not much different even for seasons where there is plenty of snow coverage for all of March.
For the week of March 22, the Blake is running multi-night specials of 20-25%. That week, Alpine Village Suites has a few rooms available but still seems fairly book as of March 10. Easy to tell which week in March is TX/OK spring break based on the room rates at AVS.
In case anyone who doesn't plan on getting Ikon for 2026-27 and is thinking seriously about doing a Ski Week next season, TSV has a 5-day pass that could be worth considering now during the spring sale. Prices are around $500 depending on the age group. It's fully refundable before Oct. 1, 2026 if it doesn't feel like making it to TSV is going to work out.
This look like a great option for those doing a ski week, esp since an add-on day can be purchased for ~$100-115 (this yr, may be different next season), esp if they didn't want to purchase an Ikon pass just for Taos.
I know... this is a great option. Paging @Bookworm . However, I seem to ski Palisades more having an IKON and friend with house in Tahoe City loves Alpine. This year has been such a bust with snow conditions though I'm barely getting my $$$$ worth out of IKON and EPIC passes..... but going to Crested Butte next week.
Clay wants a trip to Winter Park so I think I'll be getting some type of Ikon if I skiing there and Taos
I just got back from a week at Taos and I am so happy we went. First of all, I would like to thank Lorraine, aka @TNtoTaos and her friend Rita for their hospitality, making us feel welcome, giving my daughter and I a personal tour of the mountain, having multiple lunches with us, and taking us to their favorite dinner restaurant, La Cueva. It was so nice to know someone familiar with the ski area as well as the town of Taos.
The conditions were New England firm in the morning, then warming up to corn snow but 11am, which was fine by us. The bumps were pretty hard/firm and even though that was something I wanted to focus on, my instructor had me stay on the outside little bumps. Practicing them a little each day has given me more confidence - now my brain has seen me ski them and I didn't die, lol. My fear of bumps was a 10 at the start of the ski week and is now a 5, so I am happy about that.
I cannot say enough about the ski school at Taos. I had a different instructor than my daughter ( she skied with Miles), and we both learned a lot. Her group skied Kachina, hiked the ridge ect...as she is more advanced skier than I am. For my group, we focused on turn initiation by lifting the toes in the boot (right boot for a right turn, left boot for a left turn) and thinking of bringing the tip of the inside ski to your shoulder (right ski, right shoulder) which helped initiate the turn while pressuring the inside ski. Then we worked on steering the inside ski by rotating your femur. Our instructor, Rick B, took off his skis and like a Deb Armstrong video, he showed what the rotation should look like with his boots, then had us do the same with him actually holding our boot and guiding it thru a pretend turn for each side. It took some time to get the feeling of what to do, but once I did, it made it easier to initiate a turn. We also worked on pole touches, where he had us hold our arms out by our sides, almost fully extended, and practiced when and where to touch during a turn. I found it helpful to ski right behind him and mimic what he did and will hear him in my head saying "wider with the poles, wider, wider!" all summer as I tend to hold my poles in a more forward position. Overall, I feel more balanced, more powerful and faster but with control. I am already thinking of planning a trip there next year.
The conditions were New England firm in the morning, then warming up to corn snow but 11am, which was fine by us. The bumps were pretty hard/firm and even though that was something I wanted to focus on, my instructor had me stay on the outside little bumps. Practicing them a little each day has given me more confidence - now my brain has seen me ski them and I didn't die, lol. My fear of bumps was a 10 at the start of the ski week and is now a 5, so I am happy about that.
I cannot say enough about the ski school at Taos. I had a different instructor than my daughter ( she skied with Miles), and we both learned a lot. Her group skied Kachina, hiked the ridge ect...as she is more advanced skier than I am. For my group, we focused on turn initiation by lifting the toes in the boot (right boot for a right turn, left boot for a left turn) and thinking of bringing the tip of the inside ski to your shoulder (right ski, right shoulder) which helped initiate the turn while pressuring the inside ski. Then we worked on steering the inside ski by rotating your femur. Our instructor, Rick B, took off his skis and like a Deb Armstrong video, he showed what the rotation should look like with his boots, then had us do the same with him actually holding our boot and guiding it thru a pretend turn for each side. It took some time to get the feeling of what to do, but once I did, it made it easier to initiate a turn. We also worked on pole touches, where he had us hold our arms out by our sides, almost fully extended, and practiced when and where to touch during a turn. I found it helpful to ski right behind him and mimic what he did and will hear him in my head saying "wider with the poles, wider, wider!" all summer as I tend to hold my poles in a more forward position. Overall, I feel more balanced, more powerful and faster but with control. I am already thinking of planning a trip there next year.
Belmarskier
Diva in Training
Very helpful info.
Always check with your MD on this.. It does have very minor side effects.
Thanks for the trip report! As you've discovered, Ski Weeks are addictive because they are so effective.
I know people who return to work with RickB annually doing a Classic Ski Week.
Learning how to practice with poles on groomers in order to help when skiing bumps was something I got out of more than one of my Ski Weeks.
Rick was great to work with. I think I also benefitted from a low snow year, as it was only me and one other person in our group for all 6 days. We had another for 3 days but even then we each got lots of attention from him. After watching me ski for only one day and having me do certain balance drills, he said I had an alignment issue and to visit Boot Dr at the mountain. I met with Majorie, who has 23 years of experience and once she saw my insoles, she didn't think they were supporting my high arches enough. She started saying that she could modify my insoles to save me money but after some prodding by me, said new insoles would be best, so I now have custom insoles. Rick noticed immediately the next day how my skiing changed. He was right, as the balance drills I couldn't do the day before very well, were now easy with the new insoles.
Yes, addictive is a good word to describe how I feel after improving so much after the ski week.
Yes, addictive is a good word to describe how I feel after improving so much after the ski week.
So glad you and your daughter had great weeks as far as your instructors and groups, and that youalso got to know @TNtoTaos, a wonderful guide to TSV and Taos town, and fun to ski and hang out with.
I transferred into RickBs group on the second day of my 2024 ski week, after my ski-off group’s instructor had to back out. I got a lot out of that week both technique wise and terrain wise and I enjoyed his teaching style if you want to call it that! He’s rather direct which is ok by me. He is the source of the helpful cue to lift my chin. He also advised me on an alignment issue, and a cuff adjustment helped a lot. On our fifth day, conditions were right and we did a ridge hike, my first ever and same for another in my group, to an iconic Taos run, Stauffenberg. It was a very memorable day for me. I ran into RickB this year, two years later, and made it a point to thank him for what he has added to my skiing life. He also has lots of New Mexico and Taos history to share. I’ve done a Taos ski week each of the past 5 years and truly they have transformed my skiing and been transformative experiences. If hope to return for one next year.
Ridge hike, just as sun came out after a few inches fell, Feb 2024.
Halfway down upper Stauffenberg, selfie looking back up
And from same spot, looking down.
Our SkiWeek group
I transferred into RickBs group on the second day of my 2024 ski week, after my ski-off group’s instructor had to back out. I got a lot out of that week both technique wise and terrain wise and I enjoyed his teaching style if you want to call it that! He’s rather direct which is ok by me. He is the source of the helpful cue to lift my chin. He also advised me on an alignment issue, and a cuff adjustment helped a lot. On our fifth day, conditions were right and we did a ridge hike, my first ever and same for another in my group, to an iconic Taos run, Stauffenberg. It was a very memorable day for me. I ran into RickB this year, two years later, and made it a point to thank him for what he has added to my skiing life. He also has lots of New Mexico and Taos history to share. I’ve done a Taos ski week each of the past 5 years and truly they have transformed my skiing and been transformative experiences. If hope to return for one next year.
Ridge hike, just as sun came out after a few inches fell, Feb 2024.
Halfway down upper Stauffenberg, selfie looking back up
And from same spot, looking down.
Our SkiWeek group
Great photos, Deb!
So happy to hear that your new insoles really made a difference for you (when we last spoke, you had just gotten them) -- well worth the price! Rita and I have already booked our ski week classes and condo for next yr, and are about to buy our passes during the Spring sale on now. Speaking as one who is a proud TSV addict
.We both really enjoyed hanging out and skiing with you and Ava -- I just wish the snow had been better, but it was fine for teaching. So glad that you intro to bumps at TSV was positive -- having learned on those ugly bumps means that when you get the beautiful, soft bumps at Taos you'll have a ball!
This New Mexico Daily Snow includes a comparison of the 2025-26 season with 2017-18, which was a very low season. I did a Women's Ski Week in February 2018. There was no black/double-black terrain open all week. A snowstorm midweek helped a bit, but advanced lesson groups spent the week working on fundamentals.
March 19, 2026
opensnow.com
March 19, 2026
2017-2018 vs 2025-2026 | New Mexico Daily Snow Forecast | OpenSnow
A historic ridge of high pressure continues to dig in through late March. Some extended models show we could get a...
