Esteban Torres, left, teaches Elthea Miguel some snowboarding basics as skiers flock to the slopes at Ski Santa Fe for an early first day of the season Saturday. Ski Santa Fe isnāt the only mountain to open early because of recent snowfall. Pajarito Ski Area also had a historically early opening Nov. 9.
Skiers flock to the slopes at Ski Santa Fe for the first day of the season on Saturday.°®¶¹appOut of the mountainās 90 runs, 70 are open to the public, from greens to black diamonds.
ABOVE: Ski instructor Arman Sena helps Aiden Baker get on the right track during a lesson on the beginner slope at Ski Santa Fe for the first day of the season Saturday. BELOW: Despite his advanced headgear, Ishmael Royball starts his day on the beginner slope Saturday.
Esteban Torres, left, teaches Elthea Miguel some snowboarding basics as skiers flock to the slopes at Ski Santa Fe for an early first day of the season Saturday. Ski Santa Fe isnāt the only mountain to open early because of recent snowfall. Pajarito Ski Area also had a historically early opening Nov. 9.
Ski Santa Fe opened its season Saturday morning with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, celebrating not only its earliest start since 2001 but the grand opening of a new ski lift.
The four-seat Santa Fe Express aims to get skiers to the top of the mountain in four minutes, compared to the 12 to 15 minutes it took in former years.
āEveryone coming off the lift seems to be extremely thrilled with opening day,ā said Eric Thompson, marketing director for the ski area, who said itās been a heavily local crowd so far.
āThereās one gentleman who tries to get 12 runs in before 12 oāclock,ā said Thompson. āAfter riding the new lift, his first response was, āWell now I can do 24 before 12 oāclock.ā ā
Skiers flock to the slopes at Ski Santa Fe for the first day of the season on Saturday.°®¶¹appOut of the mountainās 90 runs, 70 are open to the public, from greens to black diamonds.
It was a great turnout, Thompson said. So great, he started to worry about congestion.
āBut the lift lines disappeared really quickly,ā he said. āThe lift did its job ā the RFID gates did their job. Everything seems to move really efficiently,ā said Thompson.
Out of the mountainās 90 runs, 70 are open to the public, from greens to black diamonds. But, Thompson said, skiers might see early season conditions on some more advanced and expert terrain.
āThereās still a little thin cover on some of the places where we havenāt been able to get in with snowmaking,ā he said.
Those are the spots with signs of āunmarked obstacles,ā like rocks and trees in the snow ā typically meant to signify caution ā but not for Carl Bones.
āA lot of people are afraid of rocks and trees,ā said Bones, a skier enjoying a beer at the busy mid-mountain bar and restaurant Totemoffās. āSo then, if youāre in a skill set where you can manage rocks and trees, you can get more fresh turns on a day like today.
ABOVE: Ski instructor Arman Sena helps Aiden Baker get on the right track during a lesson on the beginner slope at Ski Santa Fe for the first day of the season Saturday. BELOW: Despite his advanced headgear, Ishmael Royball starts his day on the beginner slope Saturday.
āCamaraderie, oneness, people of like mind ā itās a nice little cult we have here,ā Bones said.
Sitting beside Bones ā also enjoying a mountain beer ā was Carmen Brandenburg, 40, who has been skiing New Mexico since she was 12 years old, she said.
āItās a beautiful day,ā said Brandenburg. āThe weather is perfect. Thereās no wind. Temperature is perfect. Itās a good crowd out here. Vibes are good. Itās going to be a good season. Snow quality is about 80% out of 100.ā
The seasonās early opening is largely thanks to the 27 inches of snow that fell on the mountain earlier this month, and to the ski area having the staff to assist with the in-house building of the new ski lift.
āWeāre, I think, the only ski area in the United States thatās still willing to take on that task of building a lift themselves. We were able to do it with our own people and that kind of set us up really well for the early opening, because we had a large number of our staff already on the payroll,ā said Thompson.
Ski Santa Fe isnāt the only mountain to open early because of recent snowfall. Pajarito Ski Area also had a historically early opening Nov. 9.
Despite his advanced headgear, Ishmael Royball starts his day on the beginner slope for the first day of the season Saturday.
They also arenāt the only ski area to be announcing new upgrades ā Taos Ski Valley, which is set to open on Thanksgiving Day, is boasting a number of improvements this year to their restaurant, skating rink and general investments in early season snowmaking and grooming with the goal of opening up as many early season runs as possible.
āI think with a start like this, itās very optimistic,ā Thompson said. āYou never really know what the weatherās going to bring, but I think we have a good base with the man-made snow. Any new snow that comes is just kind of a cherry on top. And weāre hoping for plenty of it.ā
