Studied snow hydrology at Colorado with Professor Noah Molotch and I wanted to mention “Dry” snow (low snow-water equivalent or SWE) has nothing to do with dry climate; rather, it is simply a function of lower air temperature at different heights in the atmosphere that lead to the formation of spikier “Dendrites” (the quintessential 6 sided shape) that traps lots of air between them and hold their shape. The interior west UT CO WY NM it’s famous for its “dry” “blower” pow because the typical conditions that bring in storms in the winter (a trough in the jet stream) also bring in much colder air than other places. Alaska and interior BC will often get “blower” despite being humid because it gets COLD.
As opposed to the common atmospheric conditions that bring snow to Cali, an Atmospheric river, that pulls relatively warm air from the ocean. Or a Nor’easter, that will bring relatively warmer air from the Atlantic. Parts of CO get “wetter” snow on average than others even for the same reason. The San Juan’s get snow from Southwest winds from generally warmer storms whereas the park range (snowiest in CO) gets snow from West or northwest winds from deeper fronts and gets much colder “dry” snow in spite of being several thousand feet lower
Grew up at ski Apache. No one believes me when I say we have a 12k elevation peak in southern NM… we had several great years back in the day… El Niño 1996/1997 we got 430 inches! Glen Plake came and visited and I showed him around as a 6th grader! Haha
the infrastructure there is falling apart, in addition to the fires that ravaged the area. this place could be a hidden gem with some cash and ruidoso is a great mountain town nobody ever heard of.
I used to live in El Paso on the Texas/mexico border. It was crazy that I could drive two hours north and get some decent skiing in at Apache, then I’d come back home and it would be 75 and sunny. Texas was bringing in a lot of visitors when I was there back in 2017-2019.
I've been to Ski Apache twice, it's surprisingly good when it's good, but too inconsistent for me to plan a whole trip from San Antonio or Dallas. The second time we went, they had "4" runs open. "Two" blues, which were just opposite sides of the chairlift, a green, and "one" black run that was just a shortcut across the green run's switchback. It's definitely a charming resort, very blue run heavy so great for intermediates.
8:53 where is Pajarito? They get an average annual 125 inches, 23/24 season got 172 inches. This year they opened the entire mountain on nov 9th with 30-40 inches of snowfall. 1440 vertical drop, summit 10,440 base 9,000, 300 skiable acres. The views are also REALLY good, as you ski you can see the caldera, a bunch of mountains, on some runs you can look over Los Alamos especially townsite (hence the name) I just love Pajarito highly recommend it.
I've never skied Pajarito, but I've done pretty much all of NM's other resorts. A gem of a resort is Sipapu, it's tiny but adorable. Cheap lift tickets and awesome employees. The super low traffic also makes it common to run across wildlife while skiing on the mountain. I wouldn't spend a whole week there, but for a couple days it's a great experience!
I just can't see it. Average 184 in snowfall being ranked above places like Alta, Snowbird, Mammoth, Kirkwood, Palisades, A-Basin, Crested Butte, Wolf Creek, Copper, Winter Park, Aspen Highlands, Mt Baker, Jackson Hole, Whistler etc not sure what the advantage could be, less crowds maybe? But I skied A-Basin and Winter Park/Mary Jane all last spring and never waited in a lift line for more that about 2 minutes.
@@proverbalizerfirst of all, if you’re an expert, the terrain at Taos is probably #1. And I’ve skied CB, Alta, Snowbird, A-Basin, etc. It’s close, but Taos edges them out when it comes to expert terrain imo. The quality of snow in Taos is also as good as it gets. I skied last year in Taos, followed by Alta the next week- Taos had received less than half of the snowfall of Alta, but I swear the snow was better at Taos. It was like pure chalk. And because Taos is extremely high, north facing, and has incredibly low humidity, the snow remains light during dry spells. A local even told me that the sun sucks moisture out of the snow, making it even drier/lighter during sunny weather. Taos is known for getting 40” inch dumps, too… Combine all this with the culture and food (green chile?!) and it’s an incredible experience.
Mom and Pop hills are alive and well in NW, like Sipapu, Red River, even Santa Fe to some extent. ABQ is an underrated outdoors city. Taos is truly incredible when the snow is good but you want to go in February or March for sure. Have gotten really burned a couple times there trying to go earlier in the winter (and once in February in a really low tide year). I’d recommend waiting until the holiday season to plan that February trip to ensure the snowpack is looking good to start the winter. When it’s good I’m not sure there’s anywhere I’d rather be, seriousky
I absolutely ADORE Sipapu. Taos is one of my top 3 mountains, and I've skied a lot of mountains. But Sipapu is such a fun and cute ski resort, plus the lift ticket prices are fantastic!
Was a Ski Santa Fe season pass holder throughout college at the Santa Fe University of Art and Design. No one in my family believed me when I tried to tell them how good the skiing was in New Mexico, but that's what makes New Mexico so great, less crowds!
@ Unfortunately the school closed down, but I really enjoyed it. As someone who went to bigger city art school (Columbia College) in Chicago, and transferred to a smaller school in Santa Fe, I can say both experiences were great. Art school is what you make it. A lot of creatives go and experience discipline in art for the first time and don't like it. Their hobby and passion, art, suddenly becomes assigned homework that is critiqued by peers and professors. However, anyone that goes, puts their head down, and gets their work done, will be given more than enough opportunities to learn from great teachers and create some truly great work. To put it simply, art school requires a lot of buy in from the student. Some creatives aren't meant for that and that's okay, but those who can adapt and take advantage of a schools resources can go very far within their chosen discipline.
I camped near Ski Santa Fe this summer. Never heard of the resort prior to our trip. The mountain looks amazing and I would love to come back and ski it!
Lived in Taos for a year. Amazing skiing and very good for expert level riders. The altitude is definitely hard to get used to as the base is 1300ft higher than my home mountains summit
I took my wife to a ski in, ski out condo at TSV. The elevation is about 10k ft at the condo. I forgot that people struggle with elevation (we're from Texas, but I've been skiing my whole life so no altitude issues) She spent 5 of the 7 days suffering in the condo our first trip, I felt so bad but I was there to ski so I still went 🤣 She has gotten used to the elevation now that we've made multiple trips.
My favorite sign at TSV is about 2/3 of the way down Al's. Theres a sign at the cat track to get to the other runs down there that reads "LOWER INFERNO, EASIEST ROUTE DOWN" with a black diamond. Only in Taos would a black run called Inferno be the easiest way down 🤣
I learned to snowboard in ski Santa Fe. My family had a house in Santa Fe when I was a kid and we went skiing every winter. I know that resort like my backyard even though it I haven’t been there in 15 years or so. I ll be back some day. Love ski Santa Fe ❤️
If I didn't live in Colorado and all it's glory, I'd probably limit my U.S. snowboarding to New Mexico. They're still hanging on to the mountain culture before corporations killed it. Saw a spontaneous parking lot grill out at Apache five years ago, basically unheard of in Colorado now.
@ I’m not arguing. I’m saying what I do and what my East Coast friends do. Colorado is about as expensive if you’re flying from one of the coasts. Ask me how I know.
CO is priced to be what it thinks it is, a ski state. Going to NM especially if you drive you can save thousands. Just wait for a decent storm. I watch the weather there every year.
The best thing about Taos is plopping down on the lift and ending up sitting next to an acquaintance you know from town! At $650 for a season pass is a bargain too in today's world, and the food is actually good at the resort. Objectively, the area is slightly hampered by being so steep with warm stretches between storms icing it some and exposing a lot of obstacles, but they do the best with the terrain and what the weather gives them.
Grew up in NM, went to school at University of Utah, live in Colorado, sister lives in Jackson Hole, NM skiing is is as good as anyplace regardless of any argument one may have. Oh, BTW, I skied for the university, so I think I'm an expert to speak on this.
For destination skiers, I would also mention what an awesome place New Mexico is for culture, food, architecture and art. Santa Fe is an incredible town to go out to dinner after a ski day, and to stroll the Plaza and galleries. Well worth it for destination skiers.
Park City and Vail…proving bigger is not better. Also, Taos has an airline that flies direct from Austin. Only flies weekends but isn’t that expensive.
The small snow totals are funny. I know Apache gets 10-15 feet but typically only count in days open, not to mention November, if it snows in November it usually counts towards snow totals. Not at ski Apache. I know Santa Fe finally started counting all the snow. Maybe it’s getting better.
Ski Santa Fe and Taos Ski Valley are awesome resorts but their towns are just as much worth the trip. Such cool places with incredible history and culture. I also recommend Angel Fire and Red River. If you hit it on a good powder day Sipapu can also be a great spot for way less bling. \\m//
I've been going to red river/angelfire for years, and for the past several, we've been utterly disappointed by the lack of snow. Most slopes have been bare, and all slopes without snow machines are seemingly shut down more than they're open. There's an entire backside to red river that I haven't been able to ski in years, as the entire mountain is just brown rocks with artificial snow on all the greens and blues. It's great when it's open, but I don't think I've seen that happen since 2020. I'm sure it's better for summering (and I do plan to go backpacking in RR next summer), but unless the climate gets a lot colder and wetter really fast, my ski group is going to have to find somewhere else next year. And that sucks, because we come from texas and oklahoma, so we might have to start shelling out the extra money to fly.
new mexico skiing/riding is only as good as the snow. but when it's good, it's really good. great place to go for a week to explore the numerous ski resorts which are relatively close by, with many of the other areas of interest as well. (los alamos. santa fe, taos pueblo) props to PR for giving NM its well deserved props.
Your numbers on average snowfall are way off. Ski Santa fe gets 224. Sandia peak is 117. I know this live i here. You reported 27 inches for samdia because google says that, only because last year we opened late due to ownership change and they only reported the last month of the season. Its 117 has been for a long time. Used to be higher when i was a kid.
Yeah, I saw that 27 inches for Sandia and I thought "What?" Of course they get more than that! It's often pretty bad conditions though. I think the only reason they survive is because it is just a half hour from Albuquerque.
@stevenr3729 in between... Lol it's always a work in progress. I do want to be surrounded by those who are better than me because I can learn, see the thinking pattern. Better execute big big boy cliffs etc. but with that being said, we can agree that resorts' trail difficulty ratings sometimes are here say
Any of you “back in the day” legends ever go to Ski Rio up in Costilla? I’m a 3 minute paramotor flight away from it and looks like it has some nice LZs for a drop in. I think some PE guys bought it though
My dad skied there for a few years!! There are two incredible documentaries here on UA-cam about Ski Rio, one by Black Crows and the other by Skier 72 which was just uploaded 10 days ago!
Please be more accurate with annual snowfall totals. 27" is obviously bad data for Sandia. Their website says 117". You were way off in New Hampshire too. Tarnishes otherwise great videos.
@JigmeNamchak it was never open because the owners didn't bother with it, it got new owners last year and opened halfway through the season and stayed open faily consistently, it's open right now as I type this comment even lol
Pretty misleading thumbnail- Arizona has three dedicated ski areas that get similar snowfall to Taos, including one with similar acreage and another that is the southernmost ski area in the northern hemisphere- not to mention California has several in the southern part that is included in the “empty belt” graphic.
Mt Lemmon gets no nowhere close to Taos’s snowfall, and not even close to any other resort in New Mexico. Does Mt Lemmon even have snow on the ground right now? Sunrise also doesn’t get close to the snowfall of Taos. Snowbowl can be pretty good but the terrain is once again, no where close to Taos, not even close to Ski Santa Fe either.
@@mattpelofske4632i do appreciate a lot of what he has done, but building The Blake where the old shuttle drop-off used to be was a big bummer for me. It's a huge and imposing building in an otherwise beautiful ski town, and it also killed my favorite restaurant in TSV, the Stray Dog.
He F'd the entire place. Original lodges torn down, tickets tripled in price. What was a unheard of bargain it a rip-off. My two kids nursed and learned to ski there. We won't be back.
@@PeakRankings just keep it those, please. many of those others are struggling and don't need your usual in depth truthful review (not fair to compare them to the big boys). simple highlights of pros, cons and expectations would be nice though.
NM definitely has the biggest nicest places but I dont know that I d call the southern areas a completely empty belt for ski areas. So Cal has a bunch, Vegas has one, Arizona has like 4, even Tennessee and N Carolina have a few hills.
Weird that I get in 40 days in Arizona, despite is apparently not having ski resorts. It has 3, and on a good year you can ski from early November all the way in late July or June like last year.
I don't know why the southerly latitude of NM makes skiing so "shocking". Most of the NM resorts are in the northern portion of the state, at similar elevations and latitudes of the ski resorts in southern CO.
Fuck i love elevation. i live in eastern ontario and I have to drive at least two hours north or south to get to some real elevation. Im glad the laurentians in quebec exist but I could not imagine living in or near the rockies. i want to move to banff
As long as the sport of skiing and snowboarding continue to grow, and winter's stay cold and snowy. I don't see why the New Mexico ski industry won't grow.
I grew up snowboarding, taos didnt allow us as they used to ban snowboarders in the early 2000s still, so we never went. Angel fire was pretty fun, ski santa fe was ok, riodoso at ski apache was average but had cool views of white sands at the peaks. I moved back to OR from west TX and skiing resorts were just better overall. I took up skiing in recent years and its all I do now, not sure if taos ever changed the anti snowboarding rule. NM is definitely a unique state and fits the land of enchantment title
Very small nitpick: there are actually two major summits called Wheeler Peak in the US. One is in New Mexico and the other one is in Nevada. The peak pictured in the video is the Wheeler Peak in Nevada. Regardless, great video!
6:04 - Glaring error! Really, really, really bad geographical error - I have to question the accuracy of any of your videos. Wheeler Peak is in Nevada. You got the picture correct. Wheeler is just over 13,000 feet, New Mexico has many peaks taller. More scenic than California? You've never gazed upon the Ritter Range from Mammoth Mtn. Also, if you are going to rave about "Blower Powder" than please have blower footage - instead we saw firm, and chunky wet spring conditions. And, New Mexico was already on my ski bucket list.
environmental activists (sierra club and everything is sacred to native americans) there's also a handful of peaks in the state that could really support a ski area weatherwise and they would need man made help.
vt is plagued by small mountains and little amount of snow due to freezing elevation being too high.. NM atleast has 12000' (3500m) mountains so the freezing elevation would usually be below that so any precipitation = snow.
@@bearclaw5115not sure what you're saying here, TSV averages around 300" of snow per year, and the highest peak in Vermont is less than half as high as Taos's BASE elevation.
...and if you're "that dad" who dragged his wife and kids to weeks in the usual suspects resorts, then saw them have 5x the fun and relaxation at Red River...
I took my wife and kids to red river a couple years ago. Kids had a blast (wife hates skiing) and ticket are half what they are in Colorado and the lodging was extremely reasonable as well. I don’t see a reason to pay Colorado prices so my kids can ride the bunny hill all week haha
Studied snow hydrology at Colorado with Professor Noah Molotch and I wanted to mention “Dry” snow (low snow-water equivalent or SWE) has nothing to do with dry climate; rather, it is simply a function of lower air temperature at different heights in the atmosphere that lead to the formation of spikier “Dendrites” (the quintessential 6 sided shape) that traps lots of air between them and hold their shape. The interior west UT CO WY NM it’s famous for its “dry” “blower” pow because the typical conditions that bring in storms in the winter (a trough in the jet stream) also bring in much colder air than other places. Alaska and interior BC will often get “blower” despite being humid because it gets COLD.
As opposed to the common atmospheric conditions that bring snow to Cali, an Atmospheric river, that pulls relatively warm air from the ocean. Or a Nor’easter, that will bring relatively warmer air from the Atlantic. Parts of CO get “wetter” snow on average than others even for the same reason. The San Juan’s get snow from Southwest winds from generally warmer storms whereas the park range (snowiest in CO) gets snow from West or northwest winds from deeper fronts and gets much colder “dry” snow in spite of being several thousand feet lower
Hokkaido is a good example of a humid place with no shortage of dry powder
Grew up at ski Apache. No one believes me when I say we have a 12k elevation peak in southern NM… we had several great years back in the day… El Niño 1996/1997 we got 430 inches! Glen Plake came and visited and I showed him around as a 6th grader! Haha
the infrastructure there is falling apart, in addition to the fires that ravaged the area. this place could be a hidden gem with some cash and ruidoso is a great mountain town nobody ever heard of.
❤ beautiful
Me too, but in the 80's when it was Sierra Blanca! It seemed like we had good snow every year back then. So many great days!
The season opens there in 2 days! I'm stoked.
The last two years were pretty good. Everything full of snow and open even thru the last day of the year.
I used to live in El Paso on the Texas/mexico border. It was crazy that I could drive two hours north and get some decent skiing in at Apache, then I’d come back home and it would be 75 and sunny. Texas was bringing in a lot of visitors when I was there back in 2017-2019.
That’s so sick
Yeah people are always so shocked when I tell them that there’s a ski resort just a few hours north of El Paso.
I've been to Ski Apache twice, it's surprisingly good when it's good, but too inconsistent for me to plan a whole trip from San Antonio or Dallas. The second time we went, they had "4" runs open. "Two" blues, which were just opposite sides of the chairlift, a green, and "one" black run that was just a shortcut across the green run's switchback. It's definitely a charming resort, very blue run heavy so great for intermediates.
8:53 where is Pajarito? They get an average annual 125 inches, 23/24 season got 172 inches. This year they opened the entire mountain on nov 9th with 30-40 inches of snowfall. 1440 vertical drop, summit 10,440 base 9,000, 300 skiable acres. The views are also REALLY good, as you ski you can see the caldera, a bunch of mountains, on some runs you can look over Los Alamos especially townsite (hence the name) I just love Pajarito highly recommend it.
What are pajaritos hardest runs
I've never skied Pajarito, but I've done pretty much all of NM's other resorts. A gem of a resort is Sipapu, it's tiny but adorable. Cheap lift tickets and awesome employees. The super low traffic also makes it common to run across wildlife while skiing on the mountain. I wouldn't spend a whole week there, but for a couple days it's a great experience!
I absolutely LOVE Taos. It has one of the most unique ski cultures and vibes I've ever experienced.
Taos in a lot of people's Top 5. Even Top 3. And that's plenty of folks that have skied Colorado, Utah and Cali.
So right
I just can't see it. Average 184 in snowfall being ranked above places like Alta, Snowbird, Mammoth, Kirkwood, Palisades, A-Basin, Crested Butte, Wolf Creek, Copper, Winter Park, Aspen Highlands, Mt Baker, Jackson Hole, Whistler etc
not sure what the advantage could be, less crowds maybe? But I skied A-Basin and Winter Park/Mary Jane all last spring and never waited in a lift line for more that about 2 minutes.
Stop exposing us!!!
@@proverbalizer Yes a higher snowpack is better but that's not the main or only factor used to determine how good a resort is
@@proverbalizerfirst of all, if you’re an expert, the terrain at Taos is probably #1. And I’ve skied CB, Alta, Snowbird, A-Basin, etc. It’s close, but Taos edges them out when it comes to expert terrain imo. The quality of snow in Taos is also as good as it gets. I skied last year in Taos, followed by Alta the next week- Taos had received less than half of the snowfall of Alta, but I swear the snow was better at Taos. It was like pure chalk. And because Taos is extremely high, north facing, and has incredibly low humidity, the snow remains light during dry spells. A local even told me that the sun sucks moisture out of the snow, making it even drier/lighter during sunny weather. Taos is known for getting 40” inch dumps, too… Combine all this with the culture and food (green chile?!) and it’s an incredible experience.
Mom and Pop hills are alive and well in NW, like Sipapu, Red River, even Santa Fe to some extent. ABQ is an underrated outdoors city.
Taos is truly incredible when the snow is good but you want to go in February or March for sure. Have gotten really burned a couple times there trying to go earlier in the winter (and once in February in a really low tide year). I’d recommend waiting until the holiday season to plan that February trip to ensure the snowpack is looking good to start the winter. When it’s good I’m not sure there’s anywhere I’d rather be, seriousky
I absolutely ADORE Sipapu. Taos is one of my top 3 mountains, and I've skied a lot of mountains. But Sipapu is such a fun and cute ski resort, plus the lift ticket prices are fantastic!
New Mexico also has the best state flag in the US
Second best, Texas is #1 IMO
@@aztecducky It looks very similar to other places like Chile, so it's not as distinct though.
@@aztecduckyNope. I'm in Austin. Hate Texas and Abbott's Nazis. We are moving to Santa Fe this year.
Was a Ski Santa Fe season pass holder throughout college at the Santa Fe University of Art and Design. No one in my family believed me when I tried to tell them how good the skiing was in New Mexico, but that's what makes New Mexico so great, less crowds!
Hey, when did you go
to CSF/SFUAD? Class of ‘11 here.
How was your program? My daughter is looking for a fine arts school.
@@Moonplant432 it was great but sadly the school closed down a few years back.
@ Class of 2017
@ Unfortunately the school closed down, but I really enjoyed it. As someone who went to bigger city art school (Columbia College) in Chicago, and transferred to a smaller school in Santa Fe, I can say both experiences were great.
Art school is what you make it. A lot of creatives go and experience discipline in art for the first time and don't like it. Their hobby and passion, art, suddenly becomes assigned homework that is critiqued by peers and professors.
However, anyone that goes, puts their head down, and gets their work done, will be given more than enough opportunities to learn from great teachers and create some truly great work.
To put it simply, art school requires a lot of buy in from the student. Some creatives aren't meant for that and that's okay, but those who can adapt and take advantage of a schools resources can go very far within their chosen discipline.
Thanks, Peak Rankings, this is what I haven’t been telling people for years 😉
Please stop telling people
I camped near Ski Santa Fe this summer. Never heard of the resort prior to our trip. The mountain looks amazing and I would love to come back and ski it!
Some of the best powder days I have ever had
It’s ok. But a feast or famine condition. Like most of the state.
@@newagain9964they’ve had amazing conditions last year
@@trioproductions5403 um ok. But how they doing as of 12/30/24. Not good. At all. EDIT: this a typical year btw.
@@newagain9964 I mean they have by far the most open in New Mexico? They have 77 runs open, which in December here in New Mexico, is amazing.
Lived in Taos for a year. Amazing skiing and very good for expert level riders. The altitude is definitely hard to get used to as the base is 1300ft higher than my home mountains summit
I took my wife to a ski in, ski out condo at TSV. The elevation is about 10k ft at the condo. I forgot that people struggle with elevation (we're from Texas, but I've been skiing my whole life so no altitude issues)
She spent 5 of the 7 days suffering in the condo our first trip, I felt so bad but I was there to ski so I still went 🤣
She has gotten used to the elevation now that we've made multiple trips.
Taos might be the steepest skiing I’ve ever done.
Watching people eat shit on Al’s run from the chair lift could be a whole TV show.
My mom is an Alps seasoned expert and she came really close to death on that run.
My favorite sign at TSV is about 2/3 of the way down Al's. Theres a sign at the cat track to get to the other runs down there that reads "LOWER INFERNO, EASIEST ROUTE DOWN" with a black diamond. Only in Taos would a black run called Inferno be the easiest way down 🤣
Al's Run ate my left ACL and my right medial meniscus. Ouch.
I learned to snowboard in ski Santa Fe. My family had a house in Santa Fe when I was a kid and we went skiing every winter. I know that resort like my backyard even though it I haven’t been there in 15 years or so. I ll be back some day. Love ski Santa Fe ❤️
If I didn't live in Colorado and all it's glory, I'd probably limit my U.S. snowboarding to New Mexico. They're still hanging on to the mountain culture before corporations killed it. Saw a spontaneous parking lot grill out at Apache five years ago, basically unheard of in Colorado now.
NM is a good ski state. But if u had to have bet ur vacation time and $ best go to UT or CO.
@ Nah not Colorado. People are priced out and are going overseas to Switzerland and France instead.
@@ericlane3256Switzerland is not cheap. 😂. And very small fraction of people are traveling to EU to ski. A few Reddit posts is not USA
@ I’m not arguing. I’m saying what I do and what my East Coast friends do. Colorado is about as expensive if you’re flying from one of the coasts. Ask me how I know.
CO is priced to be what it thinks it is, a ski state. Going to NM especially if you drive you can save thousands. Just wait for a decent storm. I watch the weather there every year.
Ski Santa Fe is a deceptively gnarly hill, especially in the Easter Bowl section. Crazy spot to have as your local hill.
The best thing about Taos is plopping down on the lift and ending up sitting next to an acquaintance you know from town! At $650 for a season pass is a bargain too in today's world, and the food is actually good at the resort. Objectively, the area is slightly hampered by being so steep with warm stretches between storms icing it some and exposing a lot of obstacles, but they do the best with the terrain and what the weather gives them.
Skied Taos. Wonderful area. Great, tough skiing.
Had no clue there was skiing here until a summer road trip brought me right by a resort 🤣
I grew up skiing red river TONS so recognizing trails in this footage was fun.
As a New Mexican: We are Arizona in the south and Montana in the north. We're not all drugs and desert, and our main city is higher than denver!
Moved to Santa Fe 3 years ago and having Ski Santa Fe so close to my house has made learning how to board an awesome experience !
Cant wait for a video on Mt. Baker
AZ ain't bad, either. Our downhill area was open til Memorial Day last year. Top of the lift is 11,000. The bottom is 9k.
Flagstaff has a lot of potential for expansion. Could easily be 4000 vertical!
They certainly get more snow ( snowball )
@@iamchauncemanno
its 3am and i cant get Peak Rankings guy hypnotic voice out of my head, so here we are
Grew up in NM, went to school at University of Utah, live in Colorado, sister lives in Jackson Hole, NM skiing is is as good as anyplace regardless of any argument one may have. Oh, BTW, I skied for the university, so I think I'm an expert to speak on this.
Did you hit cloudcroft? I think it's the furthest south ski resort
For destination skiers, I would also mention what an awesome place New Mexico is for culture, food, architecture and art. Santa Fe is an incredible town to go out to dinner after a ski day, and to stroll the Plaza and galleries. Well worth it for destination skiers.
Do a video ranking states for skiing
He ranked 10 regions a while back. Wasatch was #1. Tetons/montana #2, CO was #3. PNW came in last
They have. Plenty. And it really depends on ur time and $ budget. And skill level. That’s what make UT and CO great. Something for everyone.
It might be worth mentioning that the towns of both Santa Fe and Taos have a lot to offer for non-skiers or if conditions aren't ideal.
New Mexico rocks for skiing ....... when the snow happens .... there, it's either snowing .... or the snow is melting .... former NM resident ....
New Mexico is skiing over rocks....fixed it for you. ;)
Park City and Vail…proving bigger is not better.
Also, Taos has an airline that flies direct from Austin. Only flies weekends but isn’t that expensive.
Skied Angel Fire two winters. So much fun! So many Texans.
The small snow totals are funny. I know Apache gets 10-15 feet but typically only count in days open, not to mention November, if it snows in November it usually counts towards snow totals. Not at ski Apache. I know Santa Fe finally started counting all the snow. Maybe it’s getting better.
Ski Apache sadly does not get close to that same snowfall now though. There average is probably around 100 inches now.
Ski Santa Fe and Taos Ski Valley are awesome resorts but their towns are just as much worth the trip. Such cool places with incredible history and culture. I also recommend Angel Fire and Red River. If you hit it on a good powder day Sipapu can also be a great spot for way less bling. \\m//
Yes. Red River's town is also amazing.
@@hunterhelm6280 It looked cool and chill even though the midweek day I was there it was dead and a lot of spots were closed.
I've been going to red river/angelfire for years, and for the past several, we've been utterly disappointed by the lack of snow. Most slopes have been bare, and all slopes without snow machines are seemingly shut down more than they're open. There's an entire backside to red river that I haven't been able to ski in years, as the entire mountain is just brown rocks with artificial snow on all the greens and blues. It's great when it's open, but I don't think I've seen that happen since 2020.
I'm sure it's better for summering (and I do plan to go backpacking in RR next summer), but unless the climate gets a lot colder and wetter really fast, my ski group is going to have to find somewhere else next year. And that sucks, because we come from texas and oklahoma, so we might have to start shelling out the extra money to fly.
new mexico skiing/riding is only as good as the snow. but when it's good, it's really good. great place to go for a week to explore the numerous ski resorts which are relatively close by, with many of the other areas of interest as well. (los alamos. santa fe, taos pueblo) props to PR for giving NM its well deserved props.
That's Wheeler Peak, Great Basin NP Nevada...
Taos NM is awesome to ski , and you can go dear hunting too
Pajarito and that townsight is what I grew up on ❤️
No don’t tell people!
Your numbers on average snowfall are way off. Ski Santa fe gets 224. Sandia peak is 117. I know this live i here. You reported 27 inches for samdia because google says that, only because last year we opened late due to ownership change and they only reported the last month of the season. Its 117 has been for a long time. Used to be higher when i was a kid.
Yeah, I saw that 27 inches for Sandia and I thought "What?" Of course they get more than that! It's often pretty bad conditions though. I think the only reason they survive is because it is just a half hour from Albuquerque.
Thanks for blowing up the spot, bro.
Call me insane, didn't even get the crazy dry snow dump but: I would pick Taos over Whistler every single time as a Double to Triple Diamond skier
Oh shit, triple diamond!?!
@stevenr3729 in between... Lol it's always a work in progress. I do want to be surrounded by those who are better than me because I can learn, see the thinking pattern. Better execute big big boy cliffs etc. but with that being said, we can agree that resorts' trail difficulty ratings sometimes are here say
Most Americans do not even know that New Mexico is a state or that it has mountains and nine ski areas. Public schools in America are pitiful.
Any of you “back in the day” legends ever go to Ski Rio up in Costilla? I’m a 3 minute paramotor flight away from it and looks like it has some nice LZs for a drop in. I think some PE guys bought it though
My dad skied there for a few years!! There are two incredible documentaries here on UA-cam about Ski Rio, one by Black Crows and the other by Skier 72 which was just uploaded 10 days ago!
Please be more accurate with annual snowfall totals. 27" is obviously bad data for Sandia. Their website says 117". You were way off in New Hampshire too. Tarnishes otherwise great videos.
Different sources give different numbers. Hard to really pin down actually.
Sandia has opened like 2 days total in the past 3 years plus it's in burque I don't even doubt it
@JigmeNamchak it was never open because the owners didn't bother with it, it got new owners last year and opened halfway through the season and stayed open faily consistently, it's open right now as I type this comment even lol
Great, in-depth review.
Pretty misleading thumbnail- Arizona has three dedicated ski areas that get similar snowfall to Taos, including one with similar acreage and another that is the southernmost ski area in the northern hemisphere- not to mention California has several in the southern part that is included in the “empty belt” graphic.
I came here just because I knew the thumbnail was wrong.
Mt Lemmon gets no nowhere close to Taos’s snowfall, and not even close to any other resort in New Mexico. Does Mt Lemmon even have snow on the ground right now? Sunrise also doesn’t get close to the snowfall of Taos. Snowbowl can be pretty good but the terrain is once again, no where close to Taos, not even close to Ski Santa Fe either.
@trioproductions5403 I would think mt lemmon would be worse than sandia peak in terms of conditions and size.
Hedge fund superstar Louis Bacon buy in Taos has been a huge positive for New Mexico. Very impressive what he is doing there.
Here in taos bacon wasn't exactly welcomed.he changed taos now us locals see it as becoming over developed
@@mattpelofske4632i do appreciate a lot of what he has done, but building The Blake where the old shuttle drop-off used to be was a big bummer for me. It's a huge and imposing building in an otherwise beautiful ski town, and it also killed my favorite restaurant in TSV, the Stray Dog.
He F'd the entire place. Original lodges torn down, tickets tripled in price. What was a unheard of bargain it a rip-off. My two kids nursed and learned to ski there. We won't be back.
u still need to do the lift, facilities and terrain upgrades for 2024-25 season
I wonder if they are going to start ranking New Mexico ski resorts.
Red River, Angel Fire, and Ski Santa Fe reviews are coming soon!
Actually?!
@@PeakRankings just keep it those, please. many of those others are struggling and don't need your usual in depth truthful review (not fair to compare them to the big boys). simple highlights of pros, cons and expectations would be nice though.
@@Gary-np7hl there's a reason we chose those three 😉
I know that our average snowfall is low but i don't think those numbers are right
Accurate enough.
hoping for more this season! off to a pretty good start so far
They are quoting on the snow which notoriously underreports
Taos is amazing!
The snow is horrible and the lift lines are soooo long way longer than colorado…. Please don’t come to my home mountains it’s not worth it I promise 🥸
Southwestern ski culture is the purest in North America, get there NOW before the corps boow it out
The Land of Enchantment 🤘
Looks wild. Great video
you forgot....deb armstrong skicamp....greetings from chile
@@Ca_milo_G learned to ski from her. 2-3 lessons over 5 years. She's the goat
NM definitely has the biggest nicest places but I dont know that I d call the southern areas a completely empty belt for ski areas. So Cal has a bunch, Vegas has one, Arizona has like 4, even Tennessee and N Carolina have a few hills.
As classmate Travis who lived in Cloudcroft for a while liked to say "If 6od had meant for Texans to ski, He would have made Bu11$hi+ White!
Your image for Wheeler Peak is the one in Nevada, not the one in New Mexico
Ha ha. I thought that must be some view I'd never seen it from before.
Weird that I get in 40 days in Arizona, despite is apparently not having ski resorts. It has 3, and on a good year you can ski from early November all the way in late July or June like last year.
Not true at all
@trioproductions5403 I'm sure you'd like your audience to believe that. Garbage video.
Please rank Ski Santa Fe!
I don't know why the southerly latitude of NM makes skiing so "shocking". Most of the NM resorts are in the northern portion of the state, at similar elevations and latitudes of the ski resorts in southern CO.
First, nice video.
You should go to cannon mountain
Fuck i love elevation. i live in eastern ontario and I have to drive at least two hours north or south to get to some real elevation. Im glad the laurentians in quebec exist but I could not imagine living in or near the rockies. i want to move to banff
Taos has stuff that will scare the shit out of u!
As long as the sport of skiing and snowboarding continue to grow, and winter's stay cold and snowy. I don't see why the New Mexico ski industry won't grow.
0:03 First thing I think of is breaking bad.
pretty cool place
I grew up snowboarding, taos didnt allow us as they used to ban snowboarders in the early 2000s still, so we never went. Angel fire was pretty fun, ski santa fe was ok, riodoso at ski apache was average but had cool views of white sands at the peaks. I moved back to OR from west TX and skiing resorts were just better overall. I took up skiing in recent years and its all I do now, not sure if taos ever changed the anti snowboarding rule. NM is definitely a unique state and fits the land of enchantment title
Only Deer Valley, Alta and Mad River Glen are skiers only today.
Yeah I was there the day that Taos opened to snowboarders. March 19, 2008. It was a crazy party for multiple days!
No mention of Pajarito Mtn??? Second best mtn in NM after Taos.
Excellent.
shhhhh dont tell anyone I like my glades empty!!!
Very small nitpick: there are actually two major summits called Wheeler Peak in the US. One is in New Mexico and the other one is in Nevada. The peak pictured in the video is the Wheeler Peak in Nevada. Regardless, great video!
Can we please keep Taos a secret?
I've been saying this for years and nobody has believed me. New Mexico has some very good and affordable skiing......
No mention of food or culture = FAIL
No mention of the high crime rate, either. How sad.
Christmas sucks
What's your home resort? / Home city these days? Would love to ride with you if you're close
NYC! We'll be in VT, CO, UT, CA, MT, WY, Switzerland, Austria, and Italy throughout parts of the winter.
@PeakRankings thank you for the reply. Are you doing Stratton, Killington anytime soon? If so, maybe a peakratings meet up?
@@boardingurban probably just Sugarbush in VT this year - but will keep you posted!
When are you guys in Utah?
@@PeakRankingswhen will yall be in Utah? I already have a full Cottonwood Canyons trip planned March 1-9 😊
6:04 - Glaring error! Really, really, really bad geographical error - I have to question the accuracy of any of your videos. Wheeler Peak is in Nevada. You got the picture correct. Wheeler is just over 13,000 feet, New Mexico has many peaks taller. More scenic than California? You've never gazed upon the Ritter Range from Mammoth Mtn. Also, if you are going to rave about "Blower Powder" than please have blower footage - instead we saw firm, and chunky wet spring conditions. And, New Mexico was already on my ski bucket list.
There's also a Wheeler Peak in New Mexico, and it is the highest point in New Mexico. But yeah, that photo is definitely the Nevada one.
so the state right next to colorado has good skiing? oh wow....shocking!
Audio quality seems to be below your best
wow!
New Mexico is all rocks and nothing else, all New Mexicans go to Colorado since there is no snow in New Mexico, only rocks....and burritos.
And murder. Don't forget the murder.
Big freaking rocks!
Theres skiing in arizona
What about Alabama
Cloudmont doesn't count.
Also, Mt. Lemmon in AZ is even farther south than both!
you should do why Arizona is lacking in the Skiing Department
I did work as Ski patrol at Taos and I liked it but now I work at Mount Bachelor
environmental activists (sierra club and everything is sacred to native americans) there's also a handful of peaks in the state that could really support a ski area weatherwise and they would need man made help.
don't send more tourists here
gatekeep this information
this is not shocking at all for anyone who lives in the western USA... of course NM, AZ and the entire southwest is filled w/ ski resorts
no no leave New Mexico alone
every 4 years so dont get your hopes high that they get that much snow
please take this down and leave nm alone k thanks
Please delete this. New Mexico does not need to be "found"
Wait till they find out Nh and Vt exist
Hopefully they don't 😅. We don't need lines up here 😂
vt is plagued by small mountains and little amount of snow due to freezing elevation being too high.. NM atleast has 12000' (3500m) mountains so the freezing elevation would usually be below that so any precipitation = snow.
@@anonymous134y Vermont gets up to double the highest (Taos) in New Mexico. But yeah, rain sucks!
@@bearclaw5115 Jay and Taos are not even in the same atmosphere
@@bearclaw5115not sure what you're saying here, TSV averages around 300" of snow per year, and the highest peak in Vermont is less than half as high as Taos's BASE elevation.
...and if you're "that dad" who dragged his wife and kids to weeks in the usual suspects resorts, then saw them have 5x the fun and relaxation at Red River...
I took my wife and kids to red river a couple years ago. Kids had a blast (wife hates skiing) and ticket are half what they are in Colorado and the lodging was extremely reasonable as well. I don’t see a reason to pay Colorado prices so my kids can ride the bunny hill all week haha
@rdlangston13 Uncrowdedness and runs ending steps from the town were the biggest sells.
@@mastpgyeah we stayed at auslander condos and it’s right across the parking lot from the ski school
PLEAAAAAASE METRIC for elevation
🤫