Full disclosure: I lived in Santa Fe three months before I knew it even had a ski hill. “What’s up with that snow?” I asked a local, pointing at the obvious powder-covered slope facing town and figuring to head up for a tour. He said, “That’s where the lifts are.” Duh. Where most people (i.e., me) imagine only desert adobes and endless tangerine-colored skies, Santa Fe itself sits at 7,000 vertical feet (the highest capital city in the U.S.), and is nestled against the high rolling peaks of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The chairlifts at Ski Santa Fe start at 10,350 feet, marking one of the highest base elevations in North America. They top out at 12,075 feet, over a rugged ridge of serious alpine options. The Tequila Trees are tight, Big Rocks a veritable reef of rock-strewn chutes, and a hard-charging posse of locals with nicknames like Gandalf, Pook and Peyote Man work the long bumps of Road Runner beneath the summit Triple. On Spring Break, Baptist Church buses from Texas clog the narrow road. But come up on a Wednesday in February when it’s puking and you’ll be lucky to share a chair. If it’s sunny, zoom Gayway right to a cold Spaten on the deck at Totemoff’s Bar. Skisantafe.com
—PK
Pajarito Mountain
Pajarito Mountain (in Spanish, “baby bird”) is a little like its hometown of Los Alamos — weirdly cool. A club hill for scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory, rock buffs up from Bandelier and super smart kids from the local high school, there is a studied seriousness to skiing here. Little grooming, no liftlines and a single ridgeline of straight shot ski runs only intensify the mood. As does the three-day lift schedule — Friday, Saturday, Sunday and three weeks over Christmas — so that the powder often sits untouched for up to four days. Visitors are always welcome for the price of a lift ticket ($49 an adult according to the website), although with no advertising, the Baby Bird hardly spreads the word. On the hill the views off the back into the Valle Grande and all the way to Redondo Peak are unmatchable on the many clear days, and as the saying goes, “the snow’s incredible when it’s good.” Riding runs from East Mushroom to Wildcat to Nuther Mother, it becomes quickly apparent how someone like World Ski Champ Dean Cummings could grow up on this hill, and get the skills to ski the world. Skipajarito.com
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