After two nights and a day of skiing in Santa Fe we headed north to Taos to visit my old friend Eli and his family and to of course, ski the legendary steeps at the Ski Valley.
Taos. Wow. What a mountain. It’s crushingly relentless. It just doesn’t quit. All I can say is that You. Must. Go. It’s a world class ski area with a ski town that has a healthy level of grit (this is subjective of course) and seems to attract outliers and outlaws. Forget that fancy ski town fluff you find in Breckinridge, telluride or Jackson. This place isn’t trying to impress you. It’s funky, it’s weird, strange and a little odd and I absolutely loved that about it. And then there’s the food.....it’s fucking insane if you dig on the Chile. I know I sure do.
This mountain brings the spice!

Eli and us on Kachina Peak.

Orlando’s New Mexican Kitchen.

Taos is a four letter word for steep.

Texas was there. Some had on their fruity boots and shiny suits.

Kachina Peaks true summit. We could see a pack of bighorn sheep just a few hundred feet away from here.

The Bavarian. A German styled on slope ski eatery. The Ski Valley is unique in that the majority of on mountain dining options are actually independently owned. It’s euro like and separates itself from the normal American ski experience. If you ever find yourself here make sure to try the pretzel with beer caso.

Cody dropping into this little pinner.

Hunziker Chute on the right. We skied this one three times. The snow was really good in here.

The view of Kachina Peak from the summit of lift 2.

West Basin Ridge. Typical terrain at Taos. It’s not advised to fall here. This place does not F around.

Lift 7a is this old, funky Stadeli.
https://liftblog.com/lift-7a-taos-nm/Kachina Peak from the top of lift seven. We lapped the Kachina chair quite a bit. A lot of locals aren’t a fan of the Kachina Peak chair but as a visitor it really makes sense. If you’re paying for day tickets you wouldn’t want to blow your day hiking and this terrain is an absolute highlight.