Awesome ski lesson value

Did a road trip from the east coast to Colorado by way of Taos two weeks ago. Stayed at the St. Bernard at Taos, which is a very old American skiing institution. Hell, All of Taos has a long history and tons of soul running through the place. Always wanted to stay there. Very much connected to the ski school, since the owner, Jean Mayer has been their since the beginning and established the ski school, which is highly regarded. Did not take a lesson (two days only, my first few days of the year), but sat in on a stop motion video lecture given by a 35 year instructor that was excellent, and had the pleasure of eating dinner with another. Not only are these guys good, they are cool people.

Anyway, point is, a "ski week" of instruction is only $150, which is five mornings with the same instructor. And, if you get there early on Sunday, they throw that one in as a bonus. So, what, less than 30 dollars a day for one of the best ski schools in the country. Good deal. They grade you 1-10 as a skier, and, believe me, 10 is up there, and probably mostly hiking.
Now, the St. Bernard "ski week" is very all inclusive and Euro like, but pricey. The place is literally ski in and out, right there at the main chair, but, it's kinda old and dumpy. They're building a new village right next door, with more beds they desperately need. Otherwise, cheaper alternatives are staying down in Taos. I may do a week next year, and I haven't taken a lesson since like 1991. These guys are good, and I dare you to find a better lesson value. Awesome mountain. And no more hiking to Kachina.

The ski instruction at Taos is legendary as much as the mountain is. I haven't been there yet but from everything I hear the mountain is among the best in America. I actually had a kid that grew up skiing in LCC tell me today that Taos was a more fun and playful mountain than the Bird! I'm going to remain skeptical about that one until I get to check it out. It also just has loads of soul from what I have been told, I gotta get there.

I had planned on attending Taos' Snowsports Week last Spring, but unfortunately decided to just ski a couple days the following week instead. Unfortunate on a couple fronts, first I could definitely benefit from their instruction, secondly Taos got 44" the day prior to when I'dve been attending. On the up side, the skiing the following week did not suck. Kachina was open, and offered up yards and yards of soft bumps.

This format appeals to me as a solo traveler/skier, I'm sure you'd undoubtedly get chummy with some of the other participants since you'd be skiing with them each morning. You would then have some built in ski buddies for the afternoons. I did hook up with a photographer from NYC. He was taking morning lessons, we hooked up in the afternoon to share some turns. Guy must have bucks, he bought a pair of boots from the resort shop. Gotta be the most expensive place to buy gear, I would imagine.

I purchased an A-basin season pass the year before, it comes with three free days at Taos. I had half of the required lift tickets to do the program, so it would've been relatively cheap. Someday I hope to attend.

We'll, speaking of boots, I heard more than once that there are a few of the country's best boot fitters in that village at the base. So, that might be why he bought them there.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure you'd make a few friends there during a ski week. And they'd be pretty much the same skiing ability as you.