It is turning out to be a winter to remember, savor, and relive in what will be the dog days of summer ahead for skiers and boarders at the small northern New Mexico ski area Pajarito Mountain. Here’s a first person Pajarito snow report of the latest storm to hit Santa Fe’s hidden powder gem.
Milagro March In New Mexico
Halfway through the current storm cycle, expected to run a total of four days, Pajarito picked up some 22 inches of fluff. This is the most of any New Mexico ski area, leaving Taos and Santa Fe in the dust.
The timing could not have been better as it set up their biggest annual festival, Skiesta, on March 16, with its live band on the deck, cold brews from Los Alamos based Bathtub Row and Albuquerque based Boxing Bear, a rail jam, costume contest and other events. Despite near-record turnout for the day, on the slopes skiers were far and few between.
Nearly Bottomless
My ski buddy, Jim Walton, and I spent the entire morning exploring the forests and glades lying between the venerable Aspen Lift and the Mother chair. I took an early fall and seeking to right myself, I probed with my pole for support. It sank up to my elbow without finding tierra firma. Bottomless, mostly. We visited here six weeks ago, when I was bemoaning the fact that the bark beetle kills of the past decade had seemingly wiped out its formerly excellent tree skiing.
What a Difference Three – Four Feet of Snow Makes!
Now we found ample snaky lines through the deadfall zones, carving cushy turns around fallen trees, stumps and limbs. But you had to be able to execute immediate turns, or be executed, as the occasional fallen timber lay across your path. We kept the weight back a bit on the tails, and a number of times I heard and felt the clunk of wood beneath my feet. But neither of us did the dreaded tips under a log. We floated seemingly on a cloud of good fortune and good times. Best turns of the season? Yes, run after run after run.
Handling the Mother Chair
If skiing this zone, and especially if riding the old center post two-seat Mother Chair, be sure to hustle out to the stop line. Turn to face the middle to avoid the center post. The chair comes around at a good clip and we watched several people ejected on takeoff, though they were uninjured.
The storm also comes after weeks of sunny skies and warm temps. This has had New Mexicans wondering what happened to the promise of an El Nino winter that looked so good in January and early February. For Pajarito’s new general manager, Jasen Bellomy, the storm is great news. “We are working towards being known as the ‘King of Spring’ around here,” he noted. They have just extended the season for the second time, and now plan to operate March 21-24, March 30-31, April 6-7, and April 13-14. What a season for him to arrive from the East Coast, where they are having a miserable winter. He’s all smiles and plans for making this little-resort-that-could shine even brighter in the years ahead.
