It was a trip down memory runs when this writer spent a recent Friday under a warm sun and bluebird skies back at Sandia Peak Ski Area, located on the eastern flank of Albuquerque.
Sandia was my “home hill” growing up, as it was for thousands of Albuquerqueans who learned to ski or snowboard on its generally easy-going slopes. Opened in 1937, it is the oldest in the state and one of the oldest in the West. Its closure the past two previous seasons was a big loss for the city and for New Mexico skiing in general. But now under ownership and management of Mountain Capital Partners, new life is being breathed into the old beast. Once again, its slopes are dotted with laughing kids, families, and the occasional ripper arching fast G.S. turns down its immaculately groomed slopes.
As MCP executive and Sandia’s acting manager Scott Leigh notes as we ride the chair together, “It’s day five here and we’re stoked to be open! This is a special place to the community and is an amazing mountain. The vert you have from one lift is incredible. And, it is such a remarkable contrast from the Albuquerque side of the mountain to this side, from high desert to alpine. It’s such fun to ski! I’m just loving it.”
One Chair but 1,700 Vert!
The one lift he refers to is a double, center post chair that first spun in 1980. Over its 7,500-foot length, it climbs 1,700 vertical feet to the area’s highest point, allowing access to every run. The ski area has two other chairs but neither is operational this year. One serves dedicated beginner slopes at the bottom of the area and another at mid-mountain accesses intermediate slopes. Thus, true first-timers should be aware that they will need to load onto a pretty fast running lift, and ski or board down intermediate runs to reach the base again. (Two, Cibola and Fred’s Run, are classified as beginner but are not true beginner in character.) Nor can the ski slopes be accessed at present by the fabulous Sandia Peak Tram, which is undergoing renovations until mid-March.
The ski area hopes to remain open through late March, if the weather cooperates, so there may be an opportunity to ride the tram before the season ends. The tram reopening will also signal the return to service of the fine-dining restaurant and bar, Ten 3. Named for its altitude of 10,300 feet, it perches at the summit next to the tram terminal and at the top of the chairlift. For now, dining is limited to the inexpensive cafeteria at the base.
Pluses: Views, Topography
I was reminded on my visit of several key aspects of Sandia Peak, where I perfected my snowplow as an eight-year old and my stem Christie at age 10 or so. The views are stupendous. To the east lies a sliver of the Great Plains rolling out to Texas and beyond. To the north lie the snowcapped Sangre de Cristos marching past Santa Fe and Taos into Colorado. In the foreground are the Ortiz Mountains and San Pedros, with a patchwork of snow and pastel-colored earth. If standing on the rim of the Sandias, to the west one looks straight down onto the urban grid of Albuquerque and beyond it across a tan landscape to Mount Taylor near the Arizona border. Southward lies the sloping alluvial plains and summits of the Manzano Mountains.
I also forgot the complex topography of the ski area, with small ridges extending like fingers from the rim. These create canyons the runs funnel into, with banked sides perfect for swooping turns. The ridges also offer some cliffy drops for those with the right chops. And between the runs lie some intriguing forests with enough openings here and there for intrepid tree skiers to explore.
But mostly, Sandia is a cruising paradise with white boulevards rolling off the top, like the superb Exhibition. Hidden here and there are narrow runs like Diablo snaking through the woods that remind me of Eastern ski runs. These require quicker, more precise turns on shallow moguls. And, experts can be challenged on short steep pitches like Suicide, Greg’s and Burn. I also was re-impressed with the length of its runs, all descending 1,700 vertical feet, with the longest—Double Eagle— spanning 2 miles.
Downright Cheap!
It was refreshing to see how inexpensive everything is, from lift tickets to rentals to cheeseburgers. Tickets are as cheap as $19 on Wednesdays and Thursdays, rising to $39 on Fridays and an astonishing $39-$44 on Saturdays.
“MCP prides itself on keeping skiing affordable,” notes another senior member of Sandia’s management team, Tom Long. Long began decades of fieldwork at Sandia, then managed Pajarito for many years. His son, Tommy, is mountain manager at Ski Santa Fe. “You’re sitting with the fellow that helped build the (functioning) chair,” he explains. “Benny Abruzzo dug the foundation holes, and I put in the steel and concrete in. Then the rest of our crew helped us stand up the towers. This reopening is really good for the ski community, the city of Albuquerque, the East Mountain area. The excitement we’ve seen from everybody we’ve seen here has been overwhelming. Opening day last Saturday (Feb. 17) we had hundreds of people on hand skiing on fresh snow. It was unbelievable! It’s like the Phoenix rising from the ashes.”
Tom Long Veteran Manager
Long came on site in September and “took a broad brush approach to what was needed to get it up and running.” Adds Leigh, “The goal was to open as quickly as possible, and things went our way. We didn’t really know what it would take, for instance, to get the chair going. It had sat for two years unused.” But they found it in pretty good shape and had it ready to go—along with a functioning ski patrol, ski school, lift crew, and dining operations—by Feb. 2. But they first had to secure the special use permit from the U.S. Forest Service, and work out the details of the transfer of ownership from Sandia Peak Ski Company to MCP. Notes Long, “It just took some time. It was a complicated change.”
Snowmaking & Other Improvements
The team was so consumed by getting the basics in place and the permitting process, that they did not undertake any snowmaking this season. But fortunately and reassuringly, Mother Nature came through in a big way. With previous careful manicuring of the runs, the ski area can offer excellent coverage on a modest base. This is key, as it averages just 125 inches of snowfall a year, which it has failed to reach many years in the past decade.
For snowmaking, the area has a two million gallon and 900,000-gallon water storage pond and waterlines reaching 22 acres of terrain (out of its total of 300). Leigh says “for sure” they will undertake snowmaking next year with the existing fleet of wands and snow guns that cover portions of the lower mountain. “We’ll leverage the existing system next year and will get open as early as we can. We are definitely looking into increasing water holdings,” he says. But he notes this will require building new storage systems and approval from USFS. “If you look into snowmaking around the world, it is a key component to durability. It allows you open a little sooner, to stay open a little longer, and get a consistent product that holds up to weather fluctuations.”
As for replacing the existing double chair, Leigh says, “It’s definitely something we are considering. But, next season’s priority is getting the two beginner/intermediate chairs functioning.”
MCP’s Deep Pockets
One of the great pluses of MCP’s acquisition of Sandia Peak from the Abruzzo family, who operated it for decades, is MCP’s deep pockets. Beginning with the acquisition of tiny Sipapu in New Mexico in 2000, MCP now owns and operates 11 ski areas in six Western states, plus Purgatory Snowcats and the largest in South America, Valle Nevado in Chile. Since 2015, they have invested $75 million into their ski operations, including new gondolas, chairs, snowmaking and facilities. MCP has the financial resources to do what’s needed to keep Sandia running and improve it. “They get in with both feet, I’ll tell you,” says Long. “They are not short on ideas and ambition.” MCP’s president, Scott Price, has been on site, showing the company’s level of commitment.
Leigh is representative of the professional caliber personnel brought to re-launch Sandia. Though youthful in look, he has a boatload of experience. “I’ve been in the industry since 1997, beginning at Vail Resorts, where I spent nine years,” he explains. “Then I was at Telluride for five years, in Aspen for three, and in Breckenridge for five. Then I went to run a ski area in Wisconsin called Wilmot Mountain. Last year, I oversaw the world’s first and only human-powered ski area, Bluebird Backcountry in Colorado.” He was hired by MCP in August 2023 and arrived on the scene at Sandia in October.
He is obviously thrilled to be here. “We’ve been extremely pleased with the turnout and the enthusiasm. This is Albuquerque’s hometown ski hill, and anytime we can put a ski area back on the map as an operator we’re excited.” Long echoes this sentiment. “We don’t want to be losing ski areas. For skiing in New Mexico, having Sandia Peak operational again is huge.”
If you want more details on Sandia Peak Ski Area, click here or call 505/242-9052. For Albuquerque information, click here or call 800/284-2282.
Great sunsets from the top. See:https://hines4.us/hinesphotos/travel/new-mexico-2023/new-mexico-day-nine-october-25-2023/#bwg228/11704
I am stoked Sandia is back open for skiing! My daughter and I went the Sunday before Presidents’ Day. Under bluebird conditions, we got two great runs in, then hung out on the deck with friends then had outstanding burgers at Burger Boy. All the staff were welcoming, helpful, friendly, and enthusiastic! The reason we stopped after two runs is the one available lift, the main lift, hard broke. We waited for a while then called it a day. Four or five years ago I skied Sandia with friends on a Saturday right after a ten inch snowfall the day before. We had a full day blast! The next day, Sunday, was bluebird and throngs of people were skiing there and the lift hard broke, and skiers had to be roped down from the chairs. When the lift is running OK, it is super slow. In my opinion the number one priority for Sandia is to replace their main lift! If they do that Sandia will rock and roll! Hoping for that lift replacement and plentiful snow in future seasons!
Stephen: Sorry to hear your lift stoppage! That is the hazard of a single chair. Next season they should have 3——the beginner, the intermediate at mid-mt, and the top to bottom chair that’s (mostly) operable this season. But per my article, we can expect a new chair before many years pass.
I learned tp ski at Sandia and raised my kids at Sandia starting at age five
I taught Kinder Ski School and patrolled for twenty years. I am a member of the National Ski Patrol. I am soooo happy the Sandia Peak
Ski area is up and running for it is such an asset to Albuquerque, visitors and the skiing public
Jack Cyrus was also a ski patroller for 23 years and a very active member one big thing he was involved in in being a private pilot when he flew over the ski area and took pictures to have a true ski area map. Our son also was patroller starting as a junior patroller and worked with Mark Leonard who also was a junior patroller and went on to make a courier of ski patrolling to professional patroller