10 Feb Our first blizzard + ski day at Taos Ski Valley

Taos got some major major snow last week! It was so fun to watch the inches pile up over a 24 hr period… including watching the 24″ snow stake up at the ski hill get BURIED by midday Wednesday. The snow abated that evening and we couldn’t hide our excitement for our first day back on the slopes in almost two years!

Two of our long-time ski friends from Denver made it down late Wednesday evening to join us for the epic powder day. We chatted over deer stew until the late hours and prepared for the early morning!

We left our place in Arroyo Seco by 8:25 and headed up to the ski valley in a line of powder hound cars. Before we knew it, we were parked and gearing up at the base, and on a lift for our first run by 9:15. Aaron and I were a little nervous for our return to the sport, but after our first turns it felt like just like always! We explored the mountain, thrilled by the epic views at the top of the upper and back lifts!

Very few of the runs had been groomed and — I can’t believe I’m about to type this but — there was actually TOO MUCH powder. The official report was 37″ and on many of the runs without any tracks — the snow was too thick to get through! We laughed from the lift as people headed for untouched snow and immediately stopped and fell over, then were cursed with struggling to escape the powder for several minutes. Eventually, as more lifts opened, we found some partially tracked runs to tackle some powder, whatever our legs could withstand! We skied for 3 hours strait before making our way back down to the base to get some lunch. We strolled through the village and took stock of the various restaurants and shops before settling on a local food truck called Der Garten that made amazing sandwiches, salads, soups and of course green chile. We got the special of the day: boar stew + a sandwich to split.

A few runs after lunch and we were worn out! We had an après hour with our visiting friends before they had to commute back to Denver for the night. So happy to have such an epic day on the slopes again!