11 Mar Skiing again + visit from family

Thursday February 17 – Saturday February 19

My dad had flown to Colorado from Wisconsin the week prior to start his epic ski vacation at our old favorites Winter Park and Steamboat — and luckily my mom, who lives in Denver, was able to take a long weekend off her work schedule to join in on a visit to us in Taos. Despite the varying levels of snow moving through the region that day, they woke up early and arrived at our new digs by mid morning. Aaron was working at the Snowmansion lodge that afternoon, and my mom opted to hang out in our little town of Arroyo Seco while Dad and I headed up to hit the slopes of Taos Ski Valley. 

The temps were barely above the single digits when we got on our first chair just after 11a. The snow kept coming and gave Dad a tour of the hill on some soft fresh powder! We took a quick beer break at the restaurant on the backside of the hill after 1p, and then hit the slopes for more laps until we were worn out at 3!

We headed back down to Arroyo Seco to pick up Aaron and my mom and head to a lovely happy hour at Medley down the road from our town. Margaritas, fried shrimp tacos, tuna tartar, and brussel sprouts made the perfect après dinner! 

On Friday my mom dropped Dad and I at Taos Ski Valley while she hiked around the village. We skied all morning and into the afternoon – getting a nice bluebird day filled with views! This being my 3rd day out for the season, I decided to challenge myself with a black mogul run as I finished out my day. I had scouted the run from the chairlift a few times so I felt fairly good about tackling it, even late in the day. Boy it was sure steeper than I thought! I got in position at the top of the run and felt that thrill from being up very very very high with not much beneath you. I knew now why they had a stuffed snowsuit under Chair 8, demonstrating the proper way to self arrest if you’re sliding down a slope (feet first, face down, dig in boots & hands). The green-blue-black-double-black rating system at Taos was definitely a notch harder than most resorts. The terrain might not have the biggest vertical drop, nor the # of high speed lifts (only 1)… but damn if she aint steep! I gathered my concentration, and started down the giant vertical moguls … grateful to find fresh, soft snow under every turn. It might not have been my fastest or best mogul run but it felt good to push myself a bit to dust off the old reflexes!

A classic dinner downtown Taos at the Alley Cantina closed out our night with some great New Mexican specialties, and of course more margaritas!

Saturday we all hiked to the hot springs in the Rio Grande, and soaked for two hours in the steaming water & epic sunshine.

We did some touristing after that to the Rio Gorge Bridge, Earthships Biotecture and downtown Taos. We closed out the visit with a fun night at Gutters bowling alley! We bowled a couple games while the local surf rock band Chicken Sedan provided the soundtrack. A whirlwind and awesomely fun 3 days with the family!