All Roads Lead To | Taos, New Mexico
Words Andrew Miller
Photos Andrew Miller, Mark Dangler
After our strong push from Scottsdale on through Sedona the troops continued to rally into the night GPS focused on Taos Ski Resort. Slaying state lines and continuing on through endless dusty towns of New Mexico the Mobile Command Center hit the last grade up to the resort passing by a bobcat right as the sun was starting to light the day. We immediately parked and passed out till around noon.
Taos was our first shred stop from Vegas and exactly a week from the last time we rode at Brighton and my gear was still wet and stinkin. We were informed by some locals that the most recent storm was almost a week ago but there was still some goods to be found. It was apparent from the start that this is a skiers mountain. After watching Burton's pouching video where Keegan Valaikia is tackled by a Taos Ski Patrol and the way locals reacted to the first group of snowboarders to ride there last spring headed by former TWS editor Kurt Hoy, we were not to sure what to expect. Overall the vibe was casual with a nothing more than a few looks and comments. It seems that Taos has finally gotten over themselves but there still is a major lack snowboarders. According to Dark Manglers calculations the mountain seemed to be around 98% Skiers 2% boarders. Pretty weak but I guess you can add in the factors of a.) A mountain in middle of nowhere in New Mexico and b.) The first official season open to Snowboarders.
After being indoors for a week staright at SIA with out much movement and fresh air we dived right in heading straight to the back side of the mountain. A couple of warm up runs later and we took straight to a couple of hikes scoping out some fresh zones. Taos is an amazing mountain. So much hikable terrain and I can only quote a popular bumper sticker from the parking lot "Taos the four letter word for Steep." I can see why these skiers were trying to protect this hidden gem but now you can have a taste. I highly suggest if your ever in the area make the stop to shred and spray and skier or five.
- Strange little joint here. Deep in the middle of the the night we saw what looked like a few post boarder crossing vans packed to the max with people.
- Taos Ski Valley. Notice all the moguls down the face.
- Stop for some pizza before riding and left a small mark.
- Now open to snowboarding
- Lots of possibilities here.
- Try and find the snowboard.
- Skiers are such goofy balls with there crazy hats and all.
- Warning!! Taos has a major epidemic of Toads Back aka "Moguls" all over its self.
- Looking off the side of Taos.
- Johnny and Andrew did some major billy goating to get some fresh turns.
- Johnny Centi blasting through the white room.
- Mark killing it with his in camera photo stitching feature. Pano looking down the backside.
- Johnny getting some fresh in a small chute.
- Solid half day of shredding. We hope to make it back here real soon!
Stay tuned for the full story and photos from our third stop at Ober Galtinburg, TN.
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