Sign Of The End Times: Taos Allows Snowboarders

Don't Panic

For a long time the discussion has been more focused on when we would open, and we feel like now is the right time. Taos has a long-standing tradition of being family oriented, and now with so many young people snowboarding, we are turning away more and more families, particularly families that traditionally come to Taos. Opening to snowboarding allows us to refocus on being a family oriented mountain.

I wasn’t expecting this. Snowboards are designed in such a way that it’s easy to sit on your ass or your knees from an upright position. It’s those snowboarders that use this capability and stop right at unloading area of a lift or on a run, right where a skier is going and cannot stop quite so easily, that make them all look bad. Most ski lifts are designed for skiers, not boarders, which doesn’t help things either.

About half the people I know use snowboards, at least I can go to Taos with them now. I will never forget the last time I was there, I lost my very favorite Canon S500 digital camera somewhere on the slopes.

Another Ski Lift

I’ve seen a new ski lift in the plans for the last few years at the Santa Fe Ski area. I wonder if this means that they actually built it over the summer. I look forward to a new lift but I believe in the rights of Native Americans. I don’t really know what the right answer is here.

The pueblo filed suit in August against the U.S. Forest Service, which had approved the expansion of the ski area. The ski company, which was not named as a defendant, recently intervened in the case.The pueblo contends the new lift will give skiers access to the tribe’s holiest shrines and locations, places where members conduct rituals and ceremonies that are necessary for the pueblo’s survival. Skiers presence in the area increases the risk that important shrines will be tampered with or destroyed the lawsuit says.