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Photo By Lee Klopfer
Ski Santa Fe is just a 20-minute drive from the historic town of Santa Fe and 90 minutes from Albuquerque. If you’re looking for great culture and great skiing, you’ve found your place.
Nestled in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the resort’s base area is at an elevation of 10,350 feet above sea level, said to be one of the highest base areas in the continental United States. And with the Millennium Triple Chairlift, skiers and snowboarders can speed quickly to the 12,075-foot summit.
Whether you like to cruise the groomed runs, are learning to ski or snowboard for the first time, or are an advanced rider, Ski Santa Fe has a lot to offer. There’s plenty of variety in the resort’s 74 runs. And the resort’s freestyle terrain park, known as The Bone Yard, is epic. Advanced skiers can blast down a smattering of bump runs, narrow chutes, glades and a few double black diamond runs, and the powder skiing is phenomenal. Insider tip for advanced and expert skiers: Check out the glades at Sunrise and Sunset for wide-open powder skiing after a storm, and an area known as “Big Rocks” for your technical fix. The Chipmunk Corner Children’s Center at Ski Santa Fe is a full-service, onsite children’s complex with its own conveyor lift that offers daycare, a snow play area to help introduce youngsters to the environment, and lessons for kids as young as three years old.
Construction has begun in the base area, on the first phase of a two-story addition to La Casa Lodge. The addition will add approximately 12,000 square feet of space to the north side of the existing building, expanding the food service, rental facilities and retail sales areas. Ski Santa Fe also recently launched the Burton Learn to Ride Center, a program that incorporates proven snowboard teaching methods to make learning fun for everyone.
Last year, Ski Santa Fe upgraded the rental fleet which greatly improved the rental process. The system features the latest in shaped ski technology and boot fitting with 850 sets of Head BYS. And our expanded fleet of snow cats has increased groomed terrain significantly.
The Adaptive Ski Program® is one of the best in New Mexico, with upgraded facilities and the latest in specially designed equipment for ad-aptive skiing.
Want to improve your free-heel technique? Ski Santa Fe is famous for its telemarking, too. If you’ve been interested in free-heeling, Santa Fe offers beginner lessons to expert workshops.
Lodging and dining can be found in the city of Santa Fe, a world-class tourist destination. The oldest capital city in North America, Santa Fe boasts a variety of art galleries and museums, gourmet restaurants and lodging. There are also plenty of
venues for live music or theater.
Ski Santa Fe is blessed with some of New Mexico’s best weather and skiable terrain for every boarder and skier. It’s a perfect ski vacation destination!
Ahead of its Time
In 1936, a group of businessmen from Santa Fe and Los Alamos hired Graeme McGowan, the man responsible for the development of Berthoud Pass in Colorado, to assess a new site for a ski area in the mountains near Santa Fe, New Mexico. Using sheep and Indian trails as the basis for the first runs, McGowan came up with a plan for the site, and the Santa Fe Ski Area was born.
By 1947, the ski hill was a modern marvel with two dog-leg rope tows propelled by old Cadillac engines and an old Army surplus building for a warming house. Two years later, Santa Fe’s first official chair lift made its debut; fashioned out of seats from a B24 bomber and a cable from the Terero mine.
By the 1980s, Santa Fe welcomed snowboarders to the slopes and installed two truly modern chairlifts in the state. Today, Santa Fe continues to expand to meet the demands of modern snow sport enthusiasts while staying true to the laid back community spirit that helped make the resort famous.
