I've been waiting many moons to hit Pajarito (Little Bird). I mountain biked there in 1991, but had never managed to ski it:
Jason e-mailed me this morning that Pajarito's trail map looked similar to Belleayre in the Catskills, which is true, but the fall-line trails are steeper and have more consistent pitch:
Together with a modest vert (1,200), it does have a definite East Coast feel in the way the trails were cut, as did several of the ski areas on this trip. However, the views from the top are pure New Mexico. Unfortunately, my scenic pix do it very little justice:
On the far skier's left, there's an incredible view of the Valles Caldera. If I understood correctly, it's a huge volcano that blew its top, creating a large crater.
While Tuesday's storm dumped 20 inches on Santa Fe, Pajarito only got four -- everything was very localized. Conditions were hard and fast on the groomers, but the ungroomed trails had a nice dusting to glide through. I got a great tour from General Manager Tom Long and Ski School Supervisor John Viney.
I was always under the impression that Mad River Glen was the only not-for-profit ski area that is run by its members, but the similarities between MRG and Pajarito are interesting:
LASC (Los Alamos Ski Club) is a not-for-profit organization with a membership of about 2000 - 3000, who elect a volunteer board of nine directors, serving three-year terms. By charter, memberships (voting season pass holders) are limited to persons who primarily live or work in the county. Non-voting season passes may be purchased by anyone. The area is open to day skiers, who have constituted about a third of the users since the early days at Pajarito.
Jason e-mailed me this morning that Pajarito's trail map looked similar to Belleayre in the Catskills, which is true, but the fall-line trails are steeper and have more consistent pitch:
Together with a modest vert (1,200), it does have a definite East Coast feel in the way the trails were cut, as did several of the ski areas on this trip. However, the views from the top are pure New Mexico. Unfortunately, my scenic pix do it very little justice:
On the far skier's left, there's an incredible view of the Valles Caldera. If I understood correctly, it's a huge volcano that blew its top, creating a large crater.
While Tuesday's storm dumped 20 inches on Santa Fe, Pajarito only got four -- everything was very localized. Conditions were hard and fast on the groomers, but the ungroomed trails had a nice dusting to glide through. I got a great tour from General Manager Tom Long and Ski School Supervisor John Viney.
I was always under the impression that Mad River Glen was the only not-for-profit ski area that is run by its members, but the similarities between MRG and Pajarito are interesting:
LASC (Los Alamos Ski Club) is a not-for-profit organization with a membership of about 2000 - 3000, who elect a volunteer board of nine directors, serving three-year terms. By charter, memberships (voting season pass holders) are limited to persons who primarily live or work in the county. Non-voting season passes may be purchased by anyone. The area is open to day skiers, who have constituted about a third of the users since the early days at Pajarito.
