Taos remained cloudy and cool over the weekend after getting 3 inches Thursday and 5 inches Friday. So when we got on the hill after 10AM Monday it was all winter conditions. It was sunny all day, maybe in the 30’sF so lower and sun exposed areas softened but never got slushy.
I did not know that Taos’ chair 1 up Al’s Run is now high speed. From there we skied Porcupine to chair 8 and another groomer there Lower Stauffenberg before taking chair 2 up high. View of West Basin hike-to chutes from Chair 8:
View of Highline Ridge from top of 2:
We skied Totemoff to chair 7, then Lonestar to chair 4. Here we had our first view of Kachina Peak and its lift, now in its 5th year.
But it was my first time in Taos since 2007 and Liz’ first since 1997.
A catwalk goes right by the new lift but a fence prevents that direct access. You must take a step up traverse and approach the lift from the top. So we learned when running Kachina laps to traverse through trees above the catwalk to avoid that step up.
Kachina Peak made a wow impression on us. The snow was soft packed powder. Bumps were not tight except in confined areas like this chute under the lower part of the lift.
Terrain is like Mammoth’s chair 23 except with consistent pitch more like chair 22. And being steep and north facing at 12,000 feet Kachina Peak rivals A-Basin’s Pallavicini for the best snow preservation in North America.
After skiing Main Street near the lift I worked my way skier’s left, skiing K5, K4, K3, K2 and K1. K1-4 chutes are steeper than the terrain nearer the lift. With the current 100 inch snowpack K3 and K4 are essentially merged into one wider run. K2 has one low tide chokepoint. Liz ran repeated laps on the ego snow of Main Street.
While skiing K4 I retrieved goggles that I saw rolling down the hill. A couple of runs later I realized that my pack zippers had opened and that they were mine and that the Castle Mt. hat which protected the goggles was missing. I took another K4 run to no avail but fortunately someone else found the hat and left it at the lift the next day.
I left Kachina by traversing far skier’s right to the boundary overlooking Taos Ski Valley.
I knew there was a way into Hunziker Bowl from here, but the entry was blind through trees and I followed a snowboarder into a very bony chute. Approaching from skier’s right I had a sketchy traverse entry followed by stepping over rocks, then sideslipping 20 feet or so before I could slide backwards below the biggest rocks to actually start skiing. To no surprise the snow was outstanding below such difficult access. And it had to be worse for the snowboarder, who had to grip the snow with his hands during that sideslip. As usual, when I’m in survival mode I did not think to get out the camera.
I regrouped with on Liz for a chair 4 cruiser, then Rubenzahl to the base. We rode chairs 1 and 2 and finished our day of 20.900 vertical with Bambi and Powderhorn.
EMSC spotted us getting off the parking shuttle and emailed me so we could arrange to meet Tuesday. He was at Taos with his wife and son but Tuesday would be their last day, driving back to Boulder after skiing.
So on Tuesday Liz and I rode 1&2 and then skied a lap on 4 while trying to make a difficult cell connection with EMSC. On our first Kachina lap, here are EMSC and son skiing just skier’s left of the lift.
Lower down EMSC and I squeezed into a narrower line.
I’m sure I was not skiing in there at a speed to spray that much snow.
EMSC’s wife and son skied some chair 4 groomers while EMSC and I skied some of the more technical lines. K3:
Looking back up at K5, K4, K3:
EMSC in Hunziker Bowl:
K1:
EMSC’s son wanted another shot at Main Street and so skied it with Liz. EMSC and I returned to Hunziker Bowl.
The chute entry above EMSC is the one where I did lots of sideslipping and stepping over rocks Monday. On Tuesday I took the more open line, which is out of the picture to the right. EMSC always skied the rocky chute in the picture, but had fewer obstacles to get past entering from skier’s left.
We all had lunch at the Bavarian from 1-2PM. EMSC and family had to get on the road but Liz and I skied to the base and rode chairs 1&2. Reforma under chair 2 wore Liz out so she went into the base village to look around.
I rode chair 1 and skied Al’s Run about 3:30.
I was pleasantly surprised by good snow and decent spacing, so I only stopped once where I took the above picture. But I probably paid the price Wednesday, as any bumps I skied then were quite fatiguing.
I finished Tuesday with 18,900 vertical.
I did not know that Taos’ chair 1 up Al’s Run is now high speed. From there we skied Porcupine to chair 8 and another groomer there Lower Stauffenberg before taking chair 2 up high. View of West Basin hike-to chutes from Chair 8:
View of Highline Ridge from top of 2:
We skied Totemoff to chair 7, then Lonestar to chair 4. Here we had our first view of Kachina Peak and its lift, now in its 5th year.
But it was my first time in Taos since 2007 and Liz’ first since 1997.
A catwalk goes right by the new lift but a fence prevents that direct access. You must take a step up traverse and approach the lift from the top. So we learned when running Kachina laps to traverse through trees above the catwalk to avoid that step up.
Kachina Peak made a wow impression on us. The snow was soft packed powder. Bumps were not tight except in confined areas like this chute under the lower part of the lift.
Terrain is like Mammoth’s chair 23 except with consistent pitch more like chair 22. And being steep and north facing at 12,000 feet Kachina Peak rivals A-Basin’s Pallavicini for the best snow preservation in North America.
After skiing Main Street near the lift I worked my way skier’s left, skiing K5, K4, K3, K2 and K1. K1-4 chutes are steeper than the terrain nearer the lift. With the current 100 inch snowpack K3 and K4 are essentially merged into one wider run. K2 has one low tide chokepoint. Liz ran repeated laps on the ego snow of Main Street.
While skiing K4 I retrieved goggles that I saw rolling down the hill. A couple of runs later I realized that my pack zippers had opened and that they were mine and that the Castle Mt. hat which protected the goggles was missing. I took another K4 run to no avail but fortunately someone else found the hat and left it at the lift the next day.
I left Kachina by traversing far skier’s right to the boundary overlooking Taos Ski Valley.
I knew there was a way into Hunziker Bowl from here, but the entry was blind through trees and I followed a snowboarder into a very bony chute. Approaching from skier’s right I had a sketchy traverse entry followed by stepping over rocks, then sideslipping 20 feet or so before I could slide backwards below the biggest rocks to actually start skiing. To no surprise the snow was outstanding below such difficult access. And it had to be worse for the snowboarder, who had to grip the snow with his hands during that sideslip. As usual, when I’m in survival mode I did not think to get out the camera.
I regrouped with on Liz for a chair 4 cruiser, then Rubenzahl to the base. We rode chairs 1 and 2 and finished our day of 20.900 vertical with Bambi and Powderhorn.
EMSC spotted us getting off the parking shuttle and emailed me so we could arrange to meet Tuesday. He was at Taos with his wife and son but Tuesday would be their last day, driving back to Boulder after skiing.
So on Tuesday Liz and I rode 1&2 and then skied a lap on 4 while trying to make a difficult cell connection with EMSC. On our first Kachina lap, here are EMSC and son skiing just skier’s left of the lift.
Lower down EMSC and I squeezed into a narrower line.
I’m sure I was not skiing in there at a speed to spray that much snow.
EMSC’s wife and son skied some chair 4 groomers while EMSC and I skied some of the more technical lines. K3:
Looking back up at K5, K4, K3:
EMSC in Hunziker Bowl:
K1:
EMSC’s son wanted another shot at Main Street and so skied it with Liz. EMSC and I returned to Hunziker Bowl.
The chute entry above EMSC is the one where I did lots of sideslipping and stepping over rocks Monday. On Tuesday I took the more open line, which is out of the picture to the right. EMSC always skied the rocky chute in the picture, but had fewer obstacles to get past entering from skier’s left.
We all had lunch at the Bavarian from 1-2PM. EMSC and family had to get on the road but Liz and I skied to the base and rode chairs 1&2. Reforma under chair 2 wore Liz out so she went into the base village to look around.
I rode chair 1 and skied Al’s Run about 3:30.
I was pleasantly surprised by good snow and decent spacing, so I only stopped once where I took the above picture. But I probably paid the price Wednesday, as any bumps I skied then were quite fatiguing.
I finished Tuesday with 18,900 vertical.
