Taos Ski Valley 1/13/04 ...Pics

[gravityluv]

Taos has been getting snow, not like Tahoe and Utah but still the 'real deal'. Inbounds avalanches have been a major problem, ski patrol has been working their butts off making the mountain safe.

A good portion of the signature steep terrain has opened: West Basin Ridge, Highline Ridge, Lorelei Trees: sporadically, Sir Arnold Lunn Walkyries Chute. Unfortuneately Kachina Peak had a massive slide and needs a few more storms to open, most likely.

First time I've tried to load pics, so hope they come through.

 

[Admin]

Schweet pix!! Nice to actually see Juarez...my time there had, uh..."limited" visibility. See me hiking during the intro to Hot Chiles on SkiMovies.com to see what I mean. :wink:

 

[Chromer]

West Basin looks niiiice. I need to get out there one of these years.

 

[Tony Crocker]

This post, and the one on Snowmass, confirm the major snowfalls these areas have had over the past 2-3 weeks. You can also read between the lines that the steep terrain opening now (or shortly after avalanche control) is opening earlier than normal. Thus my advice not to advance book any of these places before February. Once the snow is there it does not deteriorate, so if you're thinking about any of these western Colorado/Southwest areas this is a good year to do it.

This recommendation goes double for Crested Butte, which in general has modest snowfall and even sketchier terrain. CB has had over 6 feet from the recent storm cycle and they are still stabilizing the North Face. But this should be a great season to ski CB as the North Face should have more skiable lines than usual. I would also expect Telluride, Durango and presumably Silverton to be loaded with snow now.