Will whiner's complain? of Taos' 17" last 24 hrs, 42&qu

J

jfslenes

New member
As an earlier post said, "finally". Yes Taos has been dry this season. Not certain why all the whining about finally bragging about what we do have.

Skiing has been open top to bottom with the chutes open on a ratating basis. Note, I said open, not good. This storm should make the skiing pretty good top to bottom.

Guess the whiner's might be single stick people. Can't imagine why anyone would whine so much about so little.

Taos has been essentially a private ski area with the poor snow. Spring break weeks are not fully booked so lines will still be minimal or non existent.
 
jfslenes":2b93tdzb said:
As an earlier post said, "finally". Yes Taos has been dry this season. Not certain why all the whining about finally bragging about what we do have.

Skiing has been open top to bottom with the chutes open on a ratating basis. Note, I said open, not good. This storm should make the skiing pretty good top to bottom.

Guess the whiner's might be single stick people. Can't imagine why anyone would whine so much about so little.

Taos has been essentially a private ski area with the poor snow. Spring break weeks are not fully booked so lines will still be minimal or non existent.
Click to expand...

Is that what you call two=planker Tony's response - whining? Why do you even post here?
 
I voice my opinions here based upon:
1) 35+ years of snow data compared to
2) This year's season total, and most importantly,
3) Unique characteristics of the particular ski area based upon personal observation and feedback from others.

The key factors for Taos are:
1) Rugged terrain that needs about an 80-inch base for "no worries" skiing with regard to rock avoidance on much of its expert terrain. I have been criticized by some who think the base needs to be more than that 80-inch benchmark.
2) Very light and dry snow that is what we all want for powder skiing but which accumulates an adequate base at a painstaking rate.

Therefore, in a "normal" season the adequate base is attained around the first of February, by which time the season snowfall is 135 inches. March is usually the best month for both maximum base and highest snowfall. Taos' altitude and exposure usually produce outstanding conditions at what I consider a far-too-early closing date of first weekend in April.

Last season, in response to one of jfslenes' posts in early January, I noted that the recent storms were sufficient, in addition to what was there before, to make Taos "ready for prime time" 2-3 weeks earlier than normal.

This season has, through last week, been a complete disaster. jfslenes' posts of Jan. 20 and Mar. 7 could not be taken seriously by anyone who knows anything about Taos.

In the past week Taos has received 31 inches. Season total of 110 inches and reported base of 47-60 inches are typical of early-to-mid January of an average season. To its credit Taos management understands its steep terrain and fragile snowpack and opens its expert runs on a rotating basis to preserve the snow as best as it can.

So if you're in the area and willing to take some chances with your skis in search of some pow on a likely uncrowded mountain, go for it. As for booking a late season destination trip I would still recommend one of the long list of western resorts that are having banner seasons in 2005-06.
 
In the 1960's, Taos needed 50-60 inches just to cover the boulders, fallen trees, and stumps. That applied to virtually the entire mountain. Even the lower altitude slopes and especially the steeps.

For the few super experts who hike the ridges and Kachina Peak for the double black diamond chutes and runs, the need for 80"+ is probably right on. And the need for regular fresh is even more important.

For the vast majority of intermediate even almost experts, the lift served runs at Taos have been grubbed thoroughly to reduce obstacles and the snow making has been extended further than most areas to make skiing on 30" better than driving another 250 miles. In spite of this years poor snowfall (that was an understatement), the mountain crew has done a remarkable job of maintaining both the man made and natural flakes they have.

The visitors we've serviced this year have been surprisingly pleased with Taos conditions. The other local ski areas, Angel Fire and Sipapu, have also experienced a mild winter yet have positive Guest comments too.

As of this AM, Taos received another 9" of helpful fresh with 24" over last 5 days. For those who can't don't want to drive further from home and Taos is more convenient, this last 2.5 weeks are the best time of the year so far. In reality, we did have "spring" conditions in February. Yuck!
 
Taos season snow is now up to 129 inches, so this year now has an excellent chance of not being lowest ever for snowfall. Commercially it's of course another story when your quality skiing doesn't start until the second week of March.

Mammoth had one of those years back in 1990-91. Season snowfall through end of February was 85 inches. Dave McCoy had to refinance a loan and lay off employees. Then it snowed 197 inches in March.

I did agree in the prior post that Taos was now worthwhile from a local's perspective. And I can believe that with snowmaking assistance some of the intermediate skiing has been passable. But for the destination visitor the expert terrain is the attraction, and for that I think the "80-inch rule" (or first of February for advance bookings) is useful.

I would not not insult Taos' normally excellent spring skiing by comparing this February to it. This February was more like a normal November.
 
I love skiing in the SW -- Taos, Telluride, Crested Butte are top 10 in my book.

However, Taos is unskiable this year.

My brother in Telluride said the SW descended in unskiability in the Feb high pressure -- and they had a 40" base. It was OK at Xmas and most of January, but after...

But Taos never got any Dec/Jan snow

Taos...too little too late.

Stick a fork in it...you are done.

What's sad, you never started.
 
Interestingly, season snow is now 141 inches, so 1980-81 retains the honor of driest season at 140. FYI they measure and I do count April snowfall to make comparisons to other areas consistent, even though Taos closes first weekend in April.

76 of the 141 inches came in March. The second half of March would have been decent skiing including some of the steeps but definitely with some rock exposure, like mid-January of a normal year. Before that it had to be pretty bad.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top