I think I may be the first person to post an FTO TR from Sipapu. Located 30 minutes southeast of Taos, about all I'd heard was that it was a beginner's hill and that its target market was local families and Texan Panhandlers:
Base lodge:
The second point was correct, but we were surprised by how well-pitched it was, and by how many short, but legitimate black and double-black shots there were (unfortunately, none of my pix show that). The trails were all cut to keep the winds from scouring the snow, so they're all narrow and rolling -- very EC-esque:
We skied a couple hours with general manager John Paul Bradley, who showed us around, and pointed out some of the work he and his crew have done to trim and clear the woods of blowdowns, resulting in a lot of really nice tree skiing.
NM has been in high-pressure hell since the Xmas holidays, but there was plenty of cover, and by 10:30, temps had warmed up into the low 40s and everything was skiing really smoothly. By 1:30, the woods had softened up, so I made a few sweet runs on the looker's right. I'd love to hit them on a powder day, and given the modest ski day numbers and the fact that the local hardcores would rather head up to Taos, I'm certain that there'd be untracked for many days after the storm.
The wife and I both agreed that Sipapu skied bigger than its 1,055 vertical feet. You know what it reminded me of? A NM version of Norquay.
In short: a fun day, I'd go back -- and if the skiing and indy old-school vibe aren't enough, you can enjoy the local delicacy, green chile fries, on the wooden deck:
So much for the high-pressure system. It's dumping right now and we're supposed to have a foot of new snow at Taos tomorrow.
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