Change often seems a slow thing in the southern Rockies. Take, for example, our reverence for the ancient community of Taos Pueblo, which has seemingly stood still (its inner core remains unchanged) for a thousand years, making it the oldest continually inhabited community in the country. Truly, adaptation is survival. On the other hand, time Read More
Do it like a kid
Wouldn’t it be great if we could all have as much fun as kids do when we go outside? They’re like otters — not thinking too hard, just messing around and having fun. That’s not to say that they have no fear. But saying that adults have forgotten how to play is as silly as Read More
The Art of Falling
The snow gives us a glide And the slope, a slide. In winter, the mountains of northern New Mexico are not just so much pretty scenery, white handmaidens who serve as decoration. Some people find them seductive. I like to think of them as fierce goddesses who will rip you out of your car even Read More
Snowboarding: An American Tale
During the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, America once again dominated snowboarding, bringing home five medals. Shawn White’s epic gold medal halfpipe victory run, and Seth Westcott’s come-from-behind gold in the snowboard cross helped define US snowboarding. Snowboarding is as American as apple pie, classic cars and Facebook, with its roots founded as much Read More
Fat Boys Dig Cats – Extreme Skiing Monarch Style
Monarch’s extreme snowcat tours of Colorado’s Great Divide are heaven for snow carnivores – Above me on the mountain steeps, I could hear the guides call to each other as they swept through the trees making sure there were no stragglers. “Clear… Clear.” Clear, my butt. I’m upside down in this hole, wedged between a Read More
Durango Ski Town –
Purgatory at Durango Mountain Resort is located in the rugged San Juan Mountains in southwestern Colorado, and 25 miles north of historic downtown Durango. Averaging 260 inches of snow annually, Purgatory is known for consistent, dry powder from frequent storms, which are followed by sunny, bluebird days, creating perfect conditions for pure alpine nirvana. Purgatory Read More
Southwest’s largest ski operator adds more mountains
Purgatory at Durango Mountain, Arizona Snow Bowl, Sipapu Resort and Pajarito Resort – Sipapu managing partner James Coleman adds Pajarito, Durango Mountain Resort, and Arizona Snow Bowl to the fold, forming the largest ski mountain collective in the Southwest. After nearly 15 years as the managing partner at Sipapu (near Taos, NM), Coleman understands how to Read More
World’s Fastest Indian – Ross Anderson, Speed Skier
Sherman Alexie may not have been thinking of Ross Anderson when he wrote the novel The World’s Fastest Indian, but the de facto world’s fastest Indian is a truth stranger than fiction. At his Taos condo, Ross Anderson, the Cheyenne/Arapaho, Mescalero Apache with a Swedish last name is not what you’d expect, especially from the very Europeanized world Read More
On Shovel Racing
It was February of 1984, having arrived in Moreno Valley, just four months earlier. Hired initially to run the retail operations at the ski area, my rental shop staff asked if they could work through the night into the wee hours on Sunday morning. With the help of our pilot and current Angel Fire Ski Read More
Name that run
Most of us stand atop ski runs such as Niños Heroes (one of the first few double blacks of the ridge in Taos Ski Valley) and think to ourselves – “How do I drop in and not die?” But there are those few, possibly feeling the effects of oxygen deprivation, who think to themselves – Read More