Gearing up for winter
Nov. 6—A faster lift, an open bar and a full staff.
Taos Ski Valley, Co. is gearing up for winter with opening day fast approaching, and executives at the company said off-season improvements will improve the skier experience at what is already a premier skiing destination.
One of the biggest changes skiers and snowboarders will notice this year is improved lifts. Over the summer the ski area replaced Lift 4 with a high-speed detachable quad lift. Lift 4 is one of the primary lifts on the far side of the mountain, which takes skiers up from the Bavarian Restaurant to a point where they can either ski back down or access the Kachina Peak lift.
"It's basically cutting the ride time in half of what it was," said John Kelly, the ski area's chief operations officer. "Maximizing how many runs you can do and updating your infrastructure to the newest technology is really important."
There are also new glade runs this year. The mountain is introducing three news trails: Ponsse Scheme and Cache Stach are both single black diamonds and Dadou's is a double black diamond.
But it's not just the experts who will notice see a change. The Pioneers lift, which is for beginners, was replaced with a fixed grip triple chair and the ski area also tried to make other improvements to the beginner's area.
"We're really leaning into what we feel is the essence of skiing," Kelly said. "It's not waiting 30 minutes in a lift line, it's not feeling overcrowded. It's really leaning into the type of skiing experience that people can expect at Taos, which is a little more authentic, a little more genuine, a little more personal."
After a day on the slopes, there will be another place to grab a drink on the mountain. The Martini Tree Bar is opening to the public for the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Kelly said in recent years the lounge has been used for special events but this year the bar will stay open and provide guests with a place to watch sports or listen to music and have a drink after they're done skiing.
"It traditionally was that place that everybody would go to finish out the day with a beer and a high five and telling stories and stuff like that," Kelly said.
The secret to being able to accomplish some of those changes, Kelly said, was having a full staff.
The ski valley has about 180 year-round staff and then boosts that number to around 850 during the winter.
Dawn Boulware, the vice president of social and environmental responsibility at Taos Ski Valley, said Taos has been able to shore up its winter staff through several partnerships. The ski area has strong connections with Northern Arizona University, the University of New Mexico, New Mexico State University and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, which has a strong hospitality program, to find seasonal workers. They also connect with national parks to try to find winter workers.
And, she said, the ski area bases its wages off of the MIT Living Wage Calculator for Taos County. The current base wage for all Taos Ski Valley employees is $17.10 per hour, and the company works to try to retain its employees and offer them ways to advance. For example, she said they'll try to train up lift operators so they can move into maintenance positions.
"It's quite an effort to make sure we have the staff we need to not only help us on a year round basis, but certainly on helping our guests all winter long," Boulware said.
The mountain is planning to open on Thanksgiving Day, which is Nov. 23 and staying open until April 7. The only thing left to do now is wait for the snow.
"I would say we're eternal optimists in the ski industry," Kelly said. "If we start with a lot of snow or not as much snow as we were hoping for, regardless, our snowmaking teams and our grooming teams are preparing for every scenario so that we can maximize as much terrain as early as possible for our guests."
