After a 'rougher start than usual,' ski season in New Mexico is rolling

Unseasonably warm and dry conditions made for a challenging beginning to ski season in New Mexico, but spirits remain relatively high in the community as the weather has gotten colder.

“It was definitely not what we had hoped for and a rougher start than usual. Typically, we at least have the cold temperatures where if we don’t get the natural snowfall, we can augment with our snowmaking,” Christy Germscheid, Ski New Mexico executive director, said. “This year with the warm temperatures, it definitely hampered our ability to supplement with all the snowmaking that we put in. But overall, our Christmas crowds, our holiday numbers, were still fairly strong. We did unfortunately have two resorts that weren’t open for the holidays.”

Those two resorts in question — Sandia Peak Ski Area and Pajarito Mountain Ski Area — opened in early January. In some cases, the location of the resort makes all the difference when it comes to snowmaking in uncooperative weather. Sipapu Ski and Summer Resort, for example, benefits from some ideal geography.

“The thing about Sipapu that’s really cool is that we’re in a really fortunate canyon,” Christiana Hudson, Sipapu and Pajarito marketing director, said. “So when we get snow and when we make snow, it’s pretty much shaded a ton in the afternoon, so it holds snow really well. … When we make snow, thankfully, even when it got up to in the 40s, we were able to keep that snow at Sipapu. We have such a good snowmaking system that we’re kind of built for variable conditions in winter.”

That wasn’t the case for Pajarito, however.

“Pajarito, primarily like Sandia, relies on Mother Nature,” Hudson said, “and with a relatively dry summer, too, we didn’t have water in our catchment pond to be able to make a little bit of snow — or at least not very much. And so we didn’t even want to make snow at Pajarito because it would have melted off. I mean, some days it was 40, 50 degrees in December.”

At Ski Santa Fe, it was mostly business as usual, though an early January storm that delivered 23 inches of new snow was certainly welcome when it arrived.

“Given our location, elevation, that kind of stuff, we got super lucky,” Tommy Long, Ski Santa Fe operations manager, said. “We were still able to make the snow we needed to make. Our crews worked very, very hard to get it done.”

Unpredictable weather conditions are par for the course in the Land of Enchantment, so the ski community is typically prepared with contingency plans.

“We are seeing later storm cycles consistently in New Mexico,” Germscheid said. “But it is very cyclical and very fickle in terms of, you’ve got three great seasons, and then you’re going to have one where the weather doesn’t hit you right. And it’s the same throughout the entire country.”

According to Germscheid, the volume, quality and efficiency of snowmaking has improved significantly over the years. That’s especially crucial when it’s drier or warmer than normal.

“You can buy hand guns that can make snow at warmer temperatures than you used to be able to. They have reduced water consumption, so they’re more efficient that way. They utilize less electricity,” Germscheid said.

While the diehards are often out on the slopes as soon as the lifts are open, the shift to cooler weather and more frequent storms tend to attract the masses.

“As a ski resort where we’re not in Albuquerque where people see the snow, we have to convince people that ‘We make snow, the conditions are good, come out,’” Hudson said.

“But when they can be playing golf or going for bike rides and stuff like that because it’s warm, a lot of people aren’t really thinking about skiing. So I think now that we’re seeing some colder weather and some real winter, hopefully people’s minds will more automatically think about skiing.”

Even though a slow start can throw a wrench into things, interest in winter sports remains high in the state. Germscheid said that ski areas’ overall commitment to investing in capital improvements such as more and faster chairlifts, more available terrain and updates to overall infrastructure makes a significant difference in that regard. During the 2023-24 season, for example, New Mexico received approximately 980,000 skier visits at resorts throughout the state.

“We have incredible conditions that are competitive with our other Rocky Mountain states, but we are so much more affordable and more proximity to our core customer base that people are coming back to New Mexico,” Germscheid said.

With all the ski resorts in the state now active in some capacity, it's just a matter of hoping that more winter storms improve overall conditions and allow for more runs to open.

“We’re always very happy when all of the ski areas in the state are open and operating and kind of thriving,” Long said. “It’s better for the state and skiing in general, to have all of us out doing the same thing.”