Taos “Ski” Valley Opens to Snowboarders

Written on December 17th, 2007 at 09:00 am by Bill
Filed Under: Featured, Ski News

And then there were three…

After years of pressure, Taos Ski Valley in New Mexico has finally given in to the demands of snowboarders.

Beginning on March 19, 2008, Taos will officially begin a new era by opening the resort up to snowboarders. This really is only the last 2 or 3 weeks of the season so skiers can enjoy a few more months of skiing freedom.

With Taos dropping the snowboarding ban, there are only 3 U.S. resorts that still keep boarders from their slopes: Alta (Utah), Deer Valley (Utah) and Mad River Glen (Vermont). Alta and Deer Valley are highly unlikely to open up to the boarders anytime in the foreseeable future.

Why now? The new RideTaos website explains:

For a long time the discussion has been more focused on when we would open, and we feel like now is the right time. Taos has a long-standing tradition of being family oriented, and now with so many young people snowboarding, we are turning away more and more families, particularly families that traditionally come to Taos. Opening to snowboarding allows us to refocus on being a family oriented mountain.

Additionally, as Taos Ski Valley, Inc. began to consider expansion and it’s base area redevelopment plan, it was clear that the "snowboarding question" would have to be given real consideration. It was determined by the Blake family and administrative staff that snowboarding would become an integral part of Taos Ski Valley’s future. We look forward to sharing our storied resort with this brand new audience.

Ultimately, this had to be a financial decision despite what they say. The snowboarding integration will cost the resort $35 million over 7 years and several phases, so they aren’t just doing this for fun.

As never having skied Taos, I can’t speak for the experience there. But I thoroughly enjoy the skiing only atmosphere that exists at Alta and Deer Valley and I am a little sad to see Taos abandon that. Maybe I will have to ski there before March 19.

Are you more or less likely to ski Taos now that boarders are welcome?