Angel Fire Resort Terrain Park | Image: Brett Ploss

Report from Saturday March 23, 2024

Skiing

The drive down to Angel Fire, New Mexico, from Denver was easy on front-range highways at four and a half hours and beats sitting in I-70 traffic on any day.

On arrival, people were excited for closing weekend with a wide array of events planned. There was live music, free s’mores, and a pond skim.

Parking was easy with a short walk to the base of Chile Express, the main high-speed lift from the base village. With 2,077 vertical feet to the top of Angel Fire, there were many options for runs.

View of the drive from Denver to Angel Fire Resort, NM | Image: Brett Ploss

From trees to advanced and intermediate runs, I was excited to see the mountain. From the top, there is even a green-rated run, Headin’ Home, that passes by real estate with a grade safe enough for the whole family.

From the top, I headed over to the Southwest Flyer lift to explore the other side of Angel Fire. The sun heated up the snow which made for some incredible spring laps on the intermediate runs such as Hully Gully.

For the end of the season, the park was still in great shape off of its own dedicated lift, Liberation Park Lift. After a few laps, I headed to the steeps and took a few bump-runs off of Southwest Flyer.

These were long and full of moguls with surprisingly good coverage for this late in the season.

I then continued back over to the front and skied the advanced runs off of Chile Express. This area was groomed exceptionally well and made for great carving pitches. I continued to ski the intermediate runs in the area including the five-finger runs named Thumb to Pinkie respectively.

Angel Fire Resort Pond Skim 2024 | Image: Brett Ploss

Later in the day, the end-of-year pond skim was held. Locals were dressed up and excited that the snow quality was still great for closing weekend.

To cap off the day, I finished with s’mores provided by the resort.

Thank you Angel Fire! I can’t wait to come back mid-season when big storms hit to ski the legendary powder.

The Resort

Angel Fire Resort Trail Map | Image: Angel Fire Resort Website

Angel Fire is located three hours from downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico. With a 2,077ft vertical drop, 560 skiable acres, 50 acres of night skiing, and seven lifts there is enough terrain to be named the #1 Family Friendly Ski Area in the United States by OntheSnow.

Current Conditions

Angel Fire Resort conditions from Chile Express Chair | Image: Brett Ploss

Sunday March 24, 2024, was closing day. All weekend, conditions were soft spring snow. Coverage was great for this late in the season.

Now, all hands are on deck to open up Angel Fire’s award-winning bike park (the largest bike park in the Rocky Mountains) for a targeted date of May 17, 2024. Summer lift tickets can be purchased here.