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By Ryan Mulcahy,photos Michael Mulcahy
It had been two years since I had skied the legendary mountain I grew up on and thus felt the need to reconnect with my roots. In 2013, the Blake Family, who owned the ski mountain since its inception in 1955, sold the entire mountain to billionaire Louis Bacon . Within in the first year, Mr. Bacon began a renaissance of sorts, installing a summer bike park and remodeling the base and village. Most significant and controversial of all, Mr. Bacon installed a lift that now allows chair access to Taos’ pride and glory, Kachina Peak.
After doing reports and skiing amazing powder at Jackson Hole, Grand Targhee, and Alta, I felt that Taos would be a good throw back to appreciate where I come from. It was the day after Christmas and the report was showing 10in of overnight snow at Taos. I headed there with my brother, a legend in his own mind, and local legend, Todd Stewart. I knew the combination of great snow, good people, and an epic mountain would add up to the perfect day.
As soon as we arrived, it starting nuking snow and we soon realized the 10in reported was a bit of an under report. Many of our first runs were knee deep or better. The base parking area has changed quite a bit this year but its seems to be more efficient and gets you to the bottom chair faster. Additionally there was definitely a different vibe to the mountain, with a combined total of almost 75 years of skiing between myself, my brother, and Todd Stewart, we all agreed.
Initially, I had planned on the theme of this article to be about the renaissance of Taos. None of us had yet to see the legendary mountain under the guise of new ownership, and quietly, we all feared the unknown. Taos is a classic. All three of us have had the honor to ski in great places all over the world, allowing us a lofty perspective of mountains, and all three of us agreed, there was no place quite like Taos. Keyword, we feared, WAS. Much of the conversation on the drive up involved our initial feelings of the new Kachina Chair. We all agreed the former Kachina Peak was hands-down the most exceptional in-bounds hikable terrain in the Lower 48. What none of us was sure of, however, was how the Kachina Chair would affect all of that.
After lapping untracked deep powder off of Lorelei Trees, Castor, Reforma, and Pollux on chair 6 we decided to hike the legendary East Ridge to access some of the best terrain in the country. The west basin was closed due to high avalanche danger, but almost everything off of the high-line ridge was open and provided great the epic skiing we all remembered. Making this hike is very symbolic, regardless of your roots, and gives you a special feeling and a different appreciation of skiing. We skied Juarez off the ridge and found it to be almost waist deep in places.
Once at the top the sun came through for a few minutes and then closed back up.
As it continued to snow throughout the day, free refills could be found throughout the entire mountain. From this we decided to lap some tree skiing off of lift 4 including lower Hunziker bowl which provide some great rocks to air off and nothing but powder landings, thus making for all time skiing. It was here, that the three of us face our greatest fear head-on. Before us stood the Kachina Chair. My initial impression was shared by Todd and Michael. We were impressed by how little the installation of the chair interfered or amended the legendary terrain. This does not come as a surprise now, as Mr. Bacon is known to be avid land conservationist. Our fears were not able to fully quelled, as the Kachina Chair was not yet running.
The big question at hand a lot of people are asking is when is the new Kachina Peak chair going open? Talking with a longtime ski patroller he mentioned that the peak is just starting to fill in and thus allowing for skiing from the top. Additionally new and different approaches to doing control work on the peak and areas surrounding the peak must be developed in order to insure safety.
I was able to speak with new marketing director, Jesse Keaveny at the end of the day. From our conversation, I gained some very interesting and insightful information. He expressed to me that he and his team hope to make transitions in various areas each year and little by little bring Taos into the 21st century. This was started last summer with the new chair lift, bike park, and base area expansion. A plan for new condos and base area accommodations are in the works and further development is planned. These new developments have been met with a mostly warm reception. Keaveny expressed there are quite a few people that make the trip down almost every weekend from the Denver Metro area to ski and ride Taos. This astounded me, as Denver is roughly five hours from Taos Ski Valley, and has plenty of mountains within 100 miles of the Mile High City.
Then it began to make sense. It’s Jesse’s belief that many people are tired of fighting three plus hour traffic on I 70 to ski crowed resorts in Colorado, and would rather take the 5 hour trip to Taos, having the whole mountain to themselves. My brother, Michael, lives in Denver and shared first-hand horror stories of the I-70 Vail traffic on weekends. It is roughly 50 miles from his place in Denver to his ski condo in Silverthorne. On Friday and Sunday nights it is a standard two and sometimes three hour commute either way barring NO accidents.
Possibly aiding the Denver-Taos Ski Valley commute, a local paper published an article indicating the small local airport in Taos has been approved for expansion. With possible flight access, this it could allow for easier and faster access to the Taos Ski Valley. Like the sale of Taos Ski Valley, and the installation of the Kachina Chair, there is mixed emotions about all of this. The Valley is a classic, and the Northern New Mexico village of Taos, a small quaint beauty. All of these new developments can be viewed as a threat.
However, progression and change is inevitable. As the great Bob Dylan coined some 40 years ago, “the times they are a changing.” All one conservationist can ask for is that change and development is done responsibly, and with respect.
Currently the best options to access Taos are a 5 hour drive from Denver or a 3 hour drive from Albuquerque, which is the closest international airport. Jackson Hole was in a similar situation not 15 years ago when it was given approval for an international airport. This allowed the mountain to morph into a world class designation. Ask any locals in Jackson, and you may be met with the same mixed feelings and fears.
As mentioned, my original intention with this article was to write about the “renaissance of Taos.” What became very clear to me, the moment I clicked in with my mountain brothers, was that Taos is still everything it ever was, and the renaissance is only in its infancy. What is not clear is what is to come? Will Taos follow in similar footsteps to Jackson? Will the new Bacon regime treat the mountain with the prestige, dignity grace it deserves? Only time will tell but so far so good…
Great article. Interesting and well written. I’ve skied Taos a handful of times and it will become my new home very soon. I am still not in favor of the new Kachina Chair lift. The 35 minute hike up keeps the top of the mountain peaceful and separated from the rest of the area.
don’t you think climate change will devour your dreams, and contradict your thesis that there is “no place like Taos”? a little far south aren’t you? this whole thing is like: gee, we’re so far south and we still get a foot of snow to jump into now and then. and no, it doesn’t automatically make the skiing amazing, just makes it low tide most of the time. it’s clear “…what’s to come”: drought.
I have skied for 50 years, knew the Blakes personally, skied many places in the US, Colorado resorts in their infancy, there is NO place like Taos.
Dude, global climate change is certainly real, however, the fact that it is “so far south” is not a concern considering its altitude. Many resorts much farther north with much less altitude have seen snow develop int rain during the winter (TAHOE ANYONE?). However, Taos has been lucky so far not to see such change and probably will not before other resorts due to the altitude.