Taos, NM?

T

TheFied

2,500+ Posts
Anyone been? My wife & I were thinking of doing a trip in late Jan or early Feb.

We aren't hardcore skiiers. For me ~4 hours of skiing per day is plenty. I don't want to come back from a vacation and be physically exhausted.

Thoughts on Taos?
 
Think the first thing you need to decide is what you want to do when you are not skiing. This will dictate whether it makes sense to stay in TSV(base) or in the town of Taos(about 20-25 minutes away).

If you are just in for some skiing and hanging out at one of a few places to eat and/or drink, TSV is the way to go. We always do the Alpine Village. If you want to have nicer restaurants, shopping, etc., you are probably better off in Taos and will need someone else to ring in for recommendations.
 
Been 3 times, but not in last 5 years or so. we have always stayed at the base, but we DO like to ski till no more daylight is left everyday.

Great and challenging slopes and lots of them, but won't go back 'cause they don't allow boarding. From what I remember, all the nightlife is at the base and even that is somewhat limited.

Lots of art and whatnot in the town. I've never looked around but know people who make trips there to do nothing else.
 
1) The mountain is ******* cold. Much colder than you expect. No sun due to the valley. Remember, I told you. Dress for Canada.

2) Unless you are hard core, definitely stay in town (which is not cold), you can putz around there, and head down to Santa Fe if you like that scene, which I do. Had dinner at Ristra last week, it was awesome.
 
I use to live near Taos and have been dozens of times. it is regarded as the best snow in that area along with wolf creek. there are plenty of slopes for beginners and mid level skiers and a ton for good skiers. stay in taos if you are into great restaurants, catch the taos bakery for the best migas i have ever had. the brew pub has great beer, staying up on the mountain is very cool in that you can just relax rather than going up and down the mountain. st bernard is a great place,
great skiing,wonderful food and shopping in town for the ladies.
 
Near this place called Arroyo Seca I stayed at this really cool Bed and Breakfast. But we also camped in this place called Pilar when it was about 9 degrees outside for a night, so I dont necessarily do the smart or normal thing on a trip.
 
I grew up in Amarillo and skied Taos annually from around 1980 thru 1995. It is a fun mountain but certainly very challenging. It is usually rated one of the top ten mountains in the country for difficulty, but there are plenty of nice easy runs. The lodging at the Ski Valley is very nice but that does come with a price. If you decide to stay in or around the town of Taos, which is around 15-20 miles away look into one of the many Bed and Breakfast there. The weather and atmosphere differs greatly between the ski valley and the town of Taos. I have skied there many times with an 80-100 in base on the mountain and little to no snow in the town. Taos sits in a large open valley with mountains all around ,very pretty but sorta desert like. There is not a large offering of nightlife options either on the mountain or in town. The Hotel St Bernard has a real fun sundeck that looks onto the mountain, good place to have lunch and drink a few cold ones. The Sagebrush Inn in town does seem to have some live music on the weekends. As said before really good food and shopping in town as well. There is also a small casino in town, mostly a locals hangout.
 
Looks like the snow will be good this year.
We hit it last January, had a blast. Try the lunch at Tim's Stray Dog Cantina. It's good grub.
We had some great pow last year.

IMG_2053.jpg
 
Not that this helps this time of year, but there is a very cool day hike from the Taos base to Wheeler Peak, the highest point in NM. In the summer, it's a good thing to do.
 
A great early dinner/after skiing place to hit in TSV is the Bavarian. You can either ski to out, or if you decide to stay at TSV, they will drive down the mountain and pick you up.
 
outback pizza: great
adobe bar: pretty cool
joseph's table: excellent, albeit pricy food. good place to take the wife.

the chile connection used to be good. now it's called "the blinking light" and it sucks. the b&b near arroyo seco is called cottonwood, and it is awesome. the owners are really, really cool, and the rates are good. our travel budget is devoted to italy this year, but we'll be regulars at that place for a long time. someone probably already mentioned this, but taos is a ski-only mountain. no boards. also, something like 64 out of 85 runs are blacks (maybe an exaggeration, but it's a pretty advanced mountain). the whole mountain is rarely open, however, because they don't get as much snow.
 
actually, base is at 67'' right now and more snow is expected. There biggest issue will be getting all of the avalance work done so they can open more of the mountain.
 
The trip snuck up on me. We are going next week. We are staying at El Monte Sagrado Resort Thu-Sat nights, leaving Sunday. My wife is getting some massage and something else on Thursday and Saturday. We are only skiing one day, Friday.

Mrmyke, what do you recommend at the hotel? Do you recommend eating there or checking out Taos some more?
 
Stay in Taos-- it's a neat little town.

My dad lives in Angel Fire, so I've spent a lot of time in Taos over the years. Dad says Taos has great snow this year.

DEFINITELY eat at Michael's for breakfast-- and check out the Pastries too-- they make a magnificent cream puff.

Give yourself a day to putz around on the square.

See the gorge-- it's pretty special.

The drive down to Sante Fe isn't bad, and there's some wineries on the way too. But in general the shops are the same in Sante Fe as in Taos.

On the north end of Taos there's some good mexican import shops-- souvenir stuff like in town but cheaper, and tons of pottery.

There used to be a mexican food place called La Luna (or something w/ Luna in it) that was pretty good.

There's a Chinese food place called Hunan on the south side of town that's amazing-- shocking, I know, but that place rocks.

Go to Taos Inn and get some hot chocolate. It's "haunted" and a good place for people watching.

The Adobe reservation is interesting, but they charge like crazy to get in it anymore. But, you can drive up and see the old adobe homes and stuff without having to go in. If you go in, they'll charge you to take pictures.

The Casino is kinda depressing. Standard Native Casino.

The Pass between Taos and Angel Fire/ Eagle's Nest is a beautiful drive-- but can REALLY suck if it's snowing. There's some random art stops peppered in there.

There's a great winery south of Angel fire (around Blacklake). Can't remember what it's called, but they have fruit wines that are very good.
 
Smurfette, we get into Taos around noon on Thursday. I think my wife has a facial later that afternoon (fortunately this isn't 3:16). That's all we have for Thursday. On Friday, we are skiing and that's about it. On Saturday, my wife is doing a massage. On Sunday, heading back to Austin.

I guess we will have some time on Saturday to do some of those things.
 
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