Final day at Pajarito Ski Area, NM

Today was the last day of the season that the lifts were running. It was slushy and very nice conditions as long as you stayed clear of the bare rocks. I went up there a few hours Friday also for a long lunch at the ski hill - one of the nice things about working here.

Skiing Santa Fe

The Santa Fe ski area is pretty close but still so far away when you have a season pass at Pajarito (20 minutes away). Today was the first day at this ski area. The conditions were not the best - icy, cold and with total white-out on the highest parts. During the day some snow fell and the conditions grew better. It was the first day with my new Scarpa T1 boots, which I bought on a sale in Santa Fe the day before. 40 % off made it impossible to resist. They sure are worth every penny since I started to grow some cartilage on top of my left foot due to my old T1's which are probably around ten years old.

Colorado skiing weekend

This long weekend was spent skiing in Wolf Creek, CO. We stayed in a very cosy house though all the stuffed animals and a bull horn chair. The house that we had to dig our way into is situated by the San Juan river between Pagosa Springs and Wolf Creek. There was a lot of snow and they only cleared the path for the cars and did not clear the stairs. Luckily I had brought my small showel so I got to work a bit. The first night we only stayed at the house and ate good food and played a vicious card game that meant that you had to drink a lot.

A few days before the weekend Wolf Creek got some fresh powder but we only found traces of that in the woods. I got to try my new used skis in the powder and it was very nice to be able to float on top more than with my other skinny ones.

My new used skis (but mine have Rottefella R8's instead).

Wolf Creek is a pretty good ski area. With fresh powder the top part must be excellent. Now it was too bumpy for my taste. The slopes far left were really steep but there was some great powder among the trees in the less steep part.

First skiing in many years

Trail map of Pajarito Mountain, Los Alamos, NM.

This weekend I have been dropping my knee and freeing my heel again (e.g., been telemark skiing) for the first time in several years. The last time was problably four or five years ago. On Friday I went up to get some skiing hours during "lunch". It was so nice to be back on the slopes again. I had to rest a lot but it went ok. On Saturday I had to keep up with the alpine skiers and that was tough as the altitude here really gets to you and as my legs are pretty weak. On Sunday I only spent two hours on the skis and then I was exhausted.

The ski area here has about 40 slopes and four lifts. However, one of the lifts only open when there is lots of snow and only during Saturdays and Sundays.