Snow season rolls to its end; most resorts closing this weekend
That’s all she wrote, mostly, folks! New Mexico’s ski season is going, going, almost gone, and Colorado is not far behind.
All of New Mexico’s ski areas have closed except for three, but southern Colorado resorts will extend their season a bit longer. Further north and elsewhere in the West, skiing will roll on into midApril or even longer. Let’s pray this year was an aberration and not a trend.
Ski Santa Fe closes Sunday. It picked up 2 inches of snow in the latest disappointing storm, and goes out with a 24-inch base and 47 percent of its terrain open, including a dozen or so upper mountain runs. Lift tickets for the final weekend will be reduced: adults $65, seniors $50 and kids $48, plus Peak Plus Card discounts.
SC Rockshow will be jamming on the Totemoff Deck from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. On Sunday afternoon, enjoy tunes from DJ Your Boy Re-Flex, and an Easter egg hunt at 9:15 a.m. at Chipmunk Corner.
Taos Ski Valley will end seasonal operations Sunday. It gained 5 inches in Tuesday’s storm and has a 29-inch base. Chair 4, the Kachina Basin lift, has closed, but 49 runs remain open, including six hike-to trails off Highline Ridge. Passes from other New Mexico resorts will get you a free lift ticket.
TSV will feature live music Friday through Sunday afternoon, including new mayor Christof Brownell and Last to Know playing Sunday from 3 to 7 p.m. on Thunderbird Road’s street party. People dressed in Easter-themed garb Sunday qualify for two-for-one ticket sales.
Sipapu plans to continue weekend business through April 8. It received 3 inches and has a 22-inch base. Sunday morning it will hold an Easter egg hunt.
Arizona Snowbowl, outside Flagstaff, is extending its closure until April 29 on its nice 44-inch base. It has 38 runs available. Beginning April 5, it will open at 10 a.m. How about skiing one day and then hiking into the Grand Canyon the next?
Wolf Creek plans to close Sunday, but will reopen on weekends in April if there is significant snowfall. It received 3 inches earlier this week and has a 67-inch base (and seasonal snowfall of 229 inches). Saturday is College Day, with lift tickets just $48 for students with a current, printed class schedule and valid college photo ID.
The area will host the Howlin’ Wolf Super G/Downhill race on Saturday as well. A true Super G running from the top to the bottom of Wolf Creek, this is a rare chance for you to let ’em run. Sign-up is at 8 a.m. at Basecamp, with course inspection starting at 8:30 a.m. and race start at 9:30 a.m.
The race is open to individuals and teams.
Purgatory reports a base of 32 to 37 inches and 96 percent of its runs open. It is open daily through Sunday, then on a Friday-Sunday basis until at least April 15, and longer, if conditions allow for it. On Saturday, it will throw a pond skimming contest with prizes and live music by an Aerosmith tribute band from 1:30 to 4 p.m.
There is a $5 sign-up fee, with just 75 entrants allowed.
Telluride has a 42-inch base (on a seasonal total of 163 inches) and 109 runs open (of 149), plus all four terrain parks. It will close April 8 with a pond skim above Gorrono Ranch. Registration will run from 10 to 11 a.m.; it will be capped at 100 people. DJ Soul Atomic will kick off at noon.
Monarch Mountain sits on a 57-inch base (out of a seasonal total of 192 inches) and all but one run open and both terrain parks. It will close April 8 with its 10th annual Parking Lot Cookoff & Tailgate Party and the Gun Barrel Challenge race (run up and ski/ board down).
On April 15, catch the 2018 Salida Pole Pedal Paddle race. Competitors start on the Continental Divide on Monarch Pass with a backcountry ski leg, then mountain bike through the shadow of Mt. Shavano to the banks of the Arkansas River, where whitewater kayaks take paddlers into downtown Salida for an exciting finish.
Participants can compete as a team or individually. Details are online.
Crested Butte Mountain Resort picked up 10 inches in the past week, and reports a 48-inch base (on 146 inches so far). It will close April 7. This Saturday it hosts a COSMIC race event organized by Colorado Ski Mountaineering Cup. The challenging race involves some 5,500 feet of climbing over a 10-mile course in the race division, and some 3,500 feet over six miles in the rec division.
On Sunday morning comes a Vertical Race of 1,500-2,100 vertical feet on a CBMR ski run. See COSMIC’s website for details.
Also on Sunday, the resort hosts She Jumps’ Get the Girls Out Women’s Ski Day. Details on the CBMR website. On April 6, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at Butte 66, catch the celebration of local Olympian and CBMR Ambassador Aaron Blunck. And, it wraps up the season at 1 p.m. April 6 with the LandShark Pond Skim.