Sipapu first N.M. ski area open for season
Halloween start date featured 25 to 30 skiers dressed up in costumes
Aggressive snowmaking and justright cold days and nights allowed Sipapu Ski and Summer Resort to become the first New Mexico ski area to open for the season.
The Halloween opening encouraged some 25 to 30 of the 70 first-day skiers to go down the mountain in costume, said Christiana Hudson, marketing manager for Sipapu and Pajarito Mountain.
“It created a ton of excitement,” Hudson
said. “There were more people in costume than we expected.”
Sipapu, about 20 miles south of Taos, will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through Dec. 13. Most other New Mexico ski resorts are scheduling openings the week of Thanksgiving. Ski Santa Fe is scheduled to open Nov. 28.
Sipapu’s snowmaking crew jumped into action the last week of October as temperatures dipped to the teens and 20s at night in the mountains and around freezing during the day.
“Our general manager, John Paul Bradley, is passionate about snowmaking,” Hudson said. “I have to give credit to our snowmaking team. They took advantage of the cold nights.”
The next seven days will have nearly normal temperatures in the mountains, with highs in the 40s to low 50s and lows in the teens to mid-20s, said Jennifer Shoemake of the National Weather Service.
“After that will have to depend on storm systems moving through,” she said.
Hudson said said she believes Sipapu is open for the season and doesn’t expect November weather to force a closure.
The area opened one lift and one run, Thumper, with a second run possibly opening Nov. 9-10.
Sipapu has a 12-inch man-made base, while all other New Mexico ski resorts report a zero base on their websites. Hudson said Sipapu is one of seven ski resorts open so far in the U.S.