Go down slow with a snow ranger
See the slopes through a different lens on guided ski tours
It will take skiers longer than most runs would at resorts in Taos County, but the Carson National Forest’s Snow Ranger Program offers alpine skiers and snowboarders a chance to view the slopes through a different lens — taking into account, for example, that most ski resorts in New Mexico operate on public lands.
“You are here on the Carson National Forest, where Sipapu has a special-use permit to run a ski resort; and that allows you guys to enjoy your public lands in a new way and in a safe environment,” Bethany Griffith, volunteer snow ranger with the Carson, explained to around 15 tour participants last Saturday (Jan. 14). It was the second tour at Sipapu Ski and Summer Resort this year since the program started up Jan. 10 at Taos Ski Valley. George Allalunis, prescribed fire and fuels technician for the Carson National Forest joined the tour.
Taos County is home to world class ski resorts — thanks to the special-use permits the U.S. Forest Service issues — and Carson National Forest employees and full time volunteers like Griffith are leading 60-minute interpretive ski and snowboard tours to assist folks in gaining a different perspective at the Red River Ski Area, Sipapu and Taos Ski Valley through the end of March, depending on snow conditions.
All tours begin at 1:30 p.m. on the following days and locations through the end of March, depending on snow availability:
• Tuesdays and Wednesdays at Taos Ski Valley. Meet at the bottom of Lift 1.
• Fridays at Red River Ski Resort. Meet at the Ski Tip Restaurant.
• Saturdays at Sipapu Ski and Summer Resort. Meet at the top of Lift 1.
“Rangers, who either ski or snowboard with visitors, will cover local cultural and natural history, along with information about the special use permits under which each ski resort operates,” according to a Carson National Forest press release. “Wildlife biologists, archeologists and firefighters will join some of the sessions and may cover geology, heritage sites, wilderness areas, water, sustainability, fire adapted ecosystems, recreation opportunities, safety and Leave No Trace ethics.
The Carson suggests attending tours each week to learn new information from different specialists.
Riding on Lift 1 at Sipapu with the Taos News last Saturday after she and Allalunis packed up an information table at the ski area base, Griffith explained that during the specific Jan. 14 tour, “We’ll stop at six spots on our way down the mountain and talk about, nature, trees, wildlife, fire and heritage sites.”
Atop her skis on a connecting trail below Lift 1, Griffith pointed west and noted that, “towards Taos we have the Pot Creek Cultural area, where, when there’s not snow on the ground, you can actually go into a kiva and there’s lots of pottery [shards] and so forth. And that’s where the pueblo people lived around 2,000 years ago. Then the Taos and Picuris pueblos split and went to their respective places in Peñasco and Taos, which are some of the longest-inhabited communities in the U.S. They’ve been there for over 1,000 years and they’re really cool places to visit and learn more about while you’re here.”
Tour participants asked questions at every stage of the tour, largely about trees and wildfire — but also animals — which was no surprise since the state’s largest wildfire, the Calf Canyon–Hermits Peak Fire, burned close to what Sipapu Mountain Manager John Paul Bradley estimated to the Taos News last summer was around a half-mile to a mile outside the ski area’s southeast boundary.
One man asked how old a large aspen stand was. Allalunis noted that aspens grow as a colony from a single root system and estimated the aspen stand to be around 60-70 years old at least, and noted that it likely sprouted after a wildfire.
“A lot of times an aspen stand will all be the same age, because that happened from a certain disturbance that happened at that time,” Allalunis said. “And so they all reached out to get together and they’ll grow to a larger size until there’s another disturbance that regenerates it and the saplings all start fresh from the roots.”
At another stop Griffith explained how snowmaking works.
“There’s not as much snowfall around here,” she said. “Humans have been making snow since the 50s. And they used to use a garden hose and dirt, over in Europe. I don’t know how effective that was, because you need a nucleus to make snow.
Griffith gestured to a large snowmaker under Lift 1, at which time one individual and their child who were riding the lift took the time to look down, assess the tour group and yell “heya!” and “Hi!”
“A machine like this has multiple nozzles; and it’ll have a very small nozzle that sends out little spurts that crystalize super fast because they’re a very very tiny amount of water,” which jettison through a ring of larger nozzles, Griffith explained. “And when the spray touches all those tiny ice crystals, they’re able to form snow.”
During the tour, Griffith also pointed out that Sipapu is the younger cousin to Agua Piedra, one of New Mexico’s oldest ski areas, which was located approximately two miles east of present-day Sipapu.
“Lloyd Bolander, the founder of Sipapu, learned to ski down there. His father actually worked for the Forest Service and he bought this land here in order to live a more sustainable lifestyle,” she said. “He bought this land for that, but two years later, in 1952, opened up Sipapu Ski and Summer resort. It likes to pride itself on being one of the oldest ski resorts and also