Community comes together in Taos Ski Valley

Dave Norden

We were thrilled to host our first-ever Community Weekend last month, with the aim of introducing and getting more locals up to, and on, the mountain for the first time. We encouraged everyone to participate in free base-area activities, including sledding and ice skating or first-time snowsports lessons. The result was wonderful: local first-timers and regulars alike celebrating this special mountain, enjoying the power of the great outdoors, and reveling in the unique beauty of this community.

Roughly 300 people took advantage of the free first-time lessons, and around 250 guests enjoyed the Eis Haus Ice Skating Rink. We also gave away around 200 sets of kids’ skis and boots from our rental fleet. Of locals who attended, more than three quarters of them reported it was their first time participating in winter outdoor activities in Taos Ski Valley. We were honored and grateful to create this opportunity to share this special place with more members of our own community. Nearly all participants said they would like to attend another community event, so we are happy to announce that that we look forward to hosting more community programming in the future.

And from one impactful community story to another: I also want to share the moving way locals and the ski industry came together to support efforts to get more Taos-area school kids skiing and riding this winter.

Our amazing partner, the nonprofit Taos Winter Sports Team (TWST), offers a fantastic and lowcost school kids’ program to get local kids up to the mountain for snow sports lessons. We are very proud to be the host mountain for their program. Each year, TWST also provides full scholarships for economically-disadvantaged families. Taos Winter Sports Team anticipated that 75 kids would apply for this assistance this winter, however, they ended up receiving applications for 120 potential student participants. Rather than turn these eager young athletes away, TWST wanted to find a way to raise additional funds to provide the scholarships needed by our community.

In an effort to support TWST, we reached out to our staff and our network of loyalists, asking if they would consider helping sponsor the next generation of winter athletes from Taos County. The response was immediate and heartening: A slew of donations poured in — some large, some small. Our sponsored athlete, Olympian River Radamus, even joined in on the effort, making a large donation himself and putting out the call to his network as well.

Taos Winter Sports Team has now more than covered the scholarship needs for their winter 2023 applicants and looks forward to reserving the additional funds to apply toward next year’s program.

Taos is a special place. I’m thrilled that we all continue to find ways to collaborate for the good of the community, and I’m deeply proud that Taos Ski Valley can be a place where connections can happen.

TAOS SKI VALLEY COMMUNITY CONNECTION