All Resorts

Taos Ski Valley

The highest base area outside of Colorado, with 12,481 feet of summit and the best in-bounds hike-to terrain in America.

Our Take

Taos Ski Valley sits at 9,207 feet of base elevation in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of New Mexico -- higher than most Colorado resort summits -- on a mountain built by Ernie Blake, a Swiss-German émigré who discovered the terrain in 1955 and spent the rest of his life building one of the most intensely technical ski areas in North America. The Blake family ran the resort as an independent operation with a specific philosophy (adults over children for decades, no snowboards until 2008) until selling to a Texas investment group in 2013. The essentials survived: the mountain is genuinely hard, the culture is serious about skiing, and the views from 12,481 feet of summit extend to Colorado on a clear day. The Taos experience centers on Highline Ridge -- the knife-edge traverse that accesses the resort's most extreme in-bounds terrain including West Basin Ridge, Kachina Peak, and the upper mountain's hike-to zones. This is legitimate expert skiing: long approaches, significant exposure, consequences for errors. The intermediate skiing off the Kachina and Al's Run lifts is also excellent and dramatically more manageable. Taos joined the Ikon pass in 2019, which increased access and investment but also increased weekend crowds at a mountain that was previously quiet by Colorado standards.

Expert and extreme terrain huntersHigh-altitude devoteesIkon pass holdersHike-to skiing enthusiastsSouthwest ski culture devotees

Nerd Stats

Summit Elevation

12,481'

Base Elevation

9,207'

Avg Annual Snowfall

300"

Skiable Acres

1,294

Fun Facts

  • Taos base elevation is 9,207 feet -- higher than the summit of most Eastern ski resorts. You're at altitude before you click in.
  • Founder Ernie Blake banned snowboards until 2008 -- 25 years after most major resorts integrated them. The ban was lifted after Blake's children took over.
  • Kachina Peak at 12,481 feet requires a 45-minute boot pack and drops through above-treeline chutes with 1,200 feet of vertical and zero margin for error.
  • Taos averages 300 inches of annual snowfall in a continental climate that keeps it cold and dry -- the combination of altitude and dry air produces exceptional powder.