City: Taos, NM

Category: Getting Here, Getting Around

Telephone: (505) 751-1201, (800) 654-9456

Address: 102 Demus Lane

Description: Twin Hearts will take you from the Albuquerque airport all the way to south-central Colorado, if you want, with stops at Santa Fe, Taos, and other points in between. Departures are four times daily and will stop at all Santa Fe hotels, motels, and bed-and-breakfasts on the roughly three-hour journey.

City: Taos, NM

Category: Parks & Recreation

Telephone: (866) 968-7386, ext. 1262 (tic

Address: 80 miles north of Santa Fe on Highway 15

Description: When visitors think of skiing in New Mexico, they usually think of Taos, the state’s most famous ski resort. Outside Magazine ranks Taos Ski Valley as one of the top 15 resorts in North America, with references to fun in the steeps and thrills on the bump runs.Visitors return year after year, in part because of the resort’s well-regarded Ernie Blake Ski School and its popular learn-to-ski week. Taos also attracts many first-time visitors who learn about it through the area’s extensive national marketing program, ads in major ski publications, an active group sales program, and through the area’s sophisticated Web site.Founded in 1956 by Swiss skier and entrepreneur Ernie Blake and now run by his family, Taos Ski Valley established its fame on the challenge of its terrain and the European quality of the resort itself. With a base elevation of 9,207 feet and a peak elevation of 11,819 feet, Taos has a vertical drop of 2,612 feet. The longest run is more than 5 miles.Taos boasts 321 inches of snow in an average year and is famous for its light, dry powder. The area can supplement nature’s efforts with snowmaking on 100 percent of the beginner and intermediate terrain.To reach the slopes, the area offers skiers four quad lifts, a triple, five doubles, and three surface lifts. The 13 lifts can handle 15,300 skiers per hour—the largest skier capacity of any New Mexico ski area. Al’s Run, directly under the No. 1 lift, is a marathon of bumps where you’ll find hard-core, hard-muscled mogul hounds. Taos offers chutes, bowls, and cruising runs. Experts who enjoy a challenge love to ski the ridge, an area above the named runs that involves a strenuous climb before you start to ski. Previously prohibited, snowboarding is now permitted at Taos Ski Valley. The Out to Launch terrain park has two huge airs, a hip, a quarter pipe, and rails and is groomed nightly.Although the mountain is a skilled skier’s paradise, there’s more than enough terrain here for beginners and intermediates. Of the 110 named runs, 24 percent are beginner, 25 percent intermediate, and 51 percent advanced. While some who ski here go home with stories of the steep High Traverse or the powder challenge on Lower Stauffenberg, others can speak of their skiing breakthroughs during the Learn to Ski and Learn to Ski Better weeks. Ski Magazine has ranked Taos’ Ernie Blake Ski School as one of the best in the United States. The Ski Week programs, offered throughout the season, match students of similar ability with a teacher who can help them move on to the next level of skiing. Taos also offers special programs for women, older skiers, telemarkers, and teens. Super Ski Weeks welcome intermediate or advanced skiers who want intensive drills and exercises and specific instructions in racing, moguls, and adventure skiing. You can also take a single class or a workshop in racing or mogul skiing. For the novice, Taos’ traditional Yellowbird Programs cater to first- and second-day skiers with morning and afternoon lessons, a lift ticket, and rentals. Private and group lessons are available.Taos Kinderkäfig Children’s Center provides a safe atmosphere for children ages six weeks to three years of age. The Junior Elite ski program teaches youngsters ages three to 12 how to ski. The children’s programs have an 18,000-square-foot center with its own ticket counter, ski rental and accessory shop, and cafeteria.Recent improvements at the area include reshaping and recontouring some runs to improve skiing and reduce congestion. But what hasn’t changed here is the prohibition of snowboarders. Taos is one of the few areas in the country where skiers don’t have to share the slopes. The resort has an independent, noncorporate spirit. In addition to the Blake family, other skiing families own the lodges in the valley, and there’s not a franchise outfit among them. Most of the innkeepers, not surprisingly, are skiers themselves who found the valley’s conditions irresistible.At the Resort Center, you’ll find places to purchase equipment and sportswear and to rent skis, boots, and poles, including high-performance and demo models. You can eat at Tenderfoot Katie’s Cafeteria or Rhoda’s Restaurant. At the Martini Tree Bar you can have a cocktail and listen to live music. You can also eat at two on-mountain restaurants, The Phoenix and Whistlestop Cafe.Want to spend the night instead of driving back to Santa Fe? You can stay in slope-side accommodations within walking distance of the lifts or elsewhere in the valley. You’ll find about 20 lodges, but no high-rises. Most lodges have their own restaurants and offer après-ski and evening entertainment. There are also bed-and-breakfasts and condominiums. Be advised, however, they tend to fill up fast, especially over the holidays. Another popular option is to stay in the town of Taos and ride the shuttle to the ski valley and back.With more than 80 galleries, seven museums, and numerous restaurants serving traditional northern New Mexican cuisine and gourmet fare, the nearby town of Taos certainly adds to the skier’s overall experience—and gives nonskiers plenty to do. The shops here offer high-quality weaving, furniture, pottery, jewelry, and more. And historic Taos Pueblo, which provides guided tours, is just a short drive away. Taos sits on the Río Grande Plateau at 8,000 feet, 1,000 feet higher than Santa Fe, and is much colder in winter, averaging 10° Fahrenheit at night. Be sure to come prepared for the cold.