While the skiing in New Mexico has been remarkably good this season, Wolf Creek remains the snow monster of the southern Rockies, with a 75-plus inch base. I'm interested in taking advantage of the February long weekend to organize a group to rent a house in Pagosa and ski Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We could drive to Purgatory one of those days if the interest is there. Lift tickets at Wolf Creek are reasonably priced by mainline Colorado standards ($72 for adults, $43 for age 65+).
Join me for a weekly Tuesday night run up the ski hill. Meet at 5:30 pm at the end of the Pajarito Ski Hill parking lot . Look for my black Elantra. We'll skin/hike up (usually Pussycat) for one run down (or more if folks are up for it!). Bring a headlamp! It's still going to be dark for several weeks, and in the dark we'll stick to groomed runs. If you don't have skins, you can carry your stuff but you will be moving a lot more slowly (bring a backpack to strap your skis/board to) and working a lot harder.
Let's do a beginner snowshoe outing on East Fork trail on Saturday Feb 2. Participants should meet at the Los Alamos Nature Center at 9:15 a.m. or at the East Fork Trailhead at 10 a.m.
Join us on a Los Alamos class hike: a loop hike on Red Dot - Blue Dot Trails. We'll start at the Blue Dot Trailhead at White Rock's Overlook Park, taking the Canyon Rim Trail to Red Dot Trail, down to the Rio Grande, then up stream on the River Trail, and finally climb out of the White Rock Canyon via the Blue Dot Trail. There are some fabulous petroglyphs and incredible views along the way. It's about 7-8 mi roundtrip and up and down 900 ft in elevation. Let's start at 8:30 to hopefully avoid any inclement weather. Please let the trip leader know you are coming.
Many of the Pajarito season passes have at least 3 free days at Purgatory ski area near Durango, so let's go use them! My rough plan is to head up afternoon or evening on Thursday Jan. 31, ski at Purgatory Friday and Saturday, then either head back to Los Alamos on Sunday Feb. 3, or ski a partial day then head back. Purgatory has a reasonable snow base now (about 40 inches). We will find a place to rent either in Durango or closer to the ski area. Let me know at bill at priedhorsky dot net if you are interested, and we can find a rental house or condo and put together the rental fee.
In a repeat of a classic outing, let's head north over the Martin Luther King holiday weekend downhill/ crosscountry/ snowshoe around Monarch Pass. Signs so far are hopeful for the ski season, and snow at Monarch is generally reliable. We will head for Salida to establish a base in a comfortable house or cabin, and spend our days in winter sports in the Monarch Pass area. Any of the 3 top Pajarito season passes offer three free days at Monarch, and otherwise tickets are relatively inexpensive online.
Join PEEC, astrophysicist Galen Gisler, and Jean Dewart of the Los Alamos Mountaineers for an astronomy night hike and potluck dinner on Tuesday, January 15.
