While this has been a fine season for skiing in New Mexico, Wolf Creek remains the snow monster of the southern Rockies. Their base has reached 70 inches as of late January. I'm interested in organizing a group to rent a house in Pagosa and ski over the February President’s Day weekend, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We could drive to Purgatory one of those days for a change in scenery if the interest is there (46” base).
On Monday, January 20th, we will snowshoe up the main trail to Cerro Grande Peak from the trailhead parking lot on State Route 4. The regular trail in the summer is about 4 miles round trip and 1300 feet elevation gain. In the winter sometimes the upper trail beyond the saddle could be nonexistent. We may need to go straight up from there. On the top at 10200 feet there are sweeping views of Valles Caldera.
Let's do an out/back X-C ski across the Valle Grande to the Valle de los Posos - we will have fabulous views of the Valles Caldera all day long. We will start from and return to the Coyote Call overlook on State Rte 4 (or another nearby turnout, depending upon the state of the snowplowing) We will ski north across the Valle Grande, then north-northeast towards the Valle de los Posos, and then return to the start. The tour will be ~9 miles round trip with ~400 ft elevation gain/loss. There will be new snow to break trail, and so, depending upon our speed, we may not ski the full tour to
Ever wonder about the physiological state referred to as screaming barfies, that strange attraction that some climbers have to water in its solid phase, or why some folks think having four pairs of gloves in their winter kit is better than a good idea? If you’ve ever thought that strapping sharp pointed objects to your feet, and that carrying objects in your hands that would make you a serious threat on a medieval battlefield is an interesting idea, than this trip is for you. Welcome to ice climbing.
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. Either a Pajarito Powerpass or a Local Powerpass offers three free days at Monarch, and otherwise tickets are relatively inexpensive online. Age 69 and up is free; seniors are age 62-68.
Let's do an intermediate, point-to-point snowshoe outing from the Las Conchas Trailhead to the East Fork Trailhead on Saturday January 11. This trip will cover 4.5 miles and about 800 feet of elevation gain. This trip will be of intermediate difficulty and technicality and participants should be able to hike 5 miles in 2.5 hours comfortably and have previous experience snowshoeing.
The Sabinoso Wilderness was establishedin 2009 but was surrounded by private land and was inaccessible for many years. Recently some adjacent land was purchased to allow access. It's east of Las Vegas, NM.
I plan a long day trip out there. I would take my van and camp but I don't know what the road is like, so I'll take my Jeep. I'll plan to leave early that morning, hike around most of the day and return late.
I don't have any route planned right now, but I'll make progress on that during the winter break. I'm not familiar with the area so we will be exploring.
From Santa Fe Ski Basin, we will snowshoe via Raven's Ridge to Deception Peak. Round trip 6 miles, ~2500 feet elevation gain. This is a strenuous climb with potentially very cold and windy condition on the top.
Los Alamos participants leaving from the LANB Parking Lot at 07:30. White Rock Participants departing the Y parking area at 07:45. Santa Fe participants meeting at the Northern New Mexico Campus parking area in Espanola at 08:00.
