Arizona/New Mexico 2022-2023 Four Corners Ski Resorts/Conditions/Meetups

[Andy Mink]

I skied there a few years ago. It didn't have great conditions at the time. We drove up last weekend and there was a lot of snow. It's a small place but good possibilities, even in the trees. I spoke to one of the patrollers or instructors and they said there was hope to work to expand. I don't know if that was up the mountain or across. The hike-to terrain looked pretty spicy.

 

[cholla]

Nice pics - thanks.

 

[teejaywhy]

Agreed. I thought a lodge/restaurant for the top of the gondola was also in the plans.

Not really sure I want to see that.

And a total rebuild of both Hart Prairie and Agassiz lodges.

Hart Prairie yes, It seems to be an awkward/ineffective layout. Odd that they need porta-johns outside. I'm a bit nostalgic about the Agassiz lodge, being that it dates back to my first memories of visiting the area. Closing day always offered a free kegger and live music out on the deck. But it is rather dark/dismal inside and could certainly use a refresh!

 

[Andy Mink]

Here are a few more from when I skied Lee Canyon at the end of December 2019.

 

[cholla]

It seems there is already an approved expansion plan for Lee Canyon. It doesn't seem to include any increase in vertical.

Lee Canyon Inches Closer to New Lifts

Well over two million people in the Las Vegas region have just one ski resort within day trip reach, a unique situation among western US metros. The mountain is Lee Canyon, which operates three fi…

liftblog.com

 

[raisingarizona]

The tree skiing and hike to terrain/back country there looks really good.

The scenery sure is pretty.


I doubt it makes much sense to invest in a lift that goes up any higher into that steep stuff. It’s probably not that often it has enough snow to be skiable and it doesn’t look appropriate for groomers or 99.99% of the Vegas ski market.

It seems like a wise purchase for Coleman. The Vegas ski crowd likes to vacation up at Brianhead. He’s got a good lock now on two of the most rapidly growing cities in the country.

I wonder what’s going on with the Nordic Valley expansion plans. It would be cool to see the lifts go up a lot higher and into the alpine there.

 

[Core2]

They had a big avalanche up at Lee Canyon this year. Also had a bc skier get killed in a separate incident.

 

[raisingarizona]

They had a big avalanche up at Lee Canyon this year. Also had a bc skier get killed in a separate incident.

That terrain ain't no joke!

A snowboarder was blown right off a chair and killed in 2005 from a slide that came down from above there too.

 

[raisingarizona]

The corned up groomer skiing this past week has been totally nuts. I've been busting out the metal rocket skis and effectively scaring the crap out of myself!

 

[raisingarizona]

 

[Core2]

I thought those were some Spatulas at first glance lol

 

[raisingarizona]

I thought those were some Spatulas at first glance lol

193 Kendo's with the top sheet stone ground off.

I skied on Volants for a few years while in Jackson. I loved Volants. They were the Cadillacs of ski brands imho. The steel wrap was as quiet as a ski can be and ate up ugly vibrations like a charm but they were real easy to bend if you stuffed a tip hard.

 

[Core2]

Snowbowl open through Memorial Day if you guys didnt catch the e-mail. What a great season up there!

 

[Core2]

Plenty of snow left and good spring vibes.

 

[Dryheat]

Your second photo has me intrigued. Were you hiking Kendrick Peak?

@Core2 - In your guesstimation, will the runouts to Agassiz and GCE survive another week naturally? Or will AZSB Ops be harvesting to open next weekend?

 

[Core2]

Your second photo has me intrigued. Were you hiking Kendrick Peak?

@Core2 - In your guesstimation, will the runouts to Agassiz and GCE survive another week naturally? Or will AZSB Ops be harvesting to open next weekend?

Yes, it is from Kendrick Peak. I think GCE has one more weekend, they are already harvesting snow there. Gondola will go the distance.

 

[Dryheat]

Was going to go up today. Took a look at the forecast this morning and figured it wouldn't be a full day.

As predicted. Those that went up....got let down.

 

[clong83]

The tree skiing and hike to terrain/back country there looks really good.

The scenery sure is pretty.


I doubt it makes much sense to invest in a lift that goes up any higher into that steep stuff. It’s probably not that often it has enough snow to be skiable and it doesn’t look appropriate for groomers or 99.99% of the Vegas ski market.

It seems like a wise purchase for Coleman. The Vegas ski crowd likes to vacation up at Brianhead. He’s got a good lock now on two of the most rapidly growing cities in the country.

I wonder what’s going on with the Nordic Valley expansion plans. It would be cool to see the lifts go up a lot higher and into the alpine there.

I was in Vegas this winter for a work trip. I took the opportunity to check out Lee Canyon.

It is small, but fun. The snow was really good, and there was a load of side country that has nice potential. Not terribly steep in bounds, but some good tree skiing. The out of bounds hike to terrain up high was steep and looked severe enough that I didn't really want to go into it without a local to help me navigate the avy chutes. Even then I probably wouldn't want to go up there without a beacon, shovel, etc. That said, I did hike up a couple hundred yards a couple of times through safer terrain just to get a hair more vertical.

The lifts could maybe go a bit higher, but I doubt they will. One guy I rode the lift with told me that one of the chairs actually did used to go up higher, but that the upper terminal got knocked out in an avalanche so they moved the upper terminal down the mountain and out of the path when they rebuilt. Seems like avy concerns could really limit how much expansion you do up the mountain, but you can leave it as some really nice hike to for experienced folks.

 

[raisingarizona]

I was in Vegas this winter for a work trip. I took the opportunity to check out Lee Canyon.

It is small, but fun. The snow was really good, and there was a load of side country that has nice potential. Not terribly steep in bounds, but some good tree skiing. The out of bounds hike to terrain up high was steep and looked severe enough that I didn't really want to go into it without a local to help me navigate the avy chutes. Even then I probably wouldn't want to go up there without a beacon, shovel, etc. That said, I did hike up a couple hundred yards a couple of times through safer terrain just to get a hair more vertical.

The lifts could maybe go a bit higher, but I doubt they will. One guy I rode the lift with told me that one of the chairs actually did used to go up higher, but that the upper terminal got knocked out in an avalanche so they moved the upper terminal down the mountain and out of the path when they rebuilt. Seems like avy concerns could really limit how much expansion you do up the mountain, but you can leave it as some really nice hike to for experienced folks.

That avalanche happen during the epic winter of 04/05. It didn’t just take out the terminal unfortunately, a person sitting on the chair was blown off and killed as well.

the location of the old terminal was nuts. It must have been planned by someone from Vegas that hadn’t had much experience in the mountains.

 

[cholla]

This pic was taken this past Saturday while on a gravel bike ride. Looks like there's still some skiable terrain off of Humphrey's Peak, if you're @raisingarizona