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2022 Taos Mini-Gathering - January 22 - January 29, 2022

dbostedo

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2022 Taos Mini-Gathering, January 22 - January 29, 2022
NOTE : This is a living post and will be changed as new information becomes available (last updated 10/21/2021)​

Taos 020120 096 ACR Conv Pano.jpg
West Basin Ridge from Lift 2, January 2020. All of the ridge is hike-to double-black terrain.


After much debate in the date picking thread, the final call was for next season's Taos Mini-Gathering to be the week of January 22-29, 2022. ... The first Taos gathering was 2 people, the second was about 20, and in 2020 we had about 40. 2021 was a year off unfortunately, but we'll be back in 2022!

As always, anyone and everyone is welcome at a Gathering and the planning and coordination is minimal. Just show up on the right week, and you'll have some great folks to ski with! And at Taos most folks will likely do a Ski Week (week's worth of lessons). Personally, this will be my 4th Taos Gathering, and I'm really looking forward to it.

If you haven't done a Ski Week before, it's been a good deal, and well worth it. You get six 2-hour small group lessons - one each morning Sunday through Friday - for a good price. The price for 2022 is up slightly over 2020, at ~$356 including tax. You can find the info or order here: https://www.skitaos.com/things-to-do/snowsports-programs/ski-weeks

Taos instructors and lesson programs are very well regarded, and I've always had a great time and learned a lot, though YMMV. One thing to note is that for about the same price, if you can get a group of 5 together who would like to take a lesson together, you can book a private Snowsports Week. That would let you not get randomly assigned to a group and make sure you ski with the people you want to.

If you're planning to come, please add yourself in the roll call thread, here: https://www.skitalk.com/threads/2022-taos-mini-gathering-roll-call.23842/

Lift Tickets

Taos is part of the Ikon Pass, and Mountain Collective Pass, so those are good options. But it's not a terribly expensive walk-up rate typically either. For the 2021-2022 season, the weekday rate is ~$75, with weekend days quite a bit more at $110 - $135. Discounts are available for multi-day tickets.

Ikon Reservations Required
For 2021-2022, Taos is requiring Ikon pass holders to reserve their days. This can be done on the Ikon pass website by going to your account.

(NOTE: The information below was accurate a couple of seasons ago... but Taos has been adding buildings and changing the village as it grows. So things are subject to change.)

Taos Ski Valley

Taos is well known for having difficult terrain, with an abundance of steeps and chutes, many of which are hike-to terrain. But there's plenty of tough stuff that doesn't require a hike too. Taos is also known for an abundance of bumps, and many of the lessons will spend time in bumps, at pretty much all skiing levels. And for anyone that doesn't ski the more difficult stuff (like me much of the time) there are some nice groomers, easy trees, and easier bumps too!

You can view the trail map here: https://www.skitaos.com/sites/default/files/2020-10/taos __ trail map __ 2020.pdf


Parking

If you're not staying at the base village, the drive up is typically easy on a well maintained canyon road. And parking is easy, with "cattle car" type shuttles that circulate the lot to take you up to the base.

1627085014784.png


Boot-Up

Taos has a nice locker room in the lower level of the cafeteria building. It has pay lockers and cubbies.

Taos 020120 001 ACR Conv.jpg


Daily meet-ups

Typically, folks tend to meetup in the locker room or at lift 1 at opening (9:00 AM) to get a warm-up lap or two in before the morning lessons (which start at ~9:30).

Then after lunch, there's another chance to meet-up and form some groups at ~1:00, again near lift one, as shown in the diagram below. And Taos is not all that large, and there's a pretty good chance you'll run into folks around the mountain during the morning or afternoon too.

1627085054821.png


Past Gatherings

If you'd like to see a bit about prior Taos Gatherings, here are my trip reports from the last couple:

https://www.pugski.com/threads/taos-the-mini-gathering-2019.14160/

I hope to see a lot of folks make it this season!


Taos 020120 081 ACR Conv Pano.jpg
Kachina Peak behind the Highline Ridge
 
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dbostedo

dbostedo

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I’d love some recommendations and where to stay and when to book. Thanks!
There are typically 4 options... note I'll differentiate here between Taos Ski Valley (TSV) and Taos the town (Taos) which are about a half hour drive apart.

1) Stay in the base village

Somewhat expensive, but nice to be walkable to the slopes, or slope-side. The Blake is the fancy hotel they put in a few years ago and is very nice. Snake Dance, Powderhorn, and Alpine Village suites are central and popular. The St Bernard is old school - it's been there for a long time and a lot of people like to stay there. Plus there are quite a few condos/townhouses for rent. Some of them are a short walk, and some of them are a hilly walk, so you might want to figure that out before booking. (The altitude can be a killer on a long uphill walk back to a condo.)

2) Stay in the canyon down the road

A couple of miles down the canyon road from TSV there is a small group of hotels. I know folks that have stayed in Austing Haus a few times and like it fine. (Though the hotel may be having issues and not have availability this coming season - something to check on.) I'm not sure if I know anyone who's stayed in the other ones. The disadvantage here is you still need to drive or take a shuttle to the slopes, and it's a longer drive into the town of Taos is you want to get groceries or hit the restaurants.

3) Stay in Arroyo Seco on another area between the town of Taos, and Taos Ski Valley

This is what I did at the last Gathering, and it worked out great. 15 minute drive to ski, 15 minute drive to Taos. We were able to get a nice 2 bedroom house with a hotttub for about $1000 for the week from either AirBnB or VRBO. There aren't a ton of places - it's pretty rural - but you can find some.

4) Stay in Taos

The town is cool, though not really a typical ski town. It's a little more sprawling, and not as fancy. But there are coffee shops, and restaurants, and breweries, and I've usually made the trip into town once or twice for dinner no matter where I'm staying. The only drawback is the drive to ski.

As far as driving, TSV is up a windy canyon road, a little reminiscent of Alta/Snowbird, though with much less chance of it being a white-knuckle snowy drive. They maintain it well so it's usually fine. Still on a good snow day, it could be a bit treacherous.

As for when to book, for this season there seems to be a fear that you'll need to book early, hence these early announcements. In past seasons, I've usually booked in September, or as late as October.
 
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Pat AKA mustski

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We stayed at the Sierra del Sol condos which were an easy 2 minute walk to the locker room for morning meet ups. The condos are all individually owned but it is well managed. We liked it very much.
 

ForeverSki

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I stayed at the Snakedance condos. It’s slope side and a very short walk to the lift. I have to stick to the later week so I’ll miss you guys.:(
 

Wendy

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There are typically 4 options... note I'll differentiate here between Taos Ski Valley (TSV) and Taos the town (Taos) which are about a half hour drive apart.

1) Stay in the base village

Somewhat expensive, but nice to be walkable to the slopes, or slope-side. The Blake is the fancy hotel they put in a few years ago and is very nice. Snake Dance, Powderhorn, and Alpine Village suites are central and popular. The St Bernard is old school - it's been there for a long time and a lot of people like to stay there. Plus there are quite a few condos/townhouses for rent. Some of them are a short walk, and some of them are a hilly walk, so you might want to figure that out before booking. (The altitude can be a killer on a long uphill walk back to a condo.)

2) Stay in the canyon down the road

A couple of miles down the canyon road from TSV there is a small group of hotels. I know folks that have stayed in Austing Haus a few times and like it fine. (Though the hotel may be having issues and not have availability this coming season - something to check on.) I'm not sure if I know anyone who's stayed in the other ones. The disadvantage here is you still need to drive or take a shuttle to the slopes, and it's a longer drive into the town of Taos is you want to get groceries or hit the restaurants.

3) Stay in Arroyo Seco on another area between the town of Taos, and Taos Ski Valley

This is what I did at the last Gathering, and it worked out great. 15 minute drive to ski, 15 minute drive to Taos. We were able to get a nice 2 bedroom house with a hotttub for about $1000 for the week from either AirBnB or VRBO. There aren't a ton of places - it's pretty rural - but you can find some.

4) Stay in Taos

The town is cool, though not really a typical ski town. It's a little more sprawling, and not as fancy. But there are coffee shops, and restaurants, and breweries, and I've usually made the trip into town once or twice for dinner no matter where I'm staying. The only drawback is the drive to ski.

As far as driving, TSV is up a windy canyon road, a little reminiscent of Alta/Snowbird, though with much less chance of it being a white-knuckle snowy drive. They maintain it well so it's usually fine. Still on a good snow day, it could be a bit treacherous.

As for when to book, for this season there seems to be a fear that you'll need to book early, hence these early announcements. In past seasons, I've usually booked in September, or as late as October.
Thanks. Yeah, I know Taos, but have only been to TSV once, in summer, and certainly wasn’t paying attention to lodging up there at the time.
 

Marker

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We stayed in Taos during the summer at a house (pre-VRBO). The town was just what I was looking for. My recollection was a longer than 30 minute drive to TSV and that was summer.
 

KingGrump

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We stayed in Taos during the summer at a house (pre-VRBO). The town was just what I was looking for. My recollection was a longer than 30 minute drive to TSV and that was summer.

Yes, it is quite tricky to depress the loud pedal and work that round thingy in front of you at the same time.
 

Tony S

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My general sense is that Grumps enjoy the little buzzing cloud of visiting flatlanders. However I think it's safe to assume that they aren't at Taos because they want to take on any formal responsibilities beyond the requisite heckling, trash talk, and occasional demo of geriatric mogul skiing.
 

KingGrump

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Yes - being equivocal.
No - volunteering for Gathermeister.

The Gathermeister position is already filled. I am just here for s**ts and giggles.
 

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