Pajarito, NM

[Anxious Mo-Fo]

Still haven't skied there, but hope to this season. Does anyone have photos or an old TR?

Tried a search, but no dice.

[Artie Fufkin]

I used to live relatively close to Pajarito, but never checked it out. Some poeple in the Los Alamos, Santa Fe and ABQ area say it's a great locals hill. But I always drove another 45 minutes up to Taos.

http://www.skipajarito.com/

http://www.skipajarito.com/graphics/...ihill_west.jpg

[up an down]

i've never skied there but i know some who have.. unless your goal is to add to the number of places you've skied at, go to taos instead

[MOHSHSIHd]

looks pretty flat....

[AntiSoCalSkier]

I remember reading somewhere that they have a fairly cool anti-grooming policy. I think they only groom a few slopes, and even those only get groomed once a week?

[Telenater]

I worked right over the backside of Pajarito this summer when I was in NM. Rode past it on my mtb a few times. I wouldn't call it steep, but it looked like it has some respectable terrain for a local hill (and the potential for some amazing trees).

[1080Rider]

Pajarito= little bird? Cool name. Might be fun to ski w/ fresh snow.

[maddog]

This is a kick ass mountain. I learned to ski on it and have spent some of the best times of my life there. (I believe it's where Dean Cummings learned to ski, although that was a bit after my time).
Here's some inside lines: Everything on the east (left side of the picture) side is pretty mild, but Lil Abner, Sundance, and Daisy May can be nice if there's new snow. Everything between the Lone Spruce chair and the Aspen Chair is great, especially Mushroom and Racing Slope (Mal's Run). There's an old rope tow cut through the trees at the bottom of Racing Slope thet's great fun if you can find it. Aspen (underneath the triple chair) is very nice especially at the top if there's plenty of snow and an awesome cruiser if groomed. Wildcat and Compromise (skier's left of Aspen Chair) offer great bumps. The steepest slopes are called the "Fab Four" (skiers left of Big Mother Chair). That's Nother Mother, Breathless, Prescious, and I forget the name of the other one. Go there first on a powder day. There's excellent trees almost everywhere, and Ma Bell (an old telephone line cut) on the far west side cuts off at an odd angle, but has a nice 10-12 foot cliff toward the bottom (rather flat landing). I Don't Care, if groomed, can be a real screamer ( I call it "Don's Last" because my good friend Don died when he lost it into the trees at the bottom.).
Straight back from Big Mother Chair is a small cornice that's kind of fun if you want to hike a little and on super deep years you can ski straight off the back of Lone Spruce , and follow the Water Canyon drainage all the way out to State Road 4 (you'll want to park a car by the exit).
This is not a "flat" mountain. It's quite steep at the top all the way across, especially on the west side. It's less steep in the middle and mellows out toward the bottom. It's kind of like Turner Mountain in Montana that way, but the terrain reminds me more of Whitewater in BC. It's only about 1400' vertical (about 10400' at the summit) but is very well designed. The first slopes were cut by the Manhattan Project scientists in the 1940's when they were taking the day off from building nuclear bombs to drop on Japan! It's still maintained by the Los Alamos ski club.
It's definitely worth a trip, especially if Taos has less than about A 72" base. I'll be there mid Jan. If you want a tour, just let me know.
P.S. I'm only telling these secrets because the maggots were so great about sharing theirs last winter at Alta, Snowbird and Snowbasin!