New Mexico Ski Resorts Ranked & Mapped
Despite New Mexico having the reputation for being an always-warm state, it has a surprising number of ski resorts, most of which are located in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains above Albuquerque.
New Mexico Ski Season
The ski season at the ski resorts of New Mexico, typically runs from mid-December to mid-April, although this can vary depending on the weather conditions.
List of All New Mexico Ski Resorts
Out of the ski resorts in New Mexico, Taos Ski Valley is by far the most popular. It is also a member of both the IKON and Mountain Collective ski passes.
| Resort | Pass | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Angel Fire | POWD | Angel Fire, NM, 87710 |
| Pajarito | Santa Fe, NM, 87506 | |
| Red River | Red River, NM, 87558 | |
| Sandia Peak | Cedar Crest, NM, 87008 | |
| Sipapu | Vadito, NM, 87579 | |
| Ski Apache | Alto, NM, 88312 | |
| Ski Santa Fe | Santa Fe, NM, 87501 | |
| Taos Ski Valley | IKON,COLL | Taos Ski Valley, NM, 87525 |
Explaining Our ‘Difficulty Score’
Parks & Trips created a proprietary Difficulty Score that is generated by looking at the number of easy-intermediate-expert slopes by acreage and the maximum vertical drop of the overall resort.
Our algorithm compares each resort’s metrics with all others in North America, then gives each a Difficulty Score, which we use to rank them accordingly. Resorts with a lower score are easier than those with a higher one. However, a high score does not mean that the resort does not have any easy slopes, or vice versa. This is just an overall score given to the resort based on all its metrics grouped together.
The Most Difficult New Mexico Ski Resorts
Taos Ski Valley is by far the hardest ski resort in New Mexico. It has the steepest vertical drop and largest number of black diamond trails of any ski resort in the state. It is considered a very difficult ski resort by our metrics.
Ski Santa Fe and Angel Fire both are considered to have average difficulty, both with a very good mix of easy, intermediate and expert trails.
| Rank | Resort | Green Trails | Blue Trails | Black Trails | Difficulty ScoreTM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Taos Ski Valley | 24% | 25% | 51% | 73% |
| #2 | Ski Santa Fe | 20% | 40% | 40% | 55% |
| #3 | Angel Fire | 21% | 56% | 23% | 52% |
| #4 | Ski Apache | 20% | 60% | 20% | 49% |
| #5 | Sipapu | 20% | 40% | 40% | 49% |
The Easiest Ski Resorts in New Mexico
Sandia Peak is the easiest ski resort in New Mexico, but it is not beginner-level by any means. The only reason it takes the top spot here is because it has less than 10% of its trails rated as expert-level. The rest of the resorts that round out the top five are all around average in difficulty.
| Rank | Resort | Green Trails | Blue Trails | Black Trails | Difficulty ScoreTM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Sandia Peak | 35% | 55% | 10% | 39% |
| #2 | Red River | 32% | 38% | 30% | 47% |
| #3 | Pajarito | 20% | 50% | 30% | 48% |
| #4 | Sipapu | 20% | 40% | 40% | 49% |
| #5 | Ski Apache | 20% | 60% | 20% | 49% |
The Largest Ski Resorts in New Mexico
Choosing the largest ski resorts is a bit of a tricky proposition. Do you look at just the summit elevation? How about the total acreage, most trails, or steepest vertical drop?
Well, we decided to combine all four of those metrics into one ranking to get the best idea, although we fully admit this is completely subjective. We’ve given you all the data in the following table to make your own decision.
Taos Ski Valley is not only the most difficult ski resort, but also the largest. It has the highest summit, steepest vertical (by over 1,200 ft!), the most trails, and the most skiable acreage. Ski Apache is also a fairly large ski resort, but it pales in comparison to the sheer size of Taos.
| Rank | Resort | Summit Elevation | Base Elevation | Vertical Drop | Acres | Trails |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Taos Ski Valley | 12,481 ft | 9,350 ft | 3,131 ft | 1,294 | 110 |
| #2 | Ski Apache | 12,000 ft | 10,100 ft | 1,900 ft | 750 | 55 |
| #3 | Angel Fire | 10,677 ft | 8,600 ft | 2,077 ft | 560 | 81 |
| #4 | Ski Santa Fe | 12,075 ft | 10,350 ft | 1,725 ft | 660 | 86 |
| #5 | Red River | 10,350 ft | 8,750 ft | 1,600 ft | 290 | 57 |
