The Best Place — A Love Letter to Ski Santa Fe

I have skied from Argentina to Switzerland and more than a dozen countries in between, published two books about the sport, and covered three different Olympics. But when it comes to winter, Ski Santa Fe is the place I love the most.

There is something so special here, in the easygoing smiles of the lifties and locals, the long runs, and the perfect deep blue skies like an ocean above your head. A daily dream state of elevated opportunities, filled with harmony, completely free of stress.
 
Before I moved here from Colorado, some thirty-plus years ago I had no idea such an amazing place could exist. Gazing up at the shiny white horizon of Tesuque Peak, I told my neighbor I was going to tour for some turns. He said, “Or you could just ride the lift.”

I said, “There are lifts?”

10,350 Feet
I’ve had a season pass ever since. Skiing on the snow days when the powder piles up on your coat. On the windy days with a scarf across your face. And the sunny days when it seems like you make a new friend on every chair you share. Those endless days when you wonder why you ever do anything else.

I feel like I work for the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce when I tell people that the base elevation of the ski area is 10,350 feet—higher than the summit of most ski areas in the U.S.—and that when you are skiing or snowboarding down the perfect blue piste of Gayway, the entire expanse of the Rio Grande Valley unfolds beneath your feet.

On the Santa Fe Express High Speed Quad you can lap the perfect moguls of Muerte, carve the perfect piste of Midway, or chase your shadow down the effortless arcs of Open Slope. You can turn through the perfectly spaced trees of Cornice off the Tesuque Triple or cruise the breathtaking steeps of Parachute.

And on the Millennium Chair you can drop into the steep glades of Columbine or Big Rocks, again and again, with every turn and every run a different experience. So special and unique that I remember each turn again when I go to bed.

A Singular Experience

But it’s the other people I meet who ride here that I love the most. The local restaurant owners or musicians or artists who I meet on the lift. The families from Texas or New York City or Los Angeles who can’t believe that there is such a lovely mountain just outside of the historic city of Santa Fe, one of the most storied, beautiful towns in all the U.S.

Those friendships you make in just a few minutes of riding up into the mountain air with all of the beautiful white snow beneath you and the endless open air above your head. Those knowing nods of agreement about how you can’t imagine anything better than just going up and down the slopes.

I wish I was there with you right now. The two of us. Laughing about how good we’ve got it. Celebrating this magical moment on earth.

I look forward to seeing you on the slopes!

• Peter Kray

Peter Kray is a writer and reporter who has been skiing and snowboarding Ski Santa Fe for 30 years. He is a ski instructor at Ski Santa Fe who thinks that everyone should take a ski or snowboard lesson at least once a year to keep expanding their enjoyment of the slopes.