Read skier and snowboarder-submitted reviews on Taos Ski Valley that rank the ski resort and mountain town on a scale of one to five stars for attributes such as terrain, nightlife and family friendliness. See how Taos Ski Valley stacks up in the reviews, on and off the slopes, from skiing and family activities to the après scene. Read up on pros, cons and other comments in reviews left by fellow skiers and riders. Don't forget to submit your own Taos Ski Valley review! Scroll to the bottom of this page to let other travelers know about your skiing and resort experience.
Reviews for Taos Ski Valley
Total (3.7)
A ski resort's overall star rating displayed here is not calculated based on a simple average but takes several factors, including the age of a review, into account.
Fabulous mountain especially with new snow. Often Kachina opens a few days after a storm so don’t be surprised.
Dylan Pike
My friend and I visited this resort in the middle of a lengthy ski trip and were extremely impressed with the resort as a whole, the culture and mountain. The base area is very modern and welcoming, the mountain is deceptively large, and the terrain variety is perfect for all skill levels. Expert terrain accessible via hike is some of the best (and most accessible) hike-to terrain I have skied, making this an excellent resort for experienced skiers. This will likely be an annual resort for me to visit!
Joel Scott
Wish there were more park terrain, but great bars and restaurants on resort. Hot tub and heated pool came in handy!
Kyle Klimoski
Love this place! Everything about Taos is magical. The people are nice, great energy and mountain. Lots of challenging terrain and great groomers. Definitely recommend this place!
Queequeg
Taos is an amazing place as far as terrain and scenery. While some think the tickets are overpriced, you get a lot of skiing in since there are essentially no lift lines (5 minutes would be a long line). The staff and patrol are the best, making it a very friendly place to ski. The double diamond runs are unparalleled when the cover is good--like this year.
Mickey Claxton
Taos is trying to turn itself into an Aspen of New Mexico. The lift tickets are nearly twice the cost of surrounding areas. Taos does have some excellent expert terrain. But as they upgrade amenities and add flights to the airport, this will become an exclusive destination for the wealthy. Goodbye, old Taos.
Kara
I have been skiing here since 1989 and I am not very impressed with the conditions since the corporate buyout. For example, I skied 1 run before the resort closed for the day around 11:15 AM. I was told I could not get a refund or even a credit since I had my ticked “scanned.” The next day, the main lift didn’t open until 11 AM and there were the longest lines I have ever seen. Lift #2 opened around 1:30 PM. Thanks, Corporate America
Loyd Dobbler
The change in pricing the past few years has been a major turn off for locals that don't invest in a season pass. No alliance with Epic and limited days with Ikon requires you to buy a season pass or day tickets. Day tickets are close to $200 unless you buy them way ahead of time. Good news is they have upgraded some lifts and base facilities over the past few years. Bad news is I will likely not be skiing there more than a day or two each season unless the pricing structure changes. The steeps are great if you hike up. I pretty much assume that Kachina Lift will not be running the days I am there.
Anonymous
Many helpful staff around, no wait time I ski lift lines, ski lifts extremely well kept and safe, also a huge variety of beautiful skiing and snowboarding trails, and an overall good vibe with many great people around!
Jay A.
Skied at Taos for last 10 years as it can be done as a weekend trip from El Paso. The new owner is trying to sell it as family resort but the place totally lacks beginners runs. The main green run down to the only lift at the base is a narrow access road. It is shared by absolute beginners and expert skiers leading to lots of collision and near misses. The only fast lift is running very slow at times as lots of "family vacation crowd" does not even know how to load and unload. The good thing is that beginners do not last long and by 10:30 there is hardly anybody in line as the lines in cafeterias and beer garden are getting long. Recently I have been seeing more and more beginners having terrible time at the top of lift One, creating another crowded and dangerous area. Other lifts are outrageously OLD, like 50 to 60 years old and slow. The only good blue cruiser is Staufenberg and Bambi (maybe). Other blue ones do not go from top to bottom of the lift and are cut by black stretches or greens. Snow in early season is reliably absent and I really feel sorry for people spending bunch of money to visit Taos for Christmas. To add more to the injury, the day ticket prices are astronomical - $180 during spring break or Christmas. There is lots of places with more varied terrain at a better price.
Enough complaining. If you are an advanced or strong intermediate skier, there is many things to love about Taos. Plenty of challenging runs. Lower front side has an excellent snow preservation due to shading trees. If you like steep moguls and trees, there is few better places. Surprisingly there is very few venturing on these runs and one can be there virtually alone even during peak season. Since they put the faster lift #1, I have been mostly doing lower front steeps as sitting on the other slow lifts became intolerable in comparison.
Again, Taos is a good choice if you can drive to it under 6 hours, already know how to ski and come later in the season (February, March). If you fly in, go to UT, WY or CO. I cannot overstress it - not for beginners. If some says anything different - they took money to say it.
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