Back From Our First Trip...Thanks for the Tips! (Albuquerque: ski resort, buying)

[Buns]

Well, everyone, thanks again for all of the information you've provided me the last couple of days. The husband and I returned back to AZ yesterday after spending a few days in Albuquerque.

We both agree...we LOVED it and are moving forward with our plans to relocate there, hopefully within the next year.

I really appreciate everyone's suggestions and opinions and descriptions on the different parts of the city. We drove around A LOT. I made lots of notes on my map.

We did really like the NE Heights area (especially off of Academy), but we also liked the Rio Rancho area, as well. We are leaning towards buying new, so that puts RR towards the top of our list. But, we still have time...

I'm going to start thinking ahead now towards winter, and plan a ski trip to Abq. Thinking mid-January? Would like to come and check out the winter weather in Abq., and of course, the slopes. Think we'll stick with Sandia for this trip, so we can still enjoy the city and do some more investigating for our future move.

Thanks again everyone!

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Buns

Well, everyone, thanks again for all of the information you've provided me the last couple of days. The husband and I returned back to AZ yesterday after spending a few days in Albuquerque.

We both agree...we LOVED it and are moving forward with our plans to relocate there, hopefully within the next year.

I really appreciate everyone's suggestions and opinions and descriptions on the different parts of the city. We drove around A LOT. I made lots of notes on my map.

We did really like the NE Heights area (especially off of Academy), but we also liked the Rio Rancho area, as well. We are leaning towards buying new, so that puts RR towards the top of our list. But, we still have time...

I'm going to start thinking ahead now towards winter, and plan a ski trip to Abq. Thinking mid-January? Would like to come and check out the winter weather in Abq., and of course, the slopes. Think we'll stick with Sandia for this trip, so we can still enjoy the city and do some more investigating for our future move.

Thanks again everyone!

Depending on the weather trend this coming season, you may or may not get much skiing at Sandia in January.

Nita

[mortimer]

Originally Posted by nmnita

... may or may not get much skiing at Sandia in January.

They can make their own snow at Sandia.

January is the coldest month, so snow-making works best then.

[Cathy4017]

For Sandia, only 30 acres out of the 200 skiable acres have snowmaking. It's expensive and requires a ton of overnight labor and water.

Sandia Peak Ski Resort - Lift Ticket Deals, Reviews & Snow Reports

New Mexico as a whole--as far as skiing goes--is often very, very poor. It's not what it once was in the 1970s-80s, especially as far south as Ski Apache at Alto. The more northern parts of the state (Angel Fire, Red River, Sipapu, Taos) sometimes fare better.

I'm hoping for good conditions at all NM resorts this winter......but not optimistic.

[rybert]

Santa Fe was excellent this past season.

[Towanda]

I had some friends who skied at Santa Fe and Taos this past winter, and said both places were very good.

Maybe they were not as good as the 70s and 80s; I have no information about those days.

[EnjoyEP]

Originally Posted by Towanda

Maybe they were not as good as the 70s and 80s; I have no information about those days.

Its cyclical.

Sometimes (and I don't mean Cathy), for people, history - especially weather history - starts the day they were born. It truly is cyclical. So, some decades / periods tend to be snowier than others.

Look at 2006-07 though, some tremendous skiing conditions throughout the state, including ABQ. It just depends what the flow that year brings.

I agree though that if the Sandias are too much a "miss" which can happen many a year, better skiing can be found just an hour or two away in Santa Fe or Taos (or Northern NM).

[EnjoyEP]

Originally Posted by Buns

We did really like the NE Heights area (especially off of Academy)

This is my favorite area of ABQ as well, or at least close to it.

Originally Posted by Buns

Would like to come and check out the winter weather in Abq.

Good idea to check it out first hand!

However, for a quick frame of reference, winter in ABQ is very similar to winter in Prescott. Largely, ABQ's year round weather / climate is extremely similar to Prescott's (I believe ABQ is a tick warmer in the summer and a tick cooler in the winter - but very, very small ticks - as a general rule).

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by EnjoyEP

Its cyclical.

Sometimes (and I don't mean Cathy), for people, history - especially weather history - starts the day they were born. It truly is cyclical. So, some decades / periods tend to be snowier than others.

Look at 2006-07 though, some tremendous skiing conditions throughout the state, including ABQ. It just depends what the flow that year brings.

I agree though that if the Sandias are too much a "miss" which can happen many a year, better skiing can be found just an hour or two away in Santa Fe or Taos (or Northern NM).

Yes, the very late fall 2006-winter 2007 ski season was incredible. Even Cloudcroft opened that year, and it rarely ever does! Ski Apache had its best season in years. I was very encouraged.

That is why the following 2 seasons here in southern NM have been such a disappointment. In a way, I wish (selfishly) that the 2006-7 season had been poor--I would have gone on to northern NM to start with.

But....water under the bridge. I just hope that this coming season sees good conditions all over the state!

The really sad part is that Ski Apache is the largest in the state, and has the greatest lift capacity of them all. But even though snowmaking is there, the all-too-often too-warm daytime temps melt it off by noon or so. It's a really great area when the snow is good, even though they don't really know how to manage crowds very well.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by mortimer

They can make their own snow at Sandia.

January is the coldest month, so snow-making works best then.

Yes, they can but I think we can all remember years, even in Jan when Sandia had no snow and the temps were warm enough they didn't have the slopes open at all or very little.

Nita