Going skiing as a family and have it narrowed down to these two places. Any help or suggestions is definitely welcomed.

For us, Wolf Creek is 2hrs further but seems to be a little cheaper as far as lift tickets and lodging. There will be 3 people that haven't ever skied before so that may need to play into the decision.

Taos is definitely one of the hardest mountains in the area. Wolf Creek may be your better option for beginners although I don't know much about it. Also, you might consider Santa Fe - it is a great beginner mountain.

It has been a long time since I have gone to Taos, but that was my first time to ski. I went for a "Learn to Ski" week and it was great. Instructors were outstanding. You were in class in the morning and on your own in the afternoon. The mountain was tough with 50% of the runs black, 25% blue and 25% green. After I completed that week, I was really confident of my ability to ski almost anyplace. It's not cheap, but if you stay on the mountain most of the places have outstanding accommodations and food.

taos is not the ideal mountain for a beginner, but i guess the guy above said it was ok. i've never skied wolf creek, but thought i remembered hearing something similar....that it wasn't a great beginner's mountain.

LOVE Taos. I learned to ski there several years ago. It is a tough mountain though. This sign is at the base...take it for what it's worth.

Wolf Creek is a b*tch of a mountain and it's small. It's allure is that there's a huge amount of snow and it's almost like backcountry skiing....not good for beginners at all. My wife is an excellent traditional skier and had a tough time down there.

As the poster above stated, I've heard Taos has great schools and once you learn on a tough mountain like that, you can almost go anywhere. With three beginners, I'd say that Wolf Creek is a bad idea.

Wolf Creek, long runs and not too bad. I've been twice and was just learning, you should be fine. They have a school and on mountain rentals.

Oh and Wolf Creek will be more powder than ice, which is easier to learn on, skis grip better.

[This message has been edited by tymanAg08 (edited 12/2/2008 1:54p).]

Taos - Green = Blue
Blue = Black
Black = Double Diamond.
I have never been cussed any worse than the last trip to Taos. And that was by my wife who is a moderate skier. Maybe it was a bad year but most of the green runs had moguls the size on volkswagons in them. It's tuff. Look into Anglefire for a good mix of runs.

Wolf Creek - going after Christmas, but everyone I've talked with has said it's moderate to easy to ski.

I've skied Taos every year for quite a while. I love it, and I like the town....but I will agree it is pretty intimidating for beginners. I first skied there in the early 90's as a beginner and my Dad was really having to put some effort into calming down my sister and I. There are just a lot of intimidating runs for an 8 year old.

I haven't been to Wolf Creek in about 5 years. We actually have a group going there in January. I don't think it is as intimidating as Taos, and I think it would be a little bit more fun trip for you as I remember.

I will agree with other posters that Santa Fe, Angel Fire and even Red River are all pretty good New Mex options for a family trip. They never have the base of Taos or Wolf Creek, but you might enjoy the trip more. I am planning on starting my kids off there and holding off on the Taos/Wolf Creek/Winter Park kind of trips until they have been skiing for 3 or 4 winters.

Maybe we dove off into the outer fringes of Wolf Creek...it's been a long time. I remember jumping off rocks and stuff like that. It was tough...maybe I'm not remembering the front of the mountain or the easy stuff. Weird!

has been years since were at wolf creek. several adult beginners learned on that trip and had a great time. lots of snow. only problem was drive up each day - messing with the chains got old real quick.

Wow, thanks for reminding me. The last time we were there we had to buy chains somewhere in Pagosa, what they had left was crappy and overpriced. I am definitely going to make sure to borrow or buy some before we go in January.

I really like WC for the back country smaller feel to it. I am definitely hitting the waterfall run this year. It was closed last time I was there.

we started skiing Taos with the family at least 15 years ago. Absolutely a great mountain, and they have a good ski school too. they recently cut some new green/blue trails for beginners.

Toas will challenge any skier - I've fallen all the way down Al's Run and gotten stuck a few times, but that's how you get better, right?

If you go to Taos, stay in the Valley (up top). there are some great condos or houses to rent.

Wolf creek is a great mountain, but it has so much snow that some beginners can get frustrated quickly.

You can take the beginners to Red River or Sipapau.

As has been stated several times, Taos is one of the toughest mountains out there. If you are putting beginner in classes, though, Taos is generally considered to have the top Ski School in the country.

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Taos is generally considered to have the top Ski School in the country.

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Taos is generally considered to have the top Ski School in the country.

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Maybe I should have double-checked which resort I was thinking of before I posted that. I could've sworn it was the Taos school... maybe it's Steamboat's. Anyway... guess I was wrong.

Something else to think about, I have heard that Taos does not allow snow boarders.

We went to Angel Fire 2 yrs ago with the youth group at church, most have never skied and it was great.

Taos is a great mountain, but as others have said it may not be the greatest beginner mountain. A majority of the terrain is advanced. However, if you learn to ski most of what Taos has to offer you should be able to go ski most other places fairly comfortably. As others have mentioned, try Angel Fire or Red River for a beginner mountain in close proximity. These will be more crowded though, especially Angel Fire during the peak season. I haven't skiied Wolf Creek in years so I can't really comment on it.

Taos opened up the mountain to boarders this year, for better or for worse.

And Taos does have a good ski school that I know used to be considered one of the best in North America, but I'm not sure if it still is or not. They have the Learn to Ski weeks that were mentioned in this thread earlier for dirt cheap in January. Looking forward to my trip up there this year.

Edit: It is still considered a top ski school by some people.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ski_school
http://www.how2ski.com/resources/schools/index.aspx

[This message has been edited by Skitch05 (edited 12/10/2008 8:35a).]

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Something else to think about, I have heard that Taos does not allow snow boarders.

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They dropped their snowboarding ban last season.

Taos is small too, and it's terrain isn't that great unless it's got the snow to go with it. Wolf Creek is awesome!

wolf creek for beginners, but I like both of them.