Taos vs Angel Fire....

40,617 Views | 26 Replies | Last: 7 yr ago by adamhdonnell
Stive
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AG
Noticeable differences? Does Taos usually have more snow or are they comparable (their bases right now are 20 inches apart, but didn't know if that was an anomaly)?

We've always skied Colorado but are probably going to NM this year for a couple of different reasons.

Oh and this would be a Spring Break tripso mid-March weather.
histag10
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AG
Taos is a more expensive, larger, more "upscale" type mountain, while Angelfire is cheaper, more accessible, and more of your everyday family type skiers.

The lifts for Angelfire are right in town, it can take 30 minutes or so to get from Taos up to the lifts.

Snow will be comparable. They both started getting snow late, but both have been getting quite a bit lately. Though Taos is at a considerably higher elevation I believe.
10andBOUNCE
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Taos will be more suited for the advanced skiers IMO, pretty steep mountain.
histag10
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10andBOUNCE said:

Taos will be more suited for the advanced skiers IMO, pretty steep mountain.


That is correct. Love Taos, but last time I skied it (been a while), I started at the top, made it a quarter of the way down before hitting a rock, which caused a fall, and my binding didn't come loose. Went the other three quarters of the way down being pulled by ski patrol with a f'd up knee.

Now I pretty much just stay at the house or go shopping. Really don't want another knee surgery. Husband and inlaws ski Angelfire occasionally though too. Same drive for us to Angelfire as it is to Taos, but Taos Ski Valley adds another 30 or so to the drive.
Skitch05
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I ski Taos every year. It almost always has better snow than Angel Fire. The terrain is great if you are an intermediate/advanced skiier, but a bit much for beginners. Taos is also much larger than Angel Fire with more lifts, so it feels much less crowded. Angel Fire basically has two lifts, so the lines can be long during holidays and weekends. I think the longest lift line I have ever waited in was 5 minutes at Taos, and that was for first chair when the lifts just started cranking during Christmas week with good snow.

You can stay in Taos Ski Valley but it will be pricey. There are several options there including their brand new hotel that opens February, "The Blake" (named after TSVs founder Ernie Blake). Otherwise you can stay on the mesa near Arroyo Seco for an ~20 minute drive to TSV or in the city of Taos for an ~30 minute drive into TSV. Staying in Taos has the added benefit of good restaurants nearby, and it is quite affordable.
Skitch05
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I forgot to mention, family has a house in Angel Fire that we stay at but we still usually drive to Taos for skiing. It's that much better if you are a good skiier.
adamhdonnell
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I ski both every year. We take a guys trip every year and do a day at Angel Fire, Taos and Red River. I grew up skiing Angel Fire, but I love Taos.

Angel Fire has a lot of wide runs and the majority of the terrain is either beginner or intermediate. It's very family friendly. I grew up skiing Angel Fire every year. My biggest issue with Angel Firebis that the conditions can be a little sketchy.

Taos is more geared to the higher level skier. Runs are steeper and more narrow. The conditions are generally much better. Even though the two mountains aren't very far apart as the crow flies, Taos generally gets about 100 inches more of snow.

Really just depends on what you're looking for. No matter what you can enjoy yourself at both places. Taos is bigger and more upscale, but it doesn't have the "village" amenities that you find in a lot of the big resorts in Colorado. The town of Taos will have more to offer in the way of night life than Angel Fire/Eagles Nest.

Edit to add that if you're going spring break then Taos is your best bet. The base differences are not an anomaly. Taos generally gets much more snow.
Pahdz
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How does Red River compare to Angel Fire? Pretty comparable?
adamhdonnell
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Red River is a smaller ski area and maybe a little easier as terrain goes. Angel Fire really only has the two quad lifts (one on front and one on back), Red River has three or four lifts, but no high speed quad. They have a couple of three person lifts and a couple of double chairs. The backside of Red River is almost exclusively beginner terrain and really small.

As far as towns go, Red River doesn't have much in the way of ski in/ski out, but I much prefer the town of Red River to Angel Fire/Eagles Nest. More restaurant/bar options in Red River, and I like the scenery better. Angel Fire sits across a big valley from Wheeler Peak. I generally love mountain scenery and there just isn't a whole lot of it at Angel Fire.
Garrelli 5000
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I learned to ski at Taos, going the first time when I was in 6th grade. We went 4 or 5 years in a row then switched to Crested Butte. Granted I was older and probably in my athletic 'prime' at 16, but CB seemed very simple after skiing Taos.

I went to Red River when I was 19 and thought I was a BA MOFO skiing blacks and double blacks. I'm confident it wasn't due to my suddenly being a BA MOFO.
slappy
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I love em both. Different mountains, different difficulty, different vibe.

We usually stay in the town of Taos and drive to both.

FWIW, you can get Angel Fire lift tickets at Costco. 2 for $90 when I last looked. Great deal.
bam02
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Taos will almost always have more snow than angel fire and red River.

TommyGun
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Adam Ag 98 said:

I learned to ski at Taos, going the first time when I was in 6th grade. We went 4 or 5 years in a row then switched to Crested Butte. Granted I was older and probably in my athletic 'prime' at 16, but CB seemed very simple after skiing Taos.

I went to Red River when I was 19 and thought I was a BA MOFO skiing blacks and double blacks. I'm confident it wasn't due to my suddenly being a BA MOFO.

Ha I had a similar experience in high school. I learned to ski at Winter Park and went the next year to Steamboat. By the third year I thought I was pretty good until I went up to Alyeska in Girdwood, AK. Their "blues" would be a minimum of a black or double at most lower 48 resorts. The term "steep and deep" applied to basically every run they have up there and they kicked my butt for two days. A few weeks after that I was back at Angel Fire and feeling good about myself again lol.
moore42
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AG
Going to Angel Fire on Thursday. First time with kids (8 and 6). Looks like they finally got some good snow this weekend and more in the forecast while we are there. This should be fun.

Never been to Taos.

I absolutely loved Red River, but wife wanted to try something different this time. Copper Creek at Red River is ski-in/ski-out. I walked 100 ft from our condo across the creek to the Copper Chair lift. That takes you nearly to the top of the mountain and several different trails will get you back to copper creek or you can take trails to go to the main part of RR and walk back to Copper Creek (1/4 mile).
NICU Dad
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AG
Taos is more challenging for sure, but their ski school is one of the best.

Of course, they have to be good given the challenge of the mountain.
wangus12
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Used to work S&R throughout that entire range. Red River was my favorite, but thats mainly due to its hiking. Angel Fire is probably the easiest to get around. Taos has the best skiing and good routes.
moore42
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Update from my trip to Angel Fire over the weekend. The skiing/snowboarding was very nice and got better through the weekend with 10-12" of fresh powder.

We stayed in the Angel Fire Chalets and had a 2 bedroom condo. It was more than adequate for our family of 4 and was a very short walk to the lifts. In some ways, it was too convenient as we opted to go back to the condo midday to rest instead of just hanging around the lift area.

As far as restaurants, there wasn't much there that was just great. There are plenty of places to eat, and they are all just OK. On one night, we opted to drive up to Red River and eat at Texas Reds steakhouse.

As far as night life, it seemed like the ski area was dead after sunset.

All-in-all, the skiing was great, but Red River has the better atmosphere in my opinion.
Pahdz
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is there not night skiing at Angel Fire?
adamhdonnell
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Pahdz said:

is there not night skiing at Angel Fire?


There is, but I'm fairly certain it's VERY small and it may just be the small 2 person chairlift at the base that accesses the night ski terrain. When they started it a few years ago I'm pretty sure it was just that front run at the bottom of the mountain.

Edit to add it Looks like 2 runs and a terrain park are accessible at night
aggieman27
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AG
Anyone have an opinion on Ski Santa Fe? Its less of a drive from College Station. Also, any idea if any of these areas have free tubing/sledding areas for the kiddos, such as state parks?
adamhdonnell
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Red River has some spots that are free to use (may have to rent a sled/tube if you don't have one). Angel Fire has a tubing hill on the mountain, but you pay by the hour.
Dumpster Fire
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aggieman27 said:

Anyone have an opinion on Ski Santa Fe? Its less of a drive from College Station. Also, any idea if any of these areas have free tubing/sledding areas for the kiddos, such as state parks?

Our family has a house in Santa Fe and we go skiing as often as we can get up there.

We went last Christmas the whole week and it was their busy time. However, that was relative as we didn't wait in a lift line for more than 1-2 minutes. Often times we skied right up and got on.

Ski Santa Fe is definitely for a low key skiing vacation. It is smaller than most Colorado ski mountains but large enough to enjoy multiple days on the mountain. it is about a 15 mile drive from downtown SF but they have a shuttle everyday if you don't want to drive.

We are going this year for spring break again but I don't know if they have tubing/sledding there but along the way up there are areas we see people sledding/tubing on their own in the state/national park areas that line the road. My kids are 4 & 7 so they ski with us at the ski school all day.
DB Coach
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Three more hours north and you're at Wolf Creek with the best snow around.
moore42
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DB Coach said:

Three more hours north and you're at Wolf Creek with the best snow around.
...And three hours past that you're in Keystone/Copper Mountain/Breckenridge and a stones throw from Steamboat Springs.

...And then three hours past that you're in Utah.

It's just 3 hours...
easttxag11
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Just got back from my first trip to Red River yesterday and the snow is incredible right now. Maybe some of the best snow I've ever skied (been to breck and vail several times in the past). Although it's smaller than most CO resorts, the lack of lift lines and close proximity to restaurants/bars are great. Not to mention the lift tickets and rentals are considerably cheaper.
bam02
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Glad you had a great trip. You lucked out on the snow. Right now is not the norm for RR. Great town and fun family mountain, but great snow can't usually be counted on.
histag10
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that whole area has been getting crazy snow lately. My inlaws were talking about how they were taking advantage of the half day without snow to try to dig out their driveway.
adamhdonnell
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I think Taos, Angel Fire and Red River have all had about 3 ft of snow in the last week. Parts of that area were under an avalanche warning over the weekend.
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