Like every year I wanted to start 2015 off right and the only way I knew how to do that was with a fun filled adventure. While trying to plan such an adventure, Sarah and I debated things like a cruise or a camping trip but a strong, lingering desire I’d been having since seeing the film “Seven Sunny Days” back in 2009 finally reached a crescendo and convinced me it was time to try my hand at carving up some snowy mountain slopes. We had just been to Colorado a few months prior and really didn’t feel like driving that far so we decided to look a bit closer to home. The nearest ski area was a place called Ski Apache and it seemed to check all the right boxes so we set our sights on Ruidoso, New Mexico and planned our adventure.
We pre-packed our gear the night before we were to leave and got an early start the next morning, pulling out of our garage at around 4AM (Central Time). The first stretch of our drive was around eight hours or so of high speed limits and rolling landscapes as we headed west on Interstate 10 towards Las Cruces, New Mexico. There is little to see on this desolate stretch of road and what little there is to see has been worn thin thanks to our multiple pilgrimages along this same route within the past few years. Fortunately we were able to fill our time with casual discourse and Pandora Comedy radio stations in order to make the long hours a bit more bearable. Once we reached the city of Las Cruces we took Interstate 25 a short ways before exiting onto US Highway 70 towards Alamogordo, New Mexico. The scenery had vastly improved at this point and the Organ Mountains just outside of Las Cruces were truly spectacular in their own unique way.
We finally reached our first stop, the White Sands National Monument at around 1PM (Mountain Time) and began to make our way into the sprawling dune field. We added the this detour to our little journey because when mapping out our route to Ruidoso I noticed the close proximity between the two and decided to find a way to work it into our trip since neither of us had ever been there. As you journey inwards from the highway the volume of vegetation slowly decreases and the size of the sand dunes slowly grows until you soon find yourself surrounded by giant banks of white sand in every direction for as far as you can see. Once we reached the loop at the end of the road we pulled off and scaled a nearby dune to get a better view. Our hours behind the wheel were greatly rewarded with a stunning vista that we won’t soon forget. A sea of pristine white waves formed a tumultuous sandy ocean surrounded by the beautiful mountains of southern New Mexico. The San Andres Mountains dominated the western horizon and the White Mountains glistened in the east while the beautiful, snowcapped Sierra Blanca enchanted those looking to the north. We took a few photos and spent some time taking in all that surrounded us before we set off towards our final destination. The White Sands National Monument was and quite a sight to behold and I have found it to be one of the most underrated natural landmarks that I have seen in my lifetime. I would highly encourage others to find a way to work it into their trips if possible.
After another hour or so along US Highway 70 we finally reached the quaint little town of Ruidoso, New Mexico. While Aspen it’s definitely not, it does have a bit of small town charm to it and seems to offer everything most families would want or need for an enjoyable ski trip. We stayed at a great little place called Whispering Pine Cabins and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to go to Ruidoso. The office staff were very pleasant and the cabin we stayed at (Juniper) had everything from a gas grill (gas included) to a wood burning fire place (wood included) and more! On top of all that, they have great deals if you book your whole ski trip with them that included ski rentals and lift tickets for Ski Apache. Once we were checked in and had unloaded the car, we dropped by Wild West Ski Shop to pick up our Ski Rentals for skiing the next day. The people at Wild West were also fantastic, allowing us to pickup our rentals the evening before instead of forcing us to get up extra early in order to pick them up the day of. We were in and out promptly and returned to our cabin to put in for a good nights rest.
We woke up bright and early the next morning to ensure that we had enough time to get to Ski Apache for our group ski lesson when the resort opened 9AM. While Sarah had been skiing several times throughout her life, I had been only once back when I was about eight years old and couldn’t remember anything other than the delicious hot chocolate I got at Winter Park Resort in Colorado. Since Ski Apache offers a free “Intro to Skiing” lesson with the purchase of a lift ticket I thought it only prudent to at least get a little instruction so that I didn’t look completely clueless tumbling down the hill. The drive up the mountain is notorious for being highly nerve racking but if you take it safe and slow, you shouldn’t have any issues. I would definitely recommend all-wheel drive though if there is any ice or snow on the road as the hazardousness would definitely increase dramatically in poor conditions. We arrived with plenty of time to spare, got our tickets and made our way to the beginners area for our lesson. Our strategy to plan our trip on the first week of back to school paid off big time when it quickly became clear that we were to be the only ones in the 9AM “group lesson.” Our instructor seemed enthused and we were able to progress much quicker than I would expect a larger group would so that was a definite plus. Our free lesson quickly became a very insightful and productive hour and a half private lesson that I feel really helped me excel in the few days we spent on the mountain.
Soon enough we were on our own and spent a good portion of the morning running the same two green runs practicing and fine tuning the basics of technique and form. Around lunch time my confidence decided it was time to take it up a notch but unfortunately wrote a check that my skill set couldn’t cash as I spent twenty minutes tumbling down a very steep blue run named “Captain.” Nevertheless I did not let that slow me down and we continued to ski the greens throughout the day. Sarah even hit a black diamond run named “Top Notch” a few times which I found to be quite impressive.
The next day we went through the same routine, albeit no lesson, and returned to the green runs at the base of the mountain. We hit them over and over again until I was really having fun with it and blazing through without any issues. After lunch we decided to take the Gondola to the top of the mountain and try a few of the blues back there to see how things went. The Gondola offers some great views of the entire ski area and the summit of the park offers an amazing view of the landscape to the west. You can see the White Sands National Monument, multiple mountain ranges, and miles and miles of desert. It’s pretty surreal standing on the top of a snowy mountain while looking out over dusty, sun dried landscapes that disappear into the horizon. Once we finished admiring the beautiful vista before us we clicked into our skis and found a blue run named the “Sierra Blanca Trail” that seemed a bit more tame than the blue run that I had previously tried. It was largely a success as I tumbled only a couple of times on our way down. One incident in particular was definitely the most spectacular crash of the trip as my confidence again exceeded my abilities and I found myself going much faster than I could handle. It would end up being the only time I was ever ejected out of my skis during the entire trip. We finished the day hitting a few more blues and by the time we left I was able to ski most of them without issue.
Our third and final day on the mountain was definitely the most fun. My skiing ability was really catching up to my confidence level and I was determined to “go for it” throughout the day with the notion that if I got hurt, it didn’t matter because it was our last day. We hit the usual front greens a few times to warm up and then headed straight to the top so that we could get to the blues in the back. That morning I had checked online to see which runs had been freshly groomed so that Sarah and I could hit the best runs. Our favorite was a wide blue called “Meadow” that had the best snow on the whole mountain and was a lot of fun. We skied it and a few others throughout the morning before heading down for lunch. With only a few hours left in the day and my desire to really push my limits we headed back to the top of the mountain in search of a black diamond run for me to try. After scouting them out we settled on a steep, narrow little trail called “Wild Onion” that seemed to have the best snow out of all of the blacks on the mountain. I took my time, really focusing on good technique and form as we made our way down. While speed was inevitable I can proudly say that I kept my composure and made it all the way to the bottom without a single wipeout. I was ecstatic and really proud of my progress in such a short period of time. To make the day even more memorable, clouds had begun to form at around 8000 feet and surrounded the east side of the mountains creating an awesome view from all over the ski area. We finished the day hitting mostly blues for fun and running Wild Onion once more before making our way down the mountain for our departure. I decided that I would have the last laugh and for my final run I took on “Captain”, my nemesis from a few days early. This time around I ran it smoothly and thoroughly enjoyed myself without a single tumble. We skied our way back down to the car and began the winding drive back down the mountain one last time. On our descent we were treated to a spectacular view, looking out over a sea of white clouds littered with random mountaintops that poked through. I had never seen anything like it before and spent several moments just trying to take it all in when we pulled off at a small scenic overlook.
Unfortunately we couldn’t stay there all day and had to get back to Wild West in order to drop off our rental equipment before they closed. Returning our skis was a breeze and the folks at Wild West were a pleasure to work with. We spent the last night of our trip enjoying our the fireplace of our cozy cabin while we watched “Out Cold” before heading off to bed. The next day we got up bright and early to begin our long trek back to San Antonio. While we loaded the car a deer came up to greet Sarah and even let her pet his snout. It really seemed to be that magical touch on an already amazing ski trip.
