Perhaps the greatest shock for out-of-state skiers and snowboarders visiting Northern New Mexico is not how excellent the skiing can be here but that it exists at all. But it does, right at Ski Santa Fe! Ski Santa Fe kicks off the 2024 – 2025 season early with a grand opening on November 23, marking the earliest opening since 2001.
Join the celebration at 8:30 a.m. on November 23 for the dedication of the new Santa Fe Express High-Speed Quad. With early snowfall and impressive snowmaking efforts, skiers and snowboarders can enjoy 70 open trails, including favorites like Lobo, Midland, and Santa Fe Trail. All facilities will be open to welcome guests.
When one is strolling about the Santa Fe Plaza on a sunny winter day with hardly a flake of snow in sight, it’s hard to believe that just 16 miles away, but 3,000 feet higher on the slopes of the mighty Sangre de Cristo range, snow piles up five to ten feet in depth and a complete ski area is busy serving up delightful days in a world of white.

Ski Santa Fe: It’s the Altitude
The secret is all about the altitude. Topping out at a lung-burning 12,075 feet, even under the bright and almost ever-present sun, the 225 inches or so of snow that falls annually is protected from melting, and the exceptionally high treeline (at some 12,000 feet) helps reduce wind scouring.
In this setting, the families that have overseen Ski Santa Fe since its founding in the early 1950s — including the Blakes who went on to found and run world-famous Taos Ski Valley, the Pitchers, and for the past 20 years the Abruzzos, have carved out a ski area with a terrific variety of run types. This ranges from a dedicated beginner section with its own lifts, to wide and excellently groomed intermediate cruising slopes, challenging mogul runs, some tricky — if short — chutes, and some of the best tree and glade skiing in the state through nicely spaced Engelmann spruce and Douglas fir forests.

What’s New at Ski Santa Fe
Ski Santa Fe has also announced its first high-speed lift, coming for the 2024-2025 winter season. The “Santa Fe Express” will be a new high-speed detachable Leitner-Poma Quad, replacing the existing Chair 1, Super Chief Quad, which has transported skiers and boarders since 1988.
The new lift will take guests up the mountain in just over four minutes, shortening what was previously a 10-minute lift ride. The new lift will help reduce lift lines, alleviate bottlenecks on busier days, and make loading and unloading easier for novice skiers and riders.
The lift will be the first high-speed chairlift to be installed at Ski Santa Fe, and the first new lift at the area since the Millennium Chairlift which was installed in 2005.
Ski Santa Fe appreciates the diligent work of the Santa Fe National Forest during the approval process. “Ski Santa Fe is a pleasure to work with and we look forward to continued collaboration in the future,” said Espanola District Ranger Sandy Imler-Jacquez.
Construction began in April 2024 and has an estimated completion date of early November 2024.
Ski Santa Fe Details
Ski Santa Fe has a vertical drop of 1,725 feet spread across 660 acres. It has a ski school with a wide range of group and private lesson programs; an excellent child care center called Chipmunk Corner that gets kids out on the snow for either play or actual skiing; a retail shop for essentials; a rental shop; a ski/board tuning service; and an Adaptive Ski Program for disabled boarders or skiers.
There are a few options for dining: in the base area a large cafeteria with hot and cold foods, and the mid-mountain Totemoff’s with full bar and a limited but good menu — try the tamales! It hosts a handful of special events annually.
Ski Santa Fe offers a variety of ticket options, including half-day, full-day, multi-day, and various passes. Kids ages 5 and under ski for $20, as do seniors ages 72 and up.
It can be accessed from Santa Fe via a public transportation service called the Blue Bus. It makes stops at the Fort Marcy Recreation Center, the South Capitol Rail Runner Station, and downtown Santa Fe. For details, visit RideTheBlueBus.com.
There are no overnight accommodations at the ski area, but the town of Santa Fe, just 30 minutes away, has a huge variety of options, plus world-class dining and museums, hundreds of one-of-a-kind shops, and other attractions.

The 2024–25 Ski Season
Ski Santa Fe is tentatively set to open for the 2024–25 season from November 28 and anticipates being open through April 6. The best powder skiing usually falls between mid-January and mid-March, but spring skiing on corn can also be delightful.
Please note that there will be no fall chair or leaf-peeping season at the ski area this fall. The road is closed 6 days a week and the lift remains under construction.
Ski Santa Fe maintains an active Facebook page and Instagram account with lots of photos and reports from staff and patrons. For further details on operations and programs, call 505-982-4429 or visit SkiSantaFe.com.
Top image: Ski Santa Fe has some of the best tree and glade skiing in New Mexico. Photo credit: Mountain Standard Creative.
Story by Daniel Gibson
Daniel Gibson was presented a Lifetime Achievement Award from the New Mexico Ski Hall of Fame in October 2022 for his snowsports writing. He is the co-author of Images of America: Skiing in New Mexico (Arcadia Publishing, 2021), with 183 historic photos; and author of New Mexico’s only comprehensive ski guidebook, Skiing New Mexico: Snow Sports in the Land of Enchantment (UNM Press, 2017). He is a member of the North American Snowsports Journalist Association and has written on the topic for newspapers coast to coast, websites, and magazines including Powder, Ski, and Wintersport Business. He can be reached at [email protected] or via DanielBGibson.com.