Mountain Blog

Photo by @kati-explores January 5, 2022

It looks like NOAA weather is showing some snow this week! Wednesday evening and Friday evening into Saturday is predicting snow showers.  I don’t know if there will be enough snow from these weather disturbances to get much snow, but at least it is a change in the pattern. It was very warm over the weekend, our bare patches have grown a bit, but the main trails seem to be holding up well – and preserving our base.  Our fingers are crossed for enough snow.  Work on the mountain continues!  Come on SNOW — ...

Photo Courtesy of Brian Foley

We are working hard over here! From the volunteers to the mountain ops team, we are humming.   The mountain, despite warmer temps, has been holding up pretty well. The forecast is constantly changing on upcoming snow, so we’re not counting on that. We are still experiencing staffing issues and are getting together a plan to help us get open. I’m not ready to announce an opening day yet, but hopefully soon! If we can get a little more snow….   The team has been working hard on the slopes with a compacter and doing some grooming, with ...

Dear Pajarito Family: 

As you witnessed the New Year’s storm at Pajarito, no doubt many of you are scratching your heads asking “why isn’t Pajarito open?” While it looks snowy and beautiful up here, we are encountering several challenges to opening. We love winter and know you do, too, and no doubt you’re as eager as we are to hit our slopes. 

First, we are experiencing some staffing issues. Omicron has hit Pajarito. Most of our employees have been sick or in quarantine due to COVID. In addition, we are finding it extremely difficult to find employees to work. From our cafe ...

Another Season Comes to a Close….

With high temps, spring has sprung, and Pajarito closes out the 2020/2021 season. We are so grateful to have the opportunity to give our guests the opportunity to ski our beloved mountain. This year has brought many challenges, from COVID-19 to drought-like conditions. I’d like to take the time to thank all of our loyal passholders and guests for their continued support, and the few powder days we shared were awesome! Thanks, too, to the mountain operations and base operations staff for their perseverance and dedication this season. As well, I’d like to thank our ...

Great news! We have approval from the state to open — all we need now are cold temperatures and some cooperation from Mother Nature. Our original opening date was to be December 11, but with the lack of moisture, we are pushing that date until there is more snow on the ground. Hopefully, this week’s storm will provide much-needed snow that will allow us to open before the holidays. 

We have been busy preparing the base area to comply with New Mexico regulations regarding COVID and our resort team and volunteers have been prepping the mountain. 

 

 

@nathan.burnside

An Update on Winter 2020/2021

Dear Pajarito Family, 

The unique challenges over the last five months have tested our resiliency, but they haven’t dampened our spirits. Never has our mission to give people the freedom to ski felt more important than right now. 

The scheduled opening day for Pajarito Mountain is TBD. Our crews are busy preparing the slopes, lifts, and all other services in anticipation of snow! We can’t wait to welcome our guests back to enjoy skiing and riding

Skiing and snowboarding are inherently low COVID risk activities, it’s the ancillary services that require more thought and planning. We have ...

Getting the Mountain Ready for a Terrific Season

Autumn is looking fantastic on Pajarito this week. Warm days and cool nights have made for some great days for our volunteer chainsaw crew to geton the mountain. They’ve been busy clearing the Fab Four and are heading east to Boomer, clearing dead wood and sprigs to create a smooth surface for this winter. We appreciate them so much! Those piles you see on your hikes up the mountain? Those are our many burn piles. We can’t burn them until after a snow, but as soon as the flakes fall, we’ll start the ...

It is with a heavy heart that I announce that Pajarito Mountain will not be opening for summer operations. With all the COVID restrictions and social distancing guidelines in place, we can’t make it happen. It’s simply not sustainable for us to be open at a reduced capacity. We are saddened to miss out on Summerfest, but at this time we just can’t find a way to host those big events in a safer way. 

But remember, the mountain itself welcomes you. While our facilities may be closed, the mountain is still here for your enjoyment. We invite you to take ...

Dear Pajarito Passholders: 

What a strange time we find ourselves in. As I reflect on the past winter, I can’t help but think about how grateful I am to you for supporting Pajarito, both in good times and with the abrupt closure of the mountain due to COVID-19. As the pandemic continues to affect all of us, our thoughts and prayers are especially with those who are hurting or grieving, with our essential workers and healthcare workers who are out on the front lines of this thing, and the first responders who are helping us stay safe. 

Throughout slim snow seasons and ...

Summer is two weeks away, and the volunteers at Pajarito have been hard at work clearing the mountain bike trails and getting the routes ready for your steepest bike dreams.

As of Sunday, May 19, the team has cleared:

Aspenola Dog Patch Braking Bad Downtown Aspenola Most of Mother’s Milk Battle Stations Most of Natural Selection Chupacabra Half Aspen

The roads on the east side of the mountain are cleared all the way to the top. With all of our moisture this season, some areas are still a little wet and muddy, but with the New Mexico sun, that should clear up by opening day. The lift will be running 9 ...

Ullr sent us a subtle reminder to buy next year’s season passes yesterday: 

April 23, 2019

Check out that snow! We’ve been busy prepping the mountain for both summer and next winter (can you believe it?). Here’s an update on what the mountain team has been doing:

Water in the Pond = Snowmaking for Next Winter! We have been pumping water to the pond around the clock since the very end of March. The system is working great and the run-off is impressive. During the warm part of the day, we can see almost 400 gallons per minute entering the collection cistern. ...

Pajarito is working hard getting ready for opening day (December 21st) and mother nature is working in our favor. This past storm brought Pajarito 8-9” at the base and 10-12” on top! Mountain crews have begun track packing much of our beginner and intermediate terrain. We try to track pack to compact the snow in high traffic areas so snow does not get skied off. 

More snow is in the forecast! We are expecting snow tonight through Saturday. Check our snow report for updates and look at our mountain cam for live video.

Views from the base area before track ...

Pajarito’s most popular fall festival, Ullrfest, happens Saturday, September 29. Ullrfest features New Mexico Brewersfest with a dozen local craft beers, live music, lift-served hiking and biking,  races, a disc golf tournament, costume contest, and more.

Ullrfest event organizer, Thad Hahn, gave us the inside scoop on this fall’s most anticipated event.

Remind us who Ullr is (pronounced “ULL-er”). Ullr is the Norse God of snow. He is an excellent archer, hunter, skater and–most importantly–skier.

Why do we have a festival dedicated to him? The ULLR Festival honors ULLR and is a community event in anticipation of bringing a good ski season to Pajarito.

Which ...

Dozens of New Mexico craft breweries on the deck at Pajarito.

Summer’s officially here and it’s time to kick it off right. Pajarito will be hosting its annual Summerfest all day on Saturday, June 9th, with lift access to hiking and biking trails, live music, and—of course—plenty of local craft brews. There are so many ways the whole family can enjoy the Summerfest experience. The disc golf tournament, dual slalom mountain bike race, and live music are sure to keep children—of all ages— entertained!

With the purchase of a Mountain Bike Power Pass or uplift ticket access to our extensive hiking ...

Pajarito Mountain picked up 8″ of fresh snow overnight for a storm total of 10″ this week! Here are some photos from grooming this morning.

The Ski Patrol got out early to check out the conditions. The following photos were taken by our Ski Patroller, Eric Schaller this morning.

We are working on opening new terrain. Beginners’ West and Beginners’ East have been track packed.

 

More snow is in the forecast. Lifts start turning at 9 a.m. Wednesday–Sunday, and lift tickets are $24 for everyone.