Mountain Blog

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:

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. 

Grooming is an essential part of the mountain operations at Pajarito. It takes daily upkeep to keep the runs smooth and to preserve new snow. Grooming is very similar to mowing the lawn, a very steep lawn. It can take one cat two to three hours for a single run with 10-12 passes. Pajarito has three regular cats and one winch cat.  The regular cats can only groom blue and green trails while the winch cat is used to groom the steepest slopes.

Why is grooming important? Grooming the snow helps breaks up pockets of air trapped in the snow, and keeps ...

January is Learn to Ski and Snowboard month. Now, I may be a little biased, but I think and Pajarito Mountain is the best place in New Mexico to learn to ski and snowboard. Our mountain is unique for beginners because of the big increase in skill from the beginner area to the rest of the mountain. When beginners start skiing beyond the beginner area through the rest of the terrain, they can pretty much ski anywhere.

Brand New Magic Carpet Guests at Pajarito are really enjoying the brand new Magic Carpet surface lift. This fall, we said goodbye to our old ...

This week, temperatures and conditions have been ideal for snowmaking at Pajarito Mountain. And this morning, we got some extra encouragement from Mother Nature in the form of three inches of freshly fallen snow. This first snow of the winter season has us super motivated to continue working round-the-clock ensure the mountain is ready for our scheduled opening date, Saturday, December 16.

Our snowmaking crew is focusing on this terrain:

Our brand new Magic Carpet conveyor lift is on the mountain!  We have completed all the prep work for the installation of the new surface lift, and are anxious to begin the actual construction of the lift.  Dirt work, electrical work and the reshaping of our Beginners’ Area are all complete, and the whole project is coming together.

Part of the pre-installation prep work has included expanding the loading area and constructing a retaining wall near the SnowSport School, doubling the size of the area that first-time skiers have get on the snow.

Completed Magic Carpet drive terminal pitSnowSports School expansion/retaining wall

Our state-of-the-art ...

We hope you had a chance or two to soak in the spectacular fall colors up at Pajarito Mountain. Autumn truly is a magical season in the Jemez Mountains. As for me and my winter mountain crew, we’ve been a bit spellbound by something else: Pajarito’s brand new Magic Carpet conveyor lift.

This winter, beginners will let go of the Mighty Mite handle tow and hop on a brand new Magic Carpet conveyor lift. In fact, Mighty Mite and the old lift house have been completely removed and we’ve started slope grading, foundation and electrical work in preparation for installation. The ...

Bike Park Director, Hogan Koesis, talks trail updates just in time for this weekend’s final lift-served biking and hiking of the season.

Fall is in the air and you should be too. Last day for catching a chair is Saturday, October 21st!  We’d love to see anybody and everyone there as this is the first time a trail building machine has been at the mountain for close to a month.  Dante and Jackie have been hard at it tuning and tweaking your favorite trails to be even better!  With landings being extended and broadened, turns getting widened and more supportive and ...

When guests at Pajarito Mountain feel this chill in the air, they indulge in all the richness of the changing season, from green chile on the side of everything to too-many pictures of oak, aspen and cottonwood leaves. But when our winter mountain crew feels this chill in the air, they visualize all lifts turning and first tracks down the Fab Four. Since last spring, we’ve been busy with snowmaking system infrastructure work, hazard tree removal, and chairlift, snowcat and lodge maintenance.

Photo by Peter Dickson

Snowmaking System

Last spring, the pond had been cleaned out and the liner completely repaired. ...