Mountain Blog

Pajarito Ski Patrol and COVID-19 

Pajarito Ski Patrol are accustomed to encountering challenges at Pajarito Mountain. From unpredictable weather to slick slopes, the patrol takes most challenges in stride. Not, however, when it came to handling COVID-19. When the obstacles arose related to emergency response during the pandemic, the patrol rose to the considerable challenge. 

The group, composed of 70 volunteers and a handful of paid patrollers, began meeting in early summer 2020 to plan for the changes necessary to patrol safely. The group consulted with longtime patroller Dr. Robert McClees, current Medical Director of the Pajarito Mountain Ski Patrol and owner ...

PC: Peter Dickson

The latest snowstorm that dumped 13″ means we can open the mountain! With so much warm weather and dry conditions, we are very happy to get the lifts going. As a special thank you to passholders, we are opening up first to you. You’ve been patient and supportive, and we’re grateful. All passholders are invited to come. Power Pass, Power Pass Select, Power Pass Local and Pajarito Value passholders are all welcome to enjoy these special days Friday, January 22 and Saturday, January 23. We’ll be ...

We will be open for two special passholder appreciation days January 22-23, and we will open to the public Sunday, January 24. Tickets to the public will go on sale later this week at Pajarito’s online store at www.pajarito.ski.

We are planning to have the Beginner Chair 3 and the Aspen Chair 4 running. The cafe will be open, but there will be no indoor seating available. NEW! Guests ...

We’re opening up the cafe for lunch beginning January 7 from 11 am – 2 pm. Moving forward, we’ll have the cafe open Wednesday through Saturday from 11-2. Come enjoy our beautiful deck and some delicious food – we are working on some new menu items to expand our offerings! You can BYOB and enjoy a drink on the deck as well. The kids can play in the snow – sleds welcome! Or pop by for a meal after a morning of exercise on the mountain. Come enjoy our naturally distanced outdoor seating in a beautiful setting.

Last night’s cold temperatures allowed us to wrap up our snowmaking operations; however, we still need a little more natural snowfall to open. We are doing everything we can to make sure that when the snow comes, we’ll be ready!

Continue to keep an eye on our website as well as our Instagram and Facebook pages for the latest updates!

We started snowmaking operations last weekend December 19-20 and we are hoping this winter storm gives us the snow we need to get open. Stay tuned for more updates on opening day. Our team is working fast and furious to try and get the hill open as soon as possible. 

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. 

The snow has blanketed northern New Mexico this week with and early fall storm, and Pajarito has enjoyed 13” of the fresh stuff. We’re always thinking about winter and this just got our stoke over the top! We can’t wait to welcome you back December 11. 

Here are a few photos to enjoy of this week’s snowstorm, courtesy of our media team contributor JoAnna O’Neill @joannacoolbeans

@nathan.burnside

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 ...

Pajarito Mountain Ski Area Announces Local Restaurant Grant Winners

Pajarito Mountain Ski Area, along with Mountain Capital Partners and the Coleman Charitable Foundation are delighted to announce the local restaurants that were selected to receive their grant funding. 

The local restaurants that received the grant funding are Viola’s, Rose Chocolatier and Fleur de Lys.

“With 16 local restaurants applying, it was a difficult decision,” said Tom Long, General Manager at Pajarito Mountain. “But we are honored to be able to make an impact for these three great, local restaurants.”

The grant, which the Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce helped coordinate and promote in coordination ...

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 ...

The Girl Scouts of America has awarded our hometown ski patroller Natalie Aulwes with its highest honor – the 2020 National Gold Award Girl Scout.

She designed and built a ski patrol helipad at Pajarito at the top of the Townsight lift that runs on solar power. In an interview with KRQE, Aulwes said: 

“I wanted to do something to give back to Ski Patrol and everything they’ve done for me, one of the problems we were having was getting our patients efficiently to our old helicopter pad.”

Aulwes said part of the problem was transferring the patients from the sled to the ...

Pajarito Mountain Ski Area, along with Mountain Capital Partners and the Coleman Charitable Foundation are pleased to be funding a grant to support local restaurants in Los Alamos County. The Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce and MainStreet will assist with the application process and distribution of funds.

The grant is aimed at helping local restaurants withstand the difficulties caused by public health restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Any restaurant located in Los Alamos County is eligible and encouraged to apply.

“Our local restaurants have struggled to remain open. In the uncertain economic environment that we are all living through, resources like this ...

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 ...

Families are important to our community here at Pajarito. We love to see generations on the slopes, learning to ski our storied hill. That’s why we offer a FREE season pass for children ages 10 and under, so that it’s more affordable and accessible for them to get on the slopes. We also make it a priority to have a lot of options for parents when it comes to season passes, to make it affordable and accessible for you, too. We have options starting at just $249 for our adult Value pass, it makes nearly unlimited skiing at Pajarito a ...