Mountain Blog

Community Benefit Day at Pajarito Mountain will be January 26, 2020. In its first year, Community Benefit Days is a way for Pajarito to give back to the community by donating a portion of lift ticket sales to a local nonprofit. This year’s proceeds will benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters in Santa Fe. The resort pledges to donate 20 percent of lift ticket sales. 

“Providing support to a young person is very gratifying. This organization is very dear to my heart,” said Tom Long, General Manager at Pajarito. “I was once a Big Brother. Big Brothers and Big Sisters continue to ...

Pajarito Mountain Kicks Off Ski Season Friday, December 10 Come Ski the Bumps and Steeps! We begin our winter season this Friday with approximately 15 runs open. The Aspen lift, Beginner’s Lift and the magic carpet will all be running. After a record snow year last year, Pajarito is poised for another season of skiing and snowboarding in Los Alamos. “This will be one of our best openings in recent years,” said Tom Long, Pajarito General Manager, “We’re thrilled to be opening so much terrain.”

Recent cool temperatures, continued snowmaking and regular snowfall have allowed the mountain team to open plenty of runs ...

Utah-based resort joins the largest ski and outdoor collective in the Southwest

James Coleman, managing partner of Mountain Capital Partners, announced an acquisition agreement to manage and operate Brian Head Resort in Southern Utah. Mountain Capital Partners currently owns and operates seven ski and bike resorts throughout the Southwest, including Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. Brian Head is the second Utah-based ski resort to join the MCP collective, alongside Nordic Valley Ski Resort in Northern Utah. 

“We’re proud to welcome Brian Head Resort and its employees to the MCP family,” said ...

Tom and Tommy Long, the Mountain Men of Pajarito

Some fathers and sons rebuild old cars, some go hunting or others hit the road for adventure. Very few have the opportunity to both work and play together – except our very own Tom and Tommy Long! Tom, a 50-year ski industry veteran, has been working at Pajarito since 2004. He’s our General Manager. Several years ago, Tom brought his son, Tommy, onboard whenever he needed an extra hand. In 2009, Tommy started full time, and is now our Snowmaking Manager.

Tommy and Tom Long on the lift

While working at ...

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. ...

Thanks for a great season! Thanks to all of our pass holders,  guests, and employees for making this season a great one. Here are a couple of our favorite guest photos from the 2018-2019 ski season. 

Opening day at Pajarito.PC: @benjithethird

Zack Hill skiing through some blower snow!

PC: @carrie2426

PC: @aidan.ortizzzzzzz

PC:@chrissyqmartin

Torchlight Parade PC: @anothernmdirtbag

PC:@goodnightlosalamos

Zack Hill in deep powder!

PC:@nathan.burnside

Pup enjoying Pajarito!PC:@mtntortuga

Bluebird Day at the little bird!PC: boiimertle

Thanks for a great season. Summer operations are scheduled to start June 6th, see you ...

College Students, Faculty, & Staff Ski for just $35 Wednesday’s and Thursday’s the end of the year with a valid student or faculty ID.

Not Valid: March 13, 14, 20, 21

This deal can only be purchased at the Pajarito Ticket Office.

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 ...

This is no joke – there’s 4″ of fresh snow at Pajarito and it’s still coming down. OpenSnow is calling for another 2-4″ to fall throughout the day. Stay tuned to our Facebook and Instagram for more updates on how we’re getting ready to open. Opening Day is scheduled for Friday, December 21. 

Here are some of our favorite snow day photos to get you excited for winter!

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 ...

Ski Season is right around the corner! Today marks 100 days until the kickoff of the ski season for Pajarito Mountain, which will open for the 2018/19 season on Friday, December 21. El Niño is forecasted for the 2018/19 season, which means more powder days! The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is currently predicting El Niño conditions for this winter, which tend to produce a greater than average snowfall across the southern Rockies, benefiting New Mexico.

“Everyone at Pajarito is excited for ski season to begin,” stated Tom Long, general manager at Pajarito. “Our crews have been hard at work ...

The word Pajarito in Spanish means little bird, and if you are looking for birds at Pajarito, there are no shortages. Pajarito and the Jemez Mountains are full of wildlife! There are thousands of animals that help keep the surrounding area beautiful! They are also vital to the ecosystem. Pajarito is doing its part to balance wildlife and guest needs. Pajarito has animal proof trash cans and cleans up the slope of garbage that animals might think is food.  Here are some of our favorite photos of animals at Pajarito:

Bighorn sheep, deer, and elk are indigenous to Jemez Mountains. This ...

Do you love seeing where your feet can take you? Pajarito is the perfect place for summer trail runs. The cool mountain breezes will wick away sweat, while you climb up to beautiful views of the Valles Calderas on trails that are just perfect for running. Looking to fuel up on your run? The Pajarito Mountain Cafe is open Wednesday through Sunday from 11am to 2pm and the perfect place to re-fuel with drinks, cookies, and bars or to replace those calories you burned after a run with juicy burgers, breakfast burritos and more!

Trail runner by Vint Miller

There ...