This is your go-to spot for the latest from the mountain. All spring and summer long, we’ll be sharing progress updates, photos, and milestones from Pajarito’s biggest infrastructure investment in the resort’s history — the Jemez Mountain Fire Protection Project and the improvements coming as a result of the consistent water to our snowmaking pond. From new snowmaking infrastructure to lift upgrades and maintenance, this is where you’ll see how the work is unfolding.
Bookmark it, check back often, and get ready for what’s coming this winter.
8/17/26
Crazy Mother Terrain Park is getting regraded into a regular run this season — new turns are coming to the top of Big Mother. Park lovers, don’t panic: we’re keeping an eye out for other spots to bring park features back down the road.
8/17/26
Here’s the next chapter, and it’s a good one!
Once a trench is backfilled, our crews get to work reseeding it and covering it with straw mulch. That mulch holds everything in place while the new seed takes root, and by next season you won’t be able to tell the ground was ever touched. The mountain heals right behind us. This step means we’re deep into the home stretch on the snowmaking project on Pussycat. Pipe’s in the ground, seed’s down, and the pieces are coming together for the biggest snowmaking upgrade in Pajarito’s history.
In other news, the team has also been hard at work installing new communication line on the Aspen Lift. A comm line is essentially the lift’s phone system. It’s a separate cable from the one the chairs hang on, and it’s what keeps the top terminal, bottom terminal, lift ops, and ski patrol all talking to each other in real time. That connection is what lets the lift stop instantly if something needs attention anywhere along the line.
Stay tuned for more details on all the hard work at Pajarito this summer!
8/3/26
Work Continues as We Prepare for a Big Winter!
The pipeline. Our crew is doing a valve station tie-in into the main manifold, the junction point where separate pipeline runs get connected and controlled as one system.
The Beginner lift. Up on the tower, techs are working directly on the wheel assembly that the haul rope rides across.
Bruce’s Blvd West. The work on the snowmaking system here is wrapping up, the trail is cut and graded and this run is nearly ready to join the list of terrain getting dedicated snowmaking coverage.
Our crew is working hard this summer to get Pajarito ready for a great winter!
7/20/26
Pussycat’s Makeover
Snowmaking and pipeline work continue on Pussycat, one of the beloved runs getting a makeover this summer.
Did you know pass prices go up July 31? Get yours to now to experience all that’s new at Pajarito this winter.
Digging In: Pajarito’s Snowmaking Expansion Is 85% Compl
If you’ve hiked around the mountain this summer, you’ve seen all the work along the trails — dirt work, buried line, and the everpresent excavator. That’s the future of skiing at the Little Bird taking shape.
What’s Happening
We’re in the middle of a major snowmaking expansion, and as of now, we’re 85% finished with construction. Once complete, this project will boost our snowmaking capacity by 50% — meaning more terrain covered, more consistent conditions, and more reliable early-season skiing across the mountain.
Crews have been trenching in electrical line and setting pedestals (the tall gray boxes you see in the photos) that will power the snowguns. These pedestals are being installed roughly every 150 to 250 feet along every trail with dedicated snowmaking coverage:
- Beginner West
- Beginner East
- Bread and Butter
- The Learning Zone
- Pussycat
- Lower Lumberyard
- Lone Spruce
- Bruce’s Blvd East
- Bruce’s Blvd West
That’s a serious footprint — from beginner runs where new skiers take their first turns, to key connector trails that keep the mountain flowing.
Why It Matters
Pajarito has always been about pure, uncomplicated skiing — no traffic, no lift lines, just great terrain close to home. More snowmaking means we can protect that experience even further: earlier openings, better base coverage, and fewer thin spots on the trails you already love.
What’s Left
With the electrical work well underway, the remaining piece is tying everything together and getting the system fully operational ahead of the season. We’ll keep sharing progress as crews close out the final stretch.
Thanks for bearing with the dust and the dirt piles this summer — it’s all in service of more snow, sooner, on more of the mountain.
Ski the Little Bird.
7/16/26
Sometimes it can be hard to understand the scale of this project until you see the pipeline heading all the way up the mountain! Bringing water from the holding tank to our snowmaking pond is a huge endeavor. This will transport the water to create consistent snowmaking throughout the years. Along with our increased snowguns and infrastructure, it’s a new day at Pajarito!
7/7/26
Quick update from the hill, because a lot has been happening up here lately.
The Aspen lift
The big project right now is the Aspen lift, where we’re replacing the bearings in the return bullwheel. If you’ve never thought about the bullwheel before, that’s fair — most people haven’t. It’s the giant wheel that the haul rope wraps around at the top of the lift, and it turns all day, every day, the entire season. Bearings wear out. You replace them before they become a problem, not after.
So this week the crew pulled the whole wheel off the terminal and craned it down. Watching a piece of steel that size swing through the air never really gets old.
Upper Mal’s
Meanwhile, trail work is underway across the mountain, and Upper Mal’s is finally getting the haircut it’s needed for a while now. The crew has been cutting back years of brush and regrowth, and the run looks noticeably wider and cleaner already. Clearing it out opens up the fall line and, just as important, gives the snow a clean surface to build on. Come winter, this trim will make it ski event better.
The important work
This hard work for the crew. All for you this winter!
We’ll keep posting updates as summer projects wrap up. See you on the hill.
7/1/26
Big news for Pajarito’s Transformation – first – big electrical going in to support snowmaking operations and more. Next – want corduroy next winter? Our tiller got a full refurb – ready to groom all the new trails that will open early this season. AND the pipeline continues its progress up to the top.
6/17/26
The team is laying pipe and getting it in the ground – so much work on the mountain, which means fun on the mountain this winter!
6/4/26
The pipe is going in the ground!
5/27/26
Slopeworx is getting after it, getting the trench in and ready for the pipe that will bring the water from the storage tank up the mountain to the snowmaking pond.
5/18/26
More snowmaking infrastructure going in!
Power for the snow guns and hoses.
5/15/26
Snowmaking Infrastructure Is On Its Way
The pipe has landed, and we couldn’t be more stoked.
This week, Pajarito took a major step toward expanding our snowmaking capabilities — a fresh delivery of snowmaking pipe is on the mountain and ready to be laid. For a mountain that’s always been about maximizing your time on snow (not in lift lines), this is a big deal.
More snowmaking means more reliable coverage early in the season, better conditions when Mother Nature needs a little nudge, and more days of doing what we all came here to do: ski.
5/12/26
We’re dropping the rope…on Aspen lift. Literally. The haul rope is coming down to do service work and repair the bull wheel. It’s all part of the Pajarito transformation for Winter 2026.
5/10/26
More electrical upgrades going in on the mountain to support snowmaking infrastructure and more!
4/30/26
Big news! The beginner lift shack is getting a new roof + extensive work continues on Camp May Road. Just a reminder, Camp May Road is closed Monday-Thursday for construction.
4/29/26
Parking Lot & Road Updates
Good news on two fronts this week.
The Pajarito parking lot is getting some long-overdue attention — we’re filling it in and regrading it, so expect a noticeably smoother arrival experience come opening day. No crushed stone, just a cleaner, more even surface that’ll make those early-morning gear hauls a little less of an adventure before you even hit the mountain.
And on the road in: Los Alamos County is repairing Camp May Road this season. It’s the kind of behind-the-scenes infrastructure work that doesn’t make for a glamorous announcement, but if you’ve driven up that road a few times, you know it matters.
Both projects are part of the broader wave of improvements happening on and around the mountain this year. More to come.
Power Up: Electrical Upgrades and Lift Season Prep
Electrical Upgrades
Work is underway on the mountain, and progress is happening! This week, we’re sharing the first round of photos from the electrical upgrades taking shape to support Pajarito’s expanded snowmaking infrastructure. New switchgear and transformer locations are being established to handle the significantly increased power demands that come with a bigger, more capable snowgun fleet. This isn’t glamorous work — it’s heavy iron and high voltage — but it’s the foundation everything else is built upon. No power, no snowguns. Getting this right is step one.
Lift Maintenance
Meanwhile, the lifts are getting their annual care. Grips and chairs have been tested and chairs are being migrated as part of the routine maintenance that keeps the little bird running season after season.
More updates coming as the project moves forward. Stay tuned.
— The Pajarito Mountain Team
