Selling Taos Ski Valley

Okay, it's one of those...I remember when...moments!

This memory sparked by the news that the Blake family and other investors in Taos Ski Valley have sold to a billionaire.  Here's hoping it's good for all.

While growing up in Taos and attending the Taos Municipal Schools - if the grades were good - we could take off on a Wednesday afternoon for a ski trip - it was either Taos, Red River, or SiPaPu.

SiPaPu was more of my ability.  The Texans had invaded Red River.  So that left Taos as our cherished "ski area".

Our instructor, I think, was Ernie Blake - the founder of the area. We were taking lessons only four or five years after the area opened.

Those were the days, my friend, when ski wear, bindings, shoes and skis as we know it today didn't exist.

The trip to ski on Wednesday meant, to me, an afternoon of standing and falling in the snow.  And those Levi's we wore got wet, and froze.  Oh, what fun!  My skiing "career" ended on those slopes, in those days.

And, in those days, Ernie Blake personally called all the radio stations to report the skiing conditions.   To this day, I can hear his Austrian accent - which was much more pronounced during the winter on the radio (marketing) than it was during the summer just talking to him -

"This is Ernie Blake calling from Taos Ski Valley - the snow today is beautiful - however getting here will be kind of difficult because the roads haven't been cleared by the highway department."

Ernie did that for years and then finally the road up Hondo Canyon was paved and getting there is no problem.

There was a time when TSV didn't welcome the daily skiers from Albuquerque. TSV wanted people to come from Chicago on the train to Lamy or Raton and stay for a week (be held captive) in the few hotels that existed.

Those times changed as the family recognized the money to be made by the day skiers.   Then there were the snowboarders. The Blake's resisted for a long time, but recognized the financial gain from boarders, so they are now welcome.

With new owners, I'm confident TSV will grow and prosper - meeting the dreams of the Blake family - and helping New Mexico's ski industry grow.

That means more folks will get there, stand at the base - look at Al's Run - and not know the history behind the name.

Dr. Al Rosen was one of the few doc's in Taos - he was our family doctor - and he used to ski with an oxygen tank on his back.

Ah, the memories  -