Coming from the north, we had spent many Christmas breaks and winter weekends driving up to Michigan to hit the slopes. Through the years, we accumulated our own gear and decided when we moved to Texas, we would keep it all with us just in case we ever took a ski trip. So in the winter of 2013, we finally took advantage of the closest ski destination to Austin and drove over to Ruidoso for some snowboarding.When we decided on our ski destination, it took a lot of consideration and reconsideration! We so badly wanted to go to Colorado, because, well that's just good skiing. But we decided this trip was going to be a road trip because we have our own boards and unless you fly on Southwest with flex flying, snowboards and checked baggage are just so much added cost. We knew we had to drive and we weren't up for a 16 hour drive to Vail. With some research and yelp review reading, we landed on New Mexico's most southern ski town, Ruidoso. The mountain itself was very large and visible from downtown Ruidoso. The mountain accumulated some snowfall, but not nearly enough natural snow to sustain a ski resort so majority of the powder was man made. However, it was well groomed and by the end of the day, it still hadn't turned to slush. We are very used to night boarding so when the mountain closed at 4:30pm, our only assumption was so they could re-groom the runs and keep them from turning to ice as it got colder into the night. There were several long runs that followed wooded trails and lasted close to 3 minutes without a rest in the middle. The mountain had a bar couple bars along the way to the bottom as well as a main dinning area and rooftop bar at the base, next to the ski lift. There was rumors of a bar/restaurant going in at the top of the gondola but nothing was there when we were. We really enjoyed the mountain and for it's location to Texas, it was a fabulous ski destination with fun runs! Our accommodations were at this adorable cabin hotel, Shadow Lodge Hotel. Each room was a little retreat with your own living room, kitchen, and bedroom area in a detached cabin. They also had a hot tub and swimming pool but we didn't get to use them. Shadow Lodge was located just a block away from the main town drag so we were close to food and shops but felt secluded by being just a touch of the main road. We had a wonderful experience there and would highly recommend this spot to anyone heading to Ruidoso. Shadow Lodge is in town and from there, it takes about 30 minutes to get to the mountain. There were many hotels along the way up the mountain route but we enjoyed being in town and close to all the fun things to partake in after the slopes had closed. This actually benefited us since the mountain closed around 4:30pm and left the rest of the night open for dinner and bar hopping. Ruidoso is known as an artist town. There are many painters, sculptors, and photographers in the city and continue to make themselves present throughout the community. There was several art dealers along the main drag as well as wood cravings and beautiful street art randomly through the city. Souvenirs were very easy to come by, however, the art was so abundant it was hard to pick just one thing to bring home! We left with a beautiful painting of the mountain and some pottery that we use to decorate our home office and living room.
Until Next Time, C + D
3 Comments
4/28/2023 02:54:31 pm
Enormous amounts of resources as well as making life just too dangerous. How free can poor subsistence farmers feel to innovate or invest when their every movement is hemmed in by an open zoo?
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4/29/2023 09:24:21 am
Well that's just good skiing. But we decided this trip was going to be a road trip because we have our own boards and unless you fly on Southwest with flex flying, Thank you for sharing your great post!
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