Skiing In Flagstaff, Arizona

Even though we are in sunny Arizona, we were delighted to take advantage of the snowy mountains in the Flagstaff area for a three day ski getaway. We tracked the weather for a couple of weeks, and when it looked like the conditions were most favorable, we booked a room in the "Ski Lift Lodge & Cabins", loaded up our gear, and headed out.

Flagstaff is about 145 miles from Surprise, with MapQuest giving us an estimated 2 hours 13 minutes on the road. We left Wednesday morning, wanting to arrive in Flagstaff about lunch time, then spend a couple of hours in the early afternoon getting the lay of the land before checking in to our room at the lodge. Before long, we ran into rain, and as we climbed, the rain turned to a rain-snow mix, and finally, just snow. There was also several feet of snow on the ground in and around Flagstaff.

After lunch, we checked out the Snow Bowl Ski Resort for down hill skiing and The Flagstaff Nordic Center for cross country skiing, our plan being to spend one day at each place. With so much snow on the ground, and the forecast calling for sunshine and clear skies the next couple days, we were anticipating a great couple days of skiing. We were not disappointed!

Thursday we headed to Snow Bowl. The snow conditions were perfect, the crowds manageable, and the weather in the morning was perfect. After lunch it started getting foggy, then the snow clouds followed the fog, and soon it was lightly snowing. We skied a while more, but when visibility kept diminishing, we decided to pack it in. It was a really fun first ski of the season.

Friday we drove to the Nordic Center where we spent the day cross country skiing. The weather was pristine! Clear blue skies, nary a breeze, and the sun shining off the snowy forest floor like sparkling diamonds. It was peaceful and quiet, everything blanketed in white, the snow absorbing the ambient sounds. Sometimes all you could hear was the swishing of the skis across the snow. Although we weren't the only ones there that day, at times that is how it seemed.

I've included some pictures the lodge, Snow Bowl, and the Nordic Center.

Taos Ski Trip

We left Mission on January 16, to slowly move west, planning to end up in Sacramento for a couple of months beginning mid-February. Since we aren’t on a strict schedule, we decided to make a couple of side trips along the way. Our first stop was back to Bernalillo, New Mexico (right next to Albuquerque) to position ourselves for a trip to Taos Ski Valley for a two day ski trip. Taos Ski Valley is about 125 miles from Albuquerque, but at 10,000 plus elevation, nowhere we wanted to take our 5th wheel. Bernalillo sits at about 5000 feet, and was cold enough! We had a couple of mornings down into the mid teens, and the highs no more than the mid 40’s. This was quite shocking, after spending six weeks in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas with highs mostly in the 70’s and 80’s! So, we left the 5th wheel in Bernalillo, and drove to Taos Ski Valley for a mini ski vacation. The place we stayed was a Bed & Breakfast of sorts called Austing Haus, a charming chalet-like lodge located just about a mile from the ski resort. (I’ve included a picture of Austin Haus with this post.) We arrived on a Tuesday night following a few days of fresh snowfall. Wednesday was bright and sunny, very cold (low at zero, high only 24), and a perfect day for skiing. We hit the slopes at 9:30 and skied until 3:00 with only a couple of breaks for coffee and lunch. We had tentatively planned to ski Thursday as well, but it started snowing overnight, and Dan twisted his knee skiing some bumps, so we decided to call it done after the one day. We did a little shopping in the ski village, and headed back to Bernalillo. Dan had been to Taos Ski Valley several years ago, but this was my first trip. This was somewhere he really wanted to return to and was excited about sharing the experience with me. Although the trip was brief, it was fun and well worth the effort.

Next stop: Mesa, Arizona!