Santa Fe, New Mexico — The season started great for Ski Santa Fe. Early November snowfall allowed Ski Santa Fe to open early for the season. In fact, it was their earliest opening in 21 years. This included the debut of the Santa Fe Express, the ski resort’s first detachable high-speed chairlift. Then La Niña happened.
During La Niña patterns, like this winter, the Northwest sees a lot of snow, while the Southwest goes through very dry conditions. If you’re wondering how things were by the middle of the season, it was getting pretty thin out there. KQRE chatted with Ben Abruzzo, the General Manager of Ski Santa Fe, in early January to discuss these challenges. They made lots of snow during the dry stretches, which helped them remain operational.
While New Mexico has seen some snow this month, it hasn’t been enough to save the diminishing snowpack. This week, Ski Santa Fe announced that it will be wrapping up its season on March 30th. Making it to March 30th is by no means a disappointment, as various ski resorts across the country have already wrapped up their season. However, this situation shows how La Niña has caused a below-average season for the Southwest ski industry.
Ski Santa Fe has only seen 124 inches of snowfall this season, with lots of dry weather scheduled ahead. However, the ski resort still has 88% of its terrain open. Earlier this week, Ben Abruzzo described how the terrain is holding up to The New Mexican:
“The coverage is really, really good on the beginning and intermediate terrain. It’s getting a little thin on the advanced terrain. But I think people will enjoy coming out this weekend and getting in a few last runs.”
Ski Santa Fe hasn’t been the only Southwest ski resort that’s struggled this season. Sandia Peak shut down in February and has struggled to get back open. Ski Apache announced a closure earlier this month because of a lack of snowpack. Over in Arizona, Mount Lemmon Ski Valley has yet to open for the season due to a lack of snow. However, their facilities are open, which includes scenic chairlift rides on select days.
A busy offseason awaits Ski Santa Fe. The New Mexico ski resort is planning to replace the Easy Street double chairlift with a new quad, which is expected to open during the 2025-26 season.
Image/Video Credits: Ski Santa Fe, KQRE
