ANGEL FIRE, N.M. – New Mexico’s only ski resort offering night skiing will keep the lights off for the 2026-27 season.
Angel Fire Resort announced Sept. 14 that it is temporarily pausing night skiing this winter as the mountain adjusts to its new Angel Express high-speed six-person chairlift.
The resort says the pause is temporary. Night skiing is expected to return in a future winter, although Angel Fire has not announced exactly when.
The reason for the change is tied directly to the replacement of the resort’s longtime Lift 2.
Earlier this year, Angel Fire removed Lift 2 to make way for Angel Express, New Mexico’s first high-speed six-person chairlift. The old chair served two runs under the lights. Angel Express now provides access to 14 runs, dramatically changing how skiers and snowboarders move through that part of the mountain.
Rather than immediately installing new lights throughout the expanded terrain, Angel Fire plans to use the 2026-27 season to see how guests actually use the runs accessed by Angel Express.
The resort’s mountain operations team will monitor skier and snowboarder traffic throughout the winter before deciding where future night-skiing lighting should be installed.
That means a longtime Angel Fire tradition will disappear for at least one winter, but the resort appears to be planning for a larger night-skiing operation when it eventually returns.
Angel Express Changes the Lower Mountain
Angel Express is one of Angel Fire’s biggest lift investments in years.
The new chair stretches 5,342 feet, climbs 887 vertical feet and can carry 1,800 people per hour. The ride takes a little more than five minutes. It begins near the base area and reaches mid-mountain terrain below Leon’s Lane.
The chair is also opening easier access to terrain that was difficult or impossible to fully introduce last winter.
Among the runs accessible from the new lift are Heaven Sent, Kofler’s Run and Deer Glade. Those trails were part of a larger terrain expansion previously covered by Unofficial Networks, which included seven new trails and glades and Angel Fire’s first double black diamond terrain.
Unofficial Networks also previously covered Angel Fire’s multiyear chairlift improvement plan, which included both Angel Express and the new Rakes Rider chairlift.
When Will Night Skiing Return to Angel Fire?
That remains the biggest unanswered question.
Angel Fire has confirmed that night skiing will return, but the resort has not committed to the 2027-28 season or any other specific date. The coming winter will instead serve as an evaluation period before the resort determines where to invest in new lighting infrastructure.
For skiers planning a trip this winter, Angel Fire’s regular daytime operations are scheduled to begin Dec. 11, 2026, and continue through March 21, 2027. Lifts are scheduled to operate from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., weather permitting.
The 2026-27 season will also mark Angel Fire’s 60th anniversary
For now, that anniversary season will come with a notable change. Skiers and snowboarders will have a faster new chairlift and access to more terrain during the day, but New Mexico’s only night-skiing operation will remain dark after the lifts close.
