Explore Outdoor Activities: Skiing and Snowboarding

Snow days can be an interruption, a bother, a halt to carefully made plans. They don't have to be, though.

Properly handled, snow days -- when school is canceled and work is late and parents have to adjust schedules to provide child care -- ought to be a gift.

Because once the snow has fallen and school has been canceled but the roads are plowed, the entire family can jump in the car or walk to a steep park and take time out for fun.

Ski Santa Fe Winter 2009/2010 Season opens on December 11th

If anybody has been delighted by the early snow of autumn and the promise of snowy slopes this winter, it's Harvey and Reserl Chalker, founders 45 years ago and owners to this day of Alpine Sports, a downtown ski equipment and apparel store.

Two teenage snowboarders found themselves lost in the wilderness outside northern New Mexico ski resorts over the first five days of 2009.

Both survived.

Their harrowing experiences underscore the importance of safety and preparation while on the slopes, experts say.

Most winter recreationists know that northern New Mexico offers a breadth of opportunity for the snowboarder as well as skiers of all preferences. They know that it’s normal in our state for upwards of 300 inches of mountain snow to fall in a given winter, that this snow has a rare fluffy quality found nowhere else on earth, and that the chances of experiencing it beneath a dark blue sky are extremely high. They might not know, however, that two New Mexico mountains (Santa Fe and Taos) are among the oldest major ski areas in the west, or that all New Mexico mountains are offering some amazing promotions to get you out onto the snow.