Taos Ski Valley
Taos, New Mexico

Taos Ski Valley was founded by Ernie and Rhoda Blake in 1955. Ernie Blake had been manager at Ski Santa Fe and often flew up to Santa Fe's sister mountain at Glenwood Springs. Along the way he was always looking down, trying to search out the perfect ski slope for himself to develop. His efforts have resulted in Taos Ski Valley.

Since day 1 this has been a family-oriented, family-operated ski area. The first lift was a Bridger-Boseman J-Bar, installed in the fall of 1956 by Ernie, sixteen men from Taos Pueblo, and a mule named Lightning. After a day of dragging lift and tower parts through the snow up what is now Al's Run, the mule quit. A very tall local rancher by the name of Chilton Anderson was hired that same year. His job was to lift the cable back onto the towers when it fell off, which it did regularly. After 37 years, Chilton retired in 2003. Many of the staff at Taos Ski Valley boast of similar pedigrees: some of them have worked here since the 1950's. You might even come across four generations of the Blake family on the slopes: Taos Ski Valley is still owned and operated by the children and grandchildren of Ernie and Rhoda.