Snowboarding in Sipapu, NM
We really did not know what to expected as we headed out for our last snowboarding trip of the season. Sipapu was chosen because it was open the latest and had some killer deals. So we figured we couldn’t go wrong.
As we came up to the mountain we got a little nervous by the lack of snow. When we got to the Sipapu Resort we weren’t feeling much better. There was no one around and the base of the mountain seemed pretty bare. We eventually got our keys for the cabin and decided we were just going to make the most of it no matter what.
We woke up the first morning and had to go into Taos to try to find a jacket for Jesse since he left his behind. Since it was so early nothing was really open yet so we decided to eat breakfast. Thanks to Yelp we found Gutiz, a great local establishment. The breakfast was phenomenal. We were all highly impressed. Definitely will eat there again when we go back.
After breakfast we set out to find Jesse a jacket. Unfortunately this ended up being harder than we anticipated. Since it was technically past the ski season, the local shops had limited inventory, but also didn’t have it out. We did find one shop that was nice enough to get what they had from the back and allow Jesse to browse through them. At first Jesse wasn’t sure he wanted to spend that much money for a jacket since he already had one at home, but he needed something for this trip. So we tried to see if the local thrift shop had something that might do the job. There wasn’t anything there that Jesse would have been happy with so we went back to ski shop and Jesse decided to give their inventory another look. This time he found something he thought would be good enough and we were on our way back to the mountain.
Once we got back to Sipapu, there were a good number of cars in the parking lot. This was a good sign that at least we weren’t the only ones that decided to try to come on the last weekend. Sipapu had a few activities planned for their closing weekend. They had a free style contest, which they tried to talk everyone into signing up for since there weren’t very many people there. We decided to pass. Although we are adventurous, that was just a bit too much. They also had a live band performing throughout the day. Although they weren’t that good they were very entertaining and did have one very talented individual. She mainly played the keyboard, but had one song in which she was in the spotlight. She impressed Jesse and Haley. Stephen and I missed it because we were making a run down the mountain.
The first day was very interesting because we were all trying to get back into the swing of things. This was only our third trip (second for Jesse). The resort only had 5 trails open, but the trails had a pretty good variety of conditions so it would do. I was hoping to try out my new gear, but was worried about the condition of the slopes so I decided on using my old setup. Stephen had new boots and bindings so that was an adjustment for him. It was highly entertaining seeing him try to adjust. His old boots were very different and were way more flexible than his new ones. He also wasn’t able to adjust his setup too much because his board has very odd screw holes for attaching the bindings. Jesse had issues with staying on the snow. During one of the first runs I came around the corner to see him walking up from the edge of the trail through the dirt. This would be a sign of things to come for him. The whole weekend he had a knack for falling into the dirt.
Each trip we try to make advancements in our skills and learning. For this trip my goal was to do a jump. So after we reacclimatized to snowboarding and ran the slopes for a little bit, we found a pretty good spot to try our jumps. This definitely provided some of the more interesting moments of the trip. There were more crashes than clean landings but we eventually got to where we could land the jump some of the times. So the objective for this trip was met, and we had a lot of fun with it.
The second day on the mountain was a lot more enjoyable. It snowed and dropped about 3.5 inches of fresh powder on the slopes. It was better for the most part, but on some areas of the slopes it just covered up the ice. So as people went down them throughout the day, the fresh powder was eventually scraped off to reveal the icy parts. Still it was better than hitting dirt. Just ask Jesse! As the day wore on some of the snow started to melt away and eventually the slopes got a little slushy. The slush effected our momentum and really threw us off our rhythm. We just took this as a challenge and continued our fun.
After the second day on the slopes was over, Jesse and I went to bar at the base of the mountain and had some celebratory food and drinks. It was really funny because it started snowing again right in the middle of our enjoyment. We didn’t mind it and just sat there in the snow. Also Jesse did what he did best and made a new friend, Thor. Thor was hilarious and just Jesse’s type. He was also a great snowboarder and had some funny stories. He actually lives near Sipapu and told us to hit him up if we come back next season.
Overall the trip was really fun and the staff and people in the area were really friendly. We definitely plan to go back. This time we want to go during the regular season where we can actually enjoy all the trails on the mountain. Hopefully we can get a bigger group together to go and really have some fun. You can see the fun we had by checking out the snowboarding trip photos or have some laughs by watching the snowboarding jumps video. Hope you enjoy!
