Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.misc From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: For winter sports, arts and dining, hit the trail to Santa Date: Sun, 1 Nov 92 20:06:09 EST Message-ID: \SE E;TRAVEL \HD For winter sports, arts and dining, hit the trail to Santa Fe \BY Tom Carter \CR THE WASHINGTON TIMES Take the sunlight of the high desert and an unlimited supply of fresh-powder days. Add pre-Columbian Indian pueblos, Spanish architecture and about 500 art galleries. Mix well with spicy cuisine, a Western frontier abandon and a skier-friendly mountain that will satisfy just about any taste and you get Santa Fe. New Mexico in general, and Santa Fe in particular, may be the most foreign destination it is possible for an American skier to visit and not need a passport. While most people choose to visit New Mexico in the summer, as a winter ski destination, Santa Fe is unsurpassed. A land of enchanting contradiction, the old and new, high mountains and flat desert, cruising cool and super hot skiing, New Mexico is unlike skiing anywhere else on the continent. Except during Christmas, there are no lines, reservations are easy to get and everything is priced for the off-season. And for folks accustomed to the average Western mining town that has been converted into a ski resort, in every area - lodging, culture, museums, dining - Santa Fe is world class. There is more to do in Santa Fe (in addition to skiing) than in most of the rest of the Rockies combined. Taos, two hours further up the road, is better known as a destination ski area, and it is far more demanding (steeep!), but most skiers will find Santa Fe has more than enough terrain to keep a range of skiers happy for several days. Just 47 years after Columbus arrived in the New World, Indians in what is now New Mexico had their first contact with European adventurers. It was the beginning of a relationship that has lasted to this day. An hour north of Albuquerque, Santa Fe marks the end of the overland westward trail. Founded by Spanish conquistadors in 1610, 10 years before the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts, Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in North America. When the Spanish arrived, the area already had a population of an estimated 100,000 people who spoke nine languages and lived in about 70 multistoried adobe pueblos, some still inhabited today. In 1680, the Indians revolted against their Spanish conquerors, but in 1692, Don Diego de Vargas recaptured the region in a bloodless seige. For the next 150 years, Santa Fe grew as a frontier military base and trading center. In 1846, during the Mexican-American War, the territory was ceded to the United States and Santa Fe became the quintessential frontier Western town, hosting the likes of Kit Carson, Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett. In the early part of this century, Santa Fe took on a new character, With its high desert light, the 7,000-foot elevation and the mild climate, Santa Fe became a magnet for men and women of arts and letters. Such writers as D.H. Lawrence, Ezra Pound, Willa Cather, Jack London and H.L. Mencken lived or spent time there. Painters Edward Hopper and Marsden Hartley lived there, and the town was a home for Robert Henri, George Bellows and Randall Davey. Composer Aaron Copland lived in Santa Fe and today the town of just 60,000 people is home to a notable opera company. And as visitors soon discover, these influences from the past make themselves felt in Santa Fe's present. Santa Fe is a destination for skiers who want more from their vacation than fondue, faux Swiss architecture and a chalet bar. The Santa Fe Ski Basin sits 18 miles outside Santa Fe proper. While the mountain is thought of as a local's day area for Santa Fe and Albuquerque skiers, visitors find there's more than enough terrain for everyone. It is a solid intermediate's mountain, if there is fresh snow, and most experts find it takes two to three days to exhaust the mountain's 2,000-foot vertical and all its possibilities. All the mountain amenities - restaurant, rentals, child care and tickets - are a few steps from the parking lot. Adult all-day lift tickets are $30 and, unlike Taos, snowboards are allowed. Beginning skiers will be happiest on the wide boulevard of Easy Street on the lower part of the mountain. Strong novices will find challenges on Open Slope and Upper and Lower Midland, which are reached from the top of the Sierra quad. On a fresh-powder day, local intermediates and advanced skiers head straight up the Tesuque Peak triple chair to a 12,000-foot elevation and the top of the mountain. To the right of the lift is Gayway, a glorious groomed pitch with several spicy turns that give new meaning to the term spectacular scenery. On a clear day, skiers on Gayway can see for 150 miles. Parachute, which parallels Gayway, is a groomed black-diamond alternative with a much steeper pitch. For the most part, the mountain's expert trails are to the left of the Tesuque Peak chair. With fresh snow, locals go first to Columbine, Big Rocks and Wizard. But because of its exposure, Columbine can hold snow for two weeks after a dump. It is very steep, very advanced and a lot of fun. Roadrunner, a bump run directly under the chair, is great for jolting down the mountain. Tequila Sunrise is the best glade skiing on the mountain. On the far side of the mountain and reached by the Santa Fe Super Chief quad, Muerte and Defasio boast narrow, isolated tree skiing for the upper intermediate. While the area hopes to overcome some environmental objections and put a lift in the Big Tesuque Bowl, for the moment the intrepid ski into the area by Cornice (itself a taste of the bowl). Tesuque skiers find natural powder, bowl skiing and trees. The bowl dumps skiers out on the area's entrance road. Skiers then hitchhike back to the top. First-timers in this area should go with a local who knows the area. It's wilderness. It's big. And people have become lost, requiring rescue. There is no lodging at the mountain, and even if there were, you'd want to drive back to Santa Fe for the numerous hotels, bed-and-breakfasts and inns that accommodate most every need. Since the high season in Santa Fe is summer, ski packages and discount rates are almost always available in winter. Budget skiers will want to stay on Cerrillos Road, where rooms run between $35 and $60. Ski packages, including lift tickets, are available at virtually all the Santa Fe lodging establishments. If you want to splurge, La Fonda is the historic place to stay in Santa Fe. An inn of one sort or another has been on this site for 300 years. Billy the Kid washed dishes and Pat Garrett was a guest in this grande dame of Santa Fe lodging. The present hotel, a local landmark, was built in the 1920s; it is an elegant, old-style reminder of what Santa Fe once was. Rooms cost about $100 a night. The politically correct place to stay in Santa Fe is the Inn of the Anasazi, built in the '90s Santa Fe style just off the Plaza. The food is grown locally at Indian pueblos, and leftovers are donated to the homeless. The art, including the iron work, rugs and woodwork is all Indian and before its opening the place was blessed Indian holy men. Other first-class Santa Fe hotels near the historic Plaza district include the Inn at Loretto and the Eldorado, where rooms cost between $100 and $150 night. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM