Not too long ago, I wrote about the ease of skiing in New Mexico, which by now has gotten to feel like something of a throwback. There aren’t that many places where you can throw your stuff in the car and sit on a lift chair in 45 minutes. But downhill’s only part of the draw of wintersports in Santa Fe.
If you’ve never been snowshoeing, you owe it to yourself to give it a try while your’re here. I love it for some of the same reasons I love cycling. When you’re on a bike versus in the car, you absorb so much more of the environment, of the air, the shadows, the feel of the road, the cool, the heat, the feel of a fast descent — it’s sensory magic. And snowshoeing, like riding, lets you feel that you are in a natural environment and not sliding by it on slippery boards.
One doesn’t have to learn a bunch of new skills or pay $140 for a lift ticket. It’ll just cost you the gas. Head down to REI in the Railyard when you’re here and get some advice on the best snowshoes for your weight and height. You can even rent them. Grab a buddy, and next time there’s a snowfall of about 8” to 24” up on the mountain, GO! One does need a few winter safety skills in knowing how to keep warm, how to avoid overexertion, and how to make sure your base layer stays dry, but aside from that – if you can hike, you can snowshoe.
And the beauty will floor you. If you’ve got about a foot of fresh powder on the trail, it can be jawdroppingly gorgeous.
I used to go with my yellow lab Maisy, who’s in a few of these photos, and she too has a blast.
For your first jaunt, I would go up to the Aspen Vista trail, the trailhead for which starts at about 10,000 feet — about 15 miles from the intersection or Ski Valley Road and Bishop’s Lodge Road. Aspen Vista is a forest service double-track maintenance trail for the antennae at the top of Tesuque peak, so you can’t lose it. It’s quite wide. And none of the grades are steeper than about 6%. In other words, it’s an ideal snowshoe trail. If you think it may not be that much of a thrill, you’re thinkin’ wrong.
And if you need a snowshoe buddy, give me a call. As with any winter sport, especially when you’re in a remote area – always go with a friend.
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