Mike Smith
El Rito Media
msmith@currentargus.com

Taos resident Nicole Ponte was at a crossroads when she moved to New Mexico after graduating from the University of Southern Maine in 2020.

Trained in classical voice work, Ponte was already enrolled in a classical studies program at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. But she always had an interest in working as an emergency medical technician so instead of continuing her voice studies, she enrolled in an EMT course at UNM.

Now, with her EMT training complete, she is a full-time ski patroller at Taos Ski Valley and on Saturday, Feb. 8, she is coordinating a junior ski patrol day at the northern New Mexico resort.

This is the second year for the program, Ponte said during a telephone interview while preparing for the daylong event designed to teach the basics of ski patrolling to youngsters 8 to 14 years of age.

On Saturday morning, Ponte said, participants will learn basic medical techniques for treating injured skiers – “What to look out for and how to apply splints.”

During the afternoon sessions, the youngsters will gain firsthand knowledge of avalanche dog rescues and other aspects of snow safety.

Ponte, who serves as a brand ambassador for the New Mexico branch of She Jumps – a Salt Lake City-based organization dedicated to providing outdoor activities for women and girls – said she wants kids to come away from Saturday’s activities with some insights into the work that displaced music as her chosen profession.

“It’s a very dynamic career,” she said. “I love it.”

Snowfall offsets springlike conditions this week

Northern New Mexico ski resorts benefited from 12 to 18 inches of snow last week with above-normal temperatures expected this week.

The National Weather Service in Albuquerque were predicting temperatures 11 to 22 degrees above normal in the wake of last week’s three-day winter storm, said Christy Germscheid, executive director of Ski New Mexico.

“Basically, Ski Santa Fe, Sipapu, Taos and Angel Fire were the big winners, but any snow total right now makes every resort a winner,” she said.

Fourteen inches of new snow had fallen at Sipapu and Ski Santa Fe as of Monday, Feb. 3, while Taos Ski Valley had 10 inches of new snow.

Germscheid said ski operators were not frowning about the sudden warmup that was expected to push temperatures into the low-to-mid 50s.

“The warm weather makes skiing on this fresh powder the perfect combination of winter snow conditions with spring temps,” she said. “If it continues on this warm trajectory it will cause some issues but at the moment, give us the storm and then the sunshine and we will enjoy some incredible skiing the next two months.”

Here’s a rundown of skiing conditions as of Monday, Feb. 3:
(Information provided by Ski New Mexico)

Angel Fire had a base depth of 29 inches with 67 of 86 trails open and 7 of 7 lifts open.

Pajarito Mountain had a base depth of 14 inches with 40 of 53 trails open.

Red River Ski Area had a base depth of 24 inches with 48 of 64 trails open and 7 of 7 lifts open.

Sandia Peak Ski Area had a base depth of 6 inches with 2 to 4 trails open.

Sipapu had a 24-inch base depth with 21 of 44 trails open and 4 of 6 lifts open.

Ski Apache had a 36-inch base depth with 9 of 55 trails open.

Ski Santa Fe had a base depth of 34 inches with 82 of 90 trails open and 6 of 7 lifts open.

Taos Ski Valley had a 30-inch base depth with 74 of 120 trails open and 12 of 13 lifts open.

Ski Cloudcroft had a base depth of 10 inches with the Tubing Hill and Bunny Slope both open on Saturday and Sunday.

Note: Snow conditions can change after this report is compiled.

Mike Smith can be reached at 575-308-8734 or email at msmith@currentargus.com.