Winter is in full swing, and for Ski Santa Fe, this season is shaping up to be a great one.

Ski Santa Fe, located around 16 miles from the city, opened in late November and has gotten its fair share of heavy snowfall. The base, as of January 30, is 54 inches, more than any ski area in New Mexico, even Taos. 

“Early snowfall has been great! We are ahead of where we were this time last year,” Eric Thompson, Ski Santa Fe’s director of marketing, said in an email. 

“We have had quite a few big storms, as well as smaller storms which still produce good snow,” said Santa Fe High freshman Isaac Glass, a snowboarder. “It also feels like there’s more powder this year.”

Ski Santa Fe has changed its ski lift pass system, attempting to make it easier and more efficient. While in previous years employees would scan each person’s pass before they got on to the lift, skiers and snowboarders now pass through scanning machines, similar to metal detectors at an airport. 

“We have moved to new RFID technology at the base of each lift,” Thompson wrote. “We made the move to help get people through the lift lines faster.”

However, the change seems to have mixed results. As skier Keelan Smith said, there have been frequent malfunctions with the new technology.

“Sometimes they don’t work and you have to pull the whole card or ticket out to scan it,” the Santa Fe High freshman said. “I believe it works better for speed, but I don’t like the mistakes it makes. I also miss the overall friendliness that lift scanners used to have.” 

Ski Santa Fe isn’t stopping there with the “out with the old and in with the new” philosophy. The basin will replace its quad chair with a new high-speed lift in time for next season. 

“The new lift will take guests up the mountain in just over four minutes, shortening what was previously a ten-minute lift ride,” a post on Ski Santa Fe’s official Instagram account stated. “The new lift will help reduce lift lines, alleviate bottlenecks on busier days, and make loading and unloading easier for novice skiers and riders.” 

Ski Santa Fe is only a 30-minute drive from town and has enough runs and variety to satisfy most skiers and snowboarders. It offers equipment rentals, and there are also rentals available at Cottams, in Hyde Park, on the drive up.  The new lift coming next season will help beginners feel more comfortable learning, and the new lift pass system will help experienced skiers and snowboarders get out on the slopes as fast as possible.