Although Pajarito Mountain is snowy and beautiful, several challenges are preventing the ski area’s opening for now. Photo Courtesy Pajarito

BY TOM LONG
General Manager
Pajarito Mountain

As you witnessed the New Year’s storm at Pajarito, no doubt many of you are scratching your heads asking “why isn’t Pajarito open?” While it looks snowy and beautiful up here, we are encountering several challenges to opening. We love winter and know you do, too, and no doubt you’re as eager as we are to hit our slopes. 

First, we are experiencing some staffing issues. Omicron has hit Pajarito. Most of our employees have been sick or in quarantine due to COVID. In addition, we are finding it extremely difficult to find employees to work. From our cafe to the rental shop, we need employees in nearly every department. We understand that many businesses are suffering from the same struggle, which makes finding employees very hard. Want to work with us or know someone who does? Please click here for an application!  

Second, the snow squall with 85+/hour winds that affected Pajarito recently downed many, many trees on the mountain. Our volunteer chainsaw crew plus our own staff have pitched in to remove trees, but there are still many out there. If you need firewood, please come to the mountain and get as much as you can haul. 

Third, we welcomed the recent snowfall with hoops and hollers, 16” is a lot of snow. A number of you have enjoyed hiking and skiing/boarding here on the fresh snow. However, the reality is that the snowpack is insufficient to support operations. As we worked the snow, we discovered it was dry and light, which doesn’t groom down to very much coverage. Our incredible, dedicated team has worked tirelessly on the snow and slopes. The mountain is shaping up, but we need more snow to safely offer lift-served skiing at this time. We want to provide you with a great experience on the snow and off, and we just aren’t there yet. 

We know you want more information, we hear that you want to know what’s happening on the mountain, and it’s our goal to provide information as it becomes available. We are committed to a winter season, we want to get open, but we’re asking for patience so our staff can get better and we can offer some snow fun soon.