More Local

• ABQTrib.com to remain available
• Former Marine to serve two years in jail for killing Albuquerque robber
• Wilson-Pearce battle for U.S. Senate exemplifies party's disparity

MOST RECENT TRIB STORIES

• ABQTrib.com to remain available
  08:48 a.m., February 25, 2008
• Congressman is indicted
  08:37 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Series of attacks target Green Zone
  08:36 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Iran is defying U.N., agency says
  08:35 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Waterboarding approval probed
  08:34 a.m., February 23, 2008

TRIB IN THE BLOGOSPHERE*

• Ty Murray Invitational thrills fans in Albuquerque
• Is Rome Burning?
• Ominous Skies
• The Road to Invalidation
• Albuquerque company participates in “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”

*Note: The Tribune does not create and is not responsible for the blogosphere's headlines and stories. These links to blogs talking about ABQTrib.com are automatically generated. Use them at your own risk.

STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• Comments
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

SHARE THIS STORY [?]

Name the common factor between this odd range of statements:

"Scary," "a bad decision," "the end of an era," "inevitable," "like gold raining from the heavens," "like snow falling on Christmas," "a dream come true."

Give up?

They were used by various snow enthusiasts to describe the decision by Taos Ski Valley to open its slopes to snowboarders starting March 19.

The mountain has been one of the last strongholds nationwide for skiers, with officials denying access to snowboarders to the resort founded by Ernie Blake in the 1950s.

But feedback led Blake heirs, who still run the mountain, to decide it was time to permanently open its slopes to all types of boarders, said Adriana Blake, a family member and marketing manager for the resort.

"We feel it's time," she said. "The marketing department goes on a lot of road trips to talk to customers, and this year more than any other we heard from people that they couldn't come to Taos because they have a snowboarder in the family."

That meant the site wasn't just turning down business from snowboarders, but also losing some of its traditional base, Blake said.

That's certainly the case for Albuquerque skier Jo Porter. Her 25-year-old daughter is a snowboarder, and Porter hasn't been to Taos for years because she can't bring her daughter along.

"It will be wonderful to go up there as a family," Porter said. "A lot of families have steered away because of the restrictions. I think this is a good move."

Others are less sanguine about the decision.

Brian Munn, product merchandise manager of the ski department at Sportz Outdoor, said he's worried snowboarders will damage the character of the runs at Taos.

"Taos is about moguls - people come from all over for that," Munn said, describing the carved bumps skiers navigate on virtually all the run at Taos.

"It's not so much that I don't like snowboarders, but the problem is how they go down the hill - boarders tend to slide down a hill and shave the bumps off," Munn said. "Skiers like to move around the bumps, which is the fun thing."

He realizes the decision was inevitable because snowboarders will bring more money into the area, but still, Munn said he found the decision frustrating.

"It will change the character of the mountain," Munn said. "From a skier's point of view, it will change it for the worse."

George Median, co-owner of Experience Snowboards in Angel Fire and co-founder of the "Free Taos" movement - a group that has called for Taos to allow boarding - sits firmly on the opposite side of the hill.

He's thrilled by the decision, especially after years of sneaking up the mountain with his snowboard before the season started and after it ended so he could enjoy the slopes, too, he said.

"I grew up skiing in Taos - it's an awesome mountain," Median said. "The terrain there is unlike terrain available anywhere that's around here. And every time I skied there I would think how fun it would be to bring my board."

Most slopes on the mountain are too hard even for intermediate skiers, which is a big draw for snowboarders that are looking for a challenge, he said.

"The most challenging terrain available in New Mexico was off-limits to snowboarding," Median said. "But the more you challenge yourself, the more you improve. I always thought not having Taos open dropped the skills of New Mexico's snowboarders."

Median and others have been printing "Free Taos" bumperstickers and T-shirts since 1994 in an effort to sway the resort to open the mountain to snowboarders.

"I don't know what we're going to do now - we're just walking around wondering if we should peel all our stickers off," Median said with a laugh.

It appears the fighting between boarders and skiers is far from over.

Insults flew on Taos Ski Valley's new snowboarding blog at ridetaos.org.

Some skiers called snowboarders "knuckle draggers" and thanked them in advance for scraping all the snow off the hill.

One snowboarder, using the name "knuckle dragger," shot back calling skiers "two plankers," gleefully informing them that the decision was financial.

And others seemed not to care, including one post by "sparcum" that said "Free Tacos?" instead of Free Taos.

Skiers will have most of this season to say goodbye to their exclusive right to the mountain.

The slopes won't welcome snowboarders until March 19 because many skiers had already booked reservations under the assumption that only they would be allowed on the slopes, Blake said.

"We think more people will come this season - some will come in mourning, of course, because they're unhappy with the decision, but we're also getting many calls now where people are saying `Woo-hoo,' " Blake said.

And in the end, there's room for both types of snow enthusiasts on the mountain, said Jamie McKeon, an Albuquerque skier.

"If people just have enough common courtesy, there's more than enough mountain for everybody," McKeon said.