Ski season arrives early in New Mexico
SANTA FE, N.M. – A local ski shop saw a huge increase in customers Thursday. Winter sport junkies were excited to gear up and get on the slopes.
"We just saw the customer count through the door go up 400% just today because everyone's getting excited with the snow, and boy what a storm, it was huge," said Duane Kinsley, owner of Sports Systems.
Kinsley says he hasn't seen a storm this big, this early, in 40 years.
"We never had a fall, we went from summer to winter. So we just got everyone from downstairs where the bikes are, and they're all working up on this level doing winter stuff," said Kinsley.
"We were here a few weeks ago for balloon festival and stopped in looking for ski boots, and to get some advice on skis we got the boots, but we had to come back for skis and bindings," said Hannah and Victoria
They drove from El Paso just to get set up with gear.
"It was exciting, I mean we're ready to ski if we could today, but snow meant ski season's starting soon," said Hannah and Victoria.
Maybe sooner than planned. Pajarito announced it's earliest opening in 40 years this coming Saturday. They got nearly 29 inches of snow in 72 hours.
Ski Santa Fe is set to open Thanksgiving, but with this storm, it's pushing to open earlier too.
"Rarely do we get this kind of good snow making temperatures along with an amazing early season snow storm like this one," said Ben Abruzzo, general manager of Ski Santa Fe.
This year, visitors will be met with a new high speed quad lift. Staff built it in house, cutting the ride from the bottom to the top down to four minutes.
"I don't think we're going to see lift lines at the bottom anymore," said Abruzzo.
It's that hometown mountain fee with all the technology and amenities that help keep Kinsley's store busy. It's just one of the reasons he loves to ski New Mexico.
"We're one of the best states to ski in the world it's because of the dry snow that we have, it's very fluffy and light. It's the snow consistency that we have that's unique to us. You'll get some of that in Colorado too, but it's crowded up there it's expensive," said Kinsley.
