taos is ill...i'm biased because i live in NM...yes, taos is in new mexico and no, i don't have a greencard (you'd be amazed how many idiots think NM isn't part of the USA, believe me, it's happened).....but taos is rad, not gay at all......it's super chill and the skiing is sick...it's a really nice scene in general...i'm down with skier/snowboarder segregation cuz it creates a different feel on the mountain than the normal...i'm not hating on snowboarders at all but the difference in terrain and snow conditions at taos is def noticeable because of the absence of snowboarders, and it's nice......fuck 'freeing' taos, leave it the way it is......skiing there is pure and everyone is really chill...the only downside is that a good number of shitty texan skiers travel to the valley for the holidays...texan overcrowding can be an issue but if you're skiing what you should be, you won't see any of them except in the lift lines......as for the hiking business...i think the hikes are sweet...they aren't difficult and they don't take a ridiculous amount of time either as long as you're in decent shape......the skiing that you can get to by hiking the ridge is awesome, especially with fresh snow...hiking at taos is worth it......they don't have a park...i heard they tried to get one going and i saw what remained of it last spring, it was pretty terrible so hopefully they're working on that...i def encourage you to try and make it to NM and check it out for a solid weekend, it's sick.
good to see that locals are on NS, we should ski a day sometime...i'm in abq so i can pm you when i'm heading north...what's the weather like up there right now?...hoping the season gets underway soon...peace