Have a bunch of snow-lovers in your family? Or have you always wanted to try skiing but it seems fancy and expensive? No worries. Sipapu Ski Resort in New Mexico is the spot for you- drivable, affordable and endlessly fun!
I'm raising skiers. I am. In Texas! And I absolutely love it.
I'm not really even a skier myself. But my kids are.
My youngest is now a snowboarder, though, so don't call her a skier. How dare you!
But skiing is expensive. The gear alone with cost you $100s to purchase. If you rent, you can expect to pay between $30-50 per day, per person (oftentimes more) for a helmet, boots, skis and poles (or a snowboard). Lift tickets are another expense- averaging around $50 per day (although often costing more) depending on where you ski. And don't forget the winter gear! Snow pants. Jacket. Waterproof gloves. Gaiter. Goggles. Skiing is simply not cheap.
But don't let that intimidate you! Skiing is such a fun sport for all ages. And, whether you're like me and love the winter or you're like my children and prefer warm weather, you have to admit there is something magical about snow.
Still... Heading to a fabulous, established ski destination such as Park City, Utah, or Breckenridge, Colorado, might be intimidating. Those mountains fill up with skiers of all levels, and lines for the ski lift can get long. It might not be the right fit if you're new to the sport of skiing. And we won't even talk about the monetary angle...
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| Skiing is exhausting! |
Sipapu Ski Resort: Affordable Family Ski Fun
Last year, my family and I went to Purgatory Ski Resort in Durango, Colorado. My husband also frequently travels to Breckenridge and Park City to ski. We've also visited Steamboat Springs. I told you- I'm raising skiers!
But this year, we needed something slightly less expensive for our ski getaway. A friend had told me about Sipapu years ago, so I finally visited their website and came up with a plan.
Sipapu facts: what to know before you go
- Sipapu is about nine and a half hours from Arlington by car. It is about 30 minutes south of Taos, New Mexico.
- It is a somewhat isolated ski resort. There is one restaurant onsite as well as a gift shop with a small commissary of sorts.
- Kids ski free at Sipapu! That's right. Kids 12 and younger are free. Adult ski passes start at just $9 a day and top out around $60. Guys... That's a steal!
- You can rent ski equipment and take ski lessons onsite.
- You can stay onsite as well. They have a motel, mobile homes, duplexes and a few more options on hand for ski in/ski out accommodations. We stayed at the motel, and it was about a quarter-mile walk to the lifts.
- Sipapu is small and intimate. My girls never waited in line to get on the lifts or felt mowed down by expert skiers.
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| Skiing at Sipapu Ski Resort in New Mexico. |
Sipapu: accommodations
Okay, let me be honest (because we paid full retail for our vacation- the same that you would pay. I get no kickback or compensation for promoting Sipapu to my readers!). Sipapu is... rustic. What do I mean? I mean- if you want bougie and fancy, you should check out Aspen. Or Vail. Or Breckenridge. Or Park City. I could go on. If you have the money and the travel time, there are fancier places you could go that offer a lot more amenities.
But, if you have beginning skiers and are looking for something that is easy to access and inexpensive to visit, let me make my case for Sipapu!
When we arrived, we bypassed Sipapu and went into Taos. We rented the girls skis at a ski shop there (saving us about $100 total) and stocked up on food at Walmart (it's a small Walmart that was picked over on arrival. I recommend stocking up elsewhere!). We also enjoyed our only meal out for the week (we arrived Monday night and left Friday morning).
Taos is only a 30-minute drive from Sipapu. BUT, I caution you here. It is 30 minutes straight up the mountains on winding roads. If you are not someone familiar with driving in snow, I don't recommend thinking you will regularly make this drive.
We stayed onsite at the motel. There was ample parking and two queen-sized beds. No shampoo is available and there is no housekeeping. There is a TV and free Wifi, but there is no cable. We brought our Roku so we could watch TV at night. We have TMobile as our cell provider and got no service at Sipapu. Hooray for Wifi!
The motel, overall, was basic. No common area, no amenities. It was cramped but we made it work! We paid $795 for 4 nights including taxes and fees, so I promise you I'm not complaining!
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| Sipapu Ski Lodge & Store |
Sipapu: onsite resources
Sipapu has a restaurant and a commissary onsite but not much else. There is a small gift shop with t-shirts and other branded items, and this is also where you can purchase macaroni and cheese, milk, and other pantry and fridge staples.
Our motel room had a microwave, so we brought lots of soup, ramen and leftovers and lived on that. The room did not have a coffeemaker, so we did order coffee from the resort restaurant each morning (you can only order online currently). We didn't order any food from the restaurant, although it did offer a decent-looking menu.
You can rent skis onsite, although the line is long in the mornings, so plan accordingly. You can purchase ski passes online and pick up onsite. Ski lessons are available.
Sipapu: the slopes
My girls loved the slopes at Sipapu. There are two main lifts as well as two magic carpets. There are a number of runs ranging from basic to advanced. There was plenty of snow on the mountains when we arrived, and it snowed two out of the three days we skied. It was snowing again when we left.
We went after Christmas, typically a very expensive and busy time at a ski resort. Thinking back to last year at Purgatory, my girls had to wait in lines for up to 30 minutes to get on the lifts. At Sipapu I don't think they even waited two minutes to get on the lifts. They loved it. My youngest tried snowboarding on this trip and now basically thinks she's Olympics-ready. She was able to get a ton of practice runs in, aided by the fact that the mountains weren't packed and she could get on and off the lifts easily with no waiting. It was a wonderful first experience for her.
Note- there is no sledding at Sipapu. If you bring or purchase sleds, you will have to drive further up into the mountains to find a spot to use them.
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| Getting on the ski lift at Sipapu Ski Resort. |
Sipapu: final thoughts
My husband didn't love Sipapu, but he has skied for years and felt that Sipapu didn't offer hard enough runs for his preferred level of skiing or enough to do once the sun went down. I'm rolling my eyes as I type this...
Let me tell you the bottom line...
If you want a basic, fun ski vacation, you won't beat the price here.
Our ALL-IN price for this vacation- ALL-IN- was $1800.
That includes 4 nights of lodging, gas for our Kia Telluride from Arlington, Texas, roundtrip, food for 5 people 3 times per day for 5 days, ski rentals for 3 (my husband owns his own gear) and ski passes for 4 (remember, I didn't ski) and souvenirs.
The slopes were open each day from 9am-4pm MST, so this was our schedule:
8 am- wake up, eat breakfast (oatmeal or fruit in the room)
9 am- 11 am- ski
11:30 am- 1 pm- lunch and break in the room
1 pm- 4 pm- ski
4 pm- 7 pm- dinner plus iPad time in the room
7 pm- 10 pm- family movie time
10 pm- bed
One last thing I will caution you- there isn't much to do at Sipapu once the sun sets. There is no pool, no common game room, just the one restaurant to grab food or a beer. So we had a lot of iPad and TV time, which was fine to us.
I also didn't ski, and there were times when two or three girls wanted to head back to the lifts before I was ready to go back out (I still suit up in all the gear to hang out outside), and I felt confident sending them to the lifts solo with my oldest's phone on Wifi. The resort was small enough and felt safe enough that we could let them ski without one of us there. This would not be the case at other resorts.
I encourage you, if you are wanting an affordable ski vacation, to check out Sipapu. No, it's not fancy. No, it doesn't come with a ton of bells and whistles. But it's affordable and it's perfect for kids... And sometimes that's all you need!
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| My amazing snowboarder! |
