Angel Fire Resort Reviews

• Overall Rating 2
• Family Friendly 3
• Downhill Terrain 3
• Terrain Park 3
• Nightlife 1

Pros: Food and beer is cheap, Terrain can be fun

Cons: Windy, A pain to go from backside to front and vise versa.

Recommended Skill Level: Beginner, Intermediate
Recommended For: Families
Date Visited: Dec, 2007

0 out of 0 users found this review helpful.

Full review

Went to Angel Fire last year in late December. I heard some good things about the place but it was a big disappointment for me. If you don't get there before the resort opens you have to park in a mud parking lot. Some of my friends had to rent equipment and the workers at the rental shop were very nice and helpful. After that we were excited to hit the mountain. We then found out the main chair lift was closed due to the wind, which left us very little options on terrain. I decided to go to the back side of the mountain after half the day. This requires waiting in an extremely long line to take a shuttle to the back. Once there you are almost stuck there. The only way back is a long cat walk to the front, and the only way back to the other side is the shuttle. So you better decide which part of the mountain you want to stay on. I assume this only the case if the high speed lift is closed. Which others had told me they hadn't seen it open in the 3 days they were there.

So enough about the hassle of taking a shuttle. My next complaint is not really anything Angel Fire can control. They just don't get much snow (200 inches a year). It was late December and they supposedly had a base of 24inches. I think it was more like 18 or less. There was ice, and rocks on every trail I went on that day. It was so bad I had to repair my board with P-tex that night. Now that Taos allows boarders I would recommend going there, they get a lot more snow. I was there for the opening on March 19th and the snow was still better than Angel Fire in December. If you like Powder like I do you better hope your trip is planned on a day they get a huge storm, otherwise you will be disappointed.

Don't let their award for "Voted number 1 terrain park in North America" fool you. I have no idea how that happened. I have been to Lake Tahoe and resorts all over Colorado. Granted, they might have the best terrain park in New Mexico (although Taos, and Pajarito said they have made major improvements for this year) but it is no where near the top 10 even in the COUNTRY! It's more of a joke that they got this award. Just look at Transworld Snowboarding magazine for the real top 10 parks in the country.

I imagine Angel Fire isn't that bad of a place and can actually be quite fun if you get there after a big storm. Since I get a free day there with my NMX card, I will give it another try this year. I will just make sure it's after they have a descent size base this time.

The greatest thing about Angel Fire: It attracts a lot of the inexperienced Texans. This intern frees up lift lines and ultimately makes my favorite resorts safer.