PSIA-AASI

3.30.2009

Rally 2009 - Terrorizing Taos

Sunny skies and shredding.  What better way to experience Taos?!

With a crew of people from all across the nation, the Rider Rally 2009 is underway. From soft snow and trees and park, to open bowls and steeps, Taos really does have it all. Getting to Taos is pretty sick with a drive up a tight, winding canyon and dead-ending at the small Taos Ski Village . . . not sure about the “ski village” part anymore since it looked like half the on-hill population was riding. 

Today was sunny and pretty warm. The wind kicked up in the afternoon but that was OK because it blew snow into some spots, making for fun, soft snow riding on the way down.

It’s cool sitting on the deck of the St. Bernard looking up at the part of the area you can see from the base and realizing that’s only a small portion of the terrain available. Sunday was about exploring our way around the mountain, trying to get lost. Fortunately, that’s hard to do, but you can find stashes all over the mountain. 

Highlights of the day included Randy Price, ex-coach and past team member of the AASI Snowboard Team, receiving the Educational Excellence Award from Mark Dorsey, executive director of PSIA-AASI. Randy is only the third snowboarder to receive the award. Nice work, coach! Mark even threw on his soft boots for the morning and shredded Taos for the first time.

Other highlights . . . Team coach Lane Clegg proving that even he can look respectable in fancy ski sweater. The mariachi band serenading us with Journey tribute was a great way to finish the evening. The scariest part, though, was hearing the entire table shouting the words to “Don’t Stop Believing.”


Looking outside this morning, we found that the skies are grey and the snow is starting to fall. It’s not falling down as much as it’s going sideways, but we’ll take what we can get!