Back to business at Ski Apache

Photo by Jeffrey Worthington/For the Ruidoso News

From the Ruidoso News - With repairs ongoing, resort officials say they will be open for Thanksgiving. Though the rows of snowcapped trees will not be as lush or full as skiers and snowboarders remember from last year, Ski Apache will be back in business and open on Thanksgiving with changes and improvements for the coming ski season. As visitors crest the final mountain ridge and watch the ski resort unfold before them, old ski lanes, freestyle terrain favorites and familiar vistas will take on a new look after the Little Bear Fire blazed through the resort in June. Justin Rowland, director of operations for the resort, said that of the 750 acres within the resort, about 60 acres had burned, less than 10 percent of the overall area, and had resulted in "no significant damage." "We did our best with snowmaking to keep (the fire) out of here," he said. "That's what kept most of it out, but we had one red flag day and the winds got to about 60 miles an hour and it got up and over the snowmakers. All it took was one day and it kicked through here. We were all up here, we started with five guys and when the fire danger backed off we had a group up, fighting spot fires and getting containment from where it had gone in." The projected estimate to repair the resort sits at about $15 million, though that may change slightly based on operating costs, he said. Read more

Back to business at Ski Apache