Sandia Mountain received 6” of fresh snow over the last 24-48 hours. This combined with the roughly 4 inches that had previously fallen will lead to a nice base. I went out for a wander today to check on the over all conditions and was pleasantly surprised. Here is what I found.

HGWY 536 is clear mostly up to the ski area, beyond that the road is in standard winter conditions, with one lane available on the upper switch backs.

Parking lots, are kinda clear. 10k and Ellis are rough but I am sure they will get plowed soon. I used 4x4 to get into the Ellis Parking Lot.

Trails, are covered in 4-8 inches of snow, lots of blowing and drifting was happening today while I was out. There have been several XC skiers and snowshoe-ers already so the base it getting packed in nicely. That being said, please don’t walk on the xc tracks, its just not good juju. Also please wear your snowshoes so we have a nice base for the this season that’s not full of post holes.

Near the crest a lot of the snow is being blow around and making some nice drifts in the grass and tree areas while portions of the trail has observable gravel.

La Luz, is snow covered on the upper reaches, and it is time to start packing your winter kit of not only snowshoes but also micro spikes. As we know, once the sun comes out it won’t take long for an icy crust to form on the south facing slope, and will make travel very dangerous.

I will add updates periodically through the winter on conditions. Our Snowshoe Tour season is set to start on January 1, 2021. We are currently taking reservations over the phone and online for groups of 4 or less. Snowshoe Rentals are available every day.