Business brisk in
RuidosoErica Molina El Paso Times
Yasmin A. Aboytes / El Paso
Times
Don Ebert and his
3-year-old son, Ian Ebert, were towed up a hill Thursday at
Ruidoso Winter Park. The park's owner expects business to pick
up soon.
Yasmin A. Aboytes / El Paso
Times
On Ski Run Road, which
leads to Ski Apache resort, signs are posted to inform
travelers that chains are required to enter some parts of the
resort.
Winter driving tips
Make sure your windshield wipers are in good shape.
Carry sand in the car if you have a
rear-wheel-drive vehicle that needs help in the snow. You can
put a few bags of sand over the rear axle -- that would be
somewhere in the trunk.
Make sure you have some basic supplies in your car
in case you do get stuck: a substantial snow brush and an ice
scraper; a shovel and a bag of sand to help with traction; and
a blanket. If you have any winter clothes you don't wear
anymore, especially an old pair of boots, throw them in the
trunk, too.
RUIDOSO -- El Pasoans hoping to spend
their Christmas vacation on Ruidoso's snow-covered mountaintop could
be out of luck if they haven't made reservations yet.
"We're booked up for the next two weeks, through New Year's,"
said Joseph Gonzales, owner of the Winners Inn motel. "We booked up
about a week ago."
The village of Ruidoso expects tourists from throughout the
region to descend on its businesses and hotels beginning today.
"We depend a lot on tourists," said Ismael Ysasi, manager of
Michelena's Italian Restaurant in Ruidoso. "They are our business.
All this season and during the racetrack's season is when we make
the majority of our money, and that carries us through the rest of
the year."
Ski Apache ski resort in nearby Mescalero has been a winter
attraction for decades. A steady snowfall Thursday made ski
officials optimistic that the mountain would soon go from being 70
percent open to fully open.
"It's snowing pretty good now, and we're hoping to have more of
the mountain open over the weekend," mountain manager Rick Hall
said. "If we just get a good 6 or 8 inches, we'll have the whole
mountain."
By midday Thursday, more than an inch of snow had fallen on the
mountain since 6 a.m. Hall said the resort had received about 47
inches of natural snow so far this season, and weather conditions
have made it possible for Ski Apache to make its own snow much of
the time.
"We're in real good shape," Hall said. "It's going to be a good
Christmas."
He recommends that visitors carry tire chains with them when they
visit or be prepared to rent or buy some. The chains are sometimes
required before visitors can drive to the upper part of the road
leading to the ski area.
Hall said as many as 5,000 skiers and snowboarders visit on a
busy day, and Dec. 26 and 27 are expected to be the busiest this
year.
Area ski shops are getting ready to handle the thousands of
people expected.
"We are extraordinarily busy at Christmas," said Dave McIntosh,
owner of Pro Action Sports, Boarder Stop, and Action Ski and
Snowboard. "It becomes a zoo. We'll have as many as 60 people in the
store at the same time."
He recommends that visitors call ahead or check online to make
ski equipment reservations and get to the slopes faster.
His and other shops rent almost all the equipment needed for a
day on either skis or snowboards -- except socks and gloves. All of
the necessary equipment can also be bought.
"Just don't come in naked, and we'll fix you right up," he said
laughing. "Well, even if you do come in naked, we could fix you
right up" with ski equipment.
Ski Apache also has a variety of equipment for rent.
At the end of Ski Run Road, which leads to the resort, a snow
tubing area also offers outdoor fun.
"It's been very slow in traffic compared to last year," said Tom
Dorgan, owner of Ruidoso Winter Park.
But he also expects business to pick up beginning this weekend.
"We're in pretty good shape. We've made enough snow to open our
large hill. We'll be fully operational" today, he said as flakes
drifted to the ground Thursday. "We rely 100 percent on our man-made
snow, but when it's snowing, it puts everybody in the mood. It's
frosting on the cake."
The snow recreation area attracts visitors eager to slide down
snowy hills on inflated tubes.
"It's a lot of fun," said LeeRoy Candelaria of Washington, D.C.,
who tubed with his family Thursday. "We got snow today, so it's even
better."
He said that although it snows in Washington, the skiing doesn't
compare with the offerings in Ruidoso. "Their mountains are not
mountains like here," he said. "They think they are skiing, but they
don't know skiing until they've been here."
Visitors such as Candelaria also take advantage of the area's
three casinos, and many frequent the restaurants and shops in
Midtown Ruidoso.
"I like it here. It's pretty," Chicago resident Luana Krott said
Thursday as she wandered through the shops with her son and parents.
"You can just walk around and find stuff to do," her son, Tommy
Krott, 12, said.
The Kunz family also enjoyed the time they spent in the area
before the Christmas rush.
"We snowshoed and played in the snow," Jennifer Kunz of
Arlington, Texas, said as she shielded her 7-month-old son, Asher,
from the cold. "We stayed in a cabin and loved it. My 2-year-old
woke up and was like, 'It's snowing! It's snowing!' "
