Pajarito Mountain Ski Area (Pajarito) is located on the north face of Pajarito Mountain, one of the

Jemez Mountains The Jemez Mountains are a group of mountains in Rio Arriba, Sandoval, and Los Alamos counties, New Mexico, United States. Numerous Puebloan Indian tribes have lived in the Jemez Mountains region since before the Spanish arrived in New Mexico. T ...

in north central

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

, west of Los Alamos. It is located on of privately owned land. Pajarito Mountain is owned and operated by volunteers and Mountain Capital Partners. A typical season runs from Christmas to early April, but an outstanding season may run from Thanksgiving to late April. Pajarito now has a

snowmaking Snowmaking is the production of snow by forcing water and pressurized air through a "snow gun", also known as a "snow cannon". Snowmaking is mainly used at ski resorts to supplement natural snow. This allows ski resorts to improve the reliabilit ...

system and it is producing snow. Season passes are available with discounts available for early season purchase. In summer, Pajarito hosts numerous special events, many involving

mountain biking Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and pe ...

. An extensive network of single and double track mountain bike trails criss-cross the mountain, including a new

singletrack Singletrack (or single track) describes a type of mountain biking trail that is approximately the width of the bike. It contrasts with double-track or fire road which is wide enough for four-wheeled off-road vehicles. It is often smooth and flow ...

trail going to the summit. Pajarito hosts lift access downhill and freeride mountain biking off the Spruce chair, and has continued to do so after the

Las Conchas Fire The Las Conchas Fire was a large wildfire in the state of New Mexico, in the United States, in 2011. The fire started in Santa Fe National Forest and burned more than 150,000 acres, threatening Los Alamos National Laboratory and the town of Lo ...

in 2011. There also are hiking trails, and horse riding is permitted everywhere except on the mountain bike trails. Adjacent to Pajarito is a

Los Alamos County Los Alamos County (English: "The Poplars" or "Cottonwoods") is a county in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, the population was 17,950. The smallest county by area in the state, Los Alamos County was formerly administered ex ...

campground, Camp May;

Santa Fe National Forest The Santa Fe National Forest is a protected United States National Forest, national forest in northern New Mexico in the Southwestern United States. It was established in 1915 and covers . Elevations range from 5,300 feet (1600 m) to 13,103 ...

; and

Valles Caldera National Preserve Valles Caldera (or Jemez Caldera) is a wide volcanic caldera in the Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico. Hot springs, streams, fumaroles, natural gas seeps and volcanic domes dot the caldera floor landscape. The highest point in the caldera i ...

Origin of the name

Pajarito means "little bird" in Spanish and was first associated with the area by the archeologist

Edgar Lee Hewett Edgar Lee Hewett (November 23, 1865 – December 31, 1946) was an American archaeologist and anthropologist whose focus was the Native American communities of New Mexico and the southwestern United States. He is best known for his role in ...

who was in turn inspired by ''Tsirege'', which means "bird place" in the

Tewa language Tewa is a Tanoan language spoken by Pueblo people, mostly in the Rio Grande valley in New Mexico north of Santa Fe, and in Arizona. It is also known as Tano, or (archaic) Tée-wah. Dialects and usage The 1980 census counted 1,298 speakers, a ...

Tsirege Tsirege (also Tshirege) is a classic Ancestral Puebloan archaeological site located north of Pajarito Road (now closed to the public) about one mile west of White Rock, New Mexico on property owned by Los Alamos National Laboratory. Tsirege consi ...

is a prominent archaeological site located on property owned by

Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy (DOE), located a short distance northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, ...

History

Pajarito Mountain first opened on 23 November 1957 with no toilets, no water, no grooming, no modern lifts and a few short slopes. The Aspen run received a

T-bar A surface lift is a type of cable transport for snow sports in which skiers and snowboarders remain on the ground as they are pulled uphill. While they were once prevalent, they have been overtaken in popularity by higher-capacity and higher-co ...

for the 1962-1963 season. An additional of land was purchased in the late 1960s and the first chairlift installed on the Spruce run for the 1969-1970 season. A similar two person chairlift was installed on the Big Mother run for the 1976-1977 season. A beginners lift was installed, to replace a rope tow, for the 1981-1982 season, and a triple chairlift replaced the T-bar for the following 1982-1983 season. Construction of the new Ski Lodge began in the summer of 1987 and was finished for the 1988-1989 season. A quad chairlift was completed in 1994 for the Townsight run. In the summer of 2011, the

burned a portion of the ski area. The fire burned ten of the mountain's 44 runs, and damaged two chairlifts. The most significant damage occurred on the mountain's east side, in the Townsight area. Despite fire damage, Pajarito Mountain opened for the 2011-2012 season with four lifts operating and 34 runs open.

Elevation

*Base: . / 2,743 m *Lodge elevation: . / 2,804 m *Summit: . / 3,182 m *Vertical Rise: . / 439 m

Trails

*Skiable Area: {{convert, 280, acre, km2 *Trails: 44 total (20% beginner, 50% intermediate, 30% advanced/expert)

Lifts

*1 quad chair lift *1 triple chair lift *3 double chair lifts *1 surface lift (Magic Carpet)

Facilities

* Equipment Rental * Retail * Cafe * Snowsports School * Ski Patrol: Volunteer, NSP affiliated

External links

Pajarito Mountain Ski Area

Pajarito Winter Mountain Trail Map

Pajarito Summer Mountain Trail Map

Pajarito by Twintip nation on YouTube
Jemez Mountains Ski areas and resorts in New Mexico Buildings and structures in Los Alamos County, New Mexico Mountain biking venues in the United States Tourist attractions in Los Alamos County, New Mexico 1957 establishments in New Mexico