Not sure how this topic got going on this biking forum, but what the heck...
I love Taos! They have a lot of great runs and it still has a small resort feel. Anytime they get good snow I will head down there. Last season they even started running adds in Colorado bragging about how they have snow and Colorado doesn't. It is about a four hour drive for me -- the same as Wolf Creek -- and there is so much fun terrain there. I don't hike the ridge -- I got all my OB hiking out of my system in my younger days -- but they have plenty of lift-served butt-pucker runs to keep you entertained.
We used to have a second home up near Salida and I have put many hundreds of miles on my bikes up there over the years. Definitely a fun place to hang out. Beware that their school system has a terrible reputation, so if you plan on raising a brood in Colorado you may want to to think about that.
I have skied Monarch so many times I could practically do it blind-folded (season't pass four years in a row). Reasonably fun place, but I don't think I could ever ski there again unless they get a really good dump; I have simply extracted all the fun I can out of the place.
Similarly, Wolf Creek can get huge dumps. I have day-tripped the place multiple times when they have gotten a good dump. It's worth a spur-of-the-moment trip, getting up early and hitting the road since a big dump usually means the pass to the west gets closed and there will hardly be anybody there. Otherwise, it is pretty tame when the powder has been packed down and not worth the trip, IMO.
Speaking of Salida, I will be working on another trail build up there in a couple weeks. Come on out and help build some more bike trail. See the details
here.
