Angel Fire Chair Life

On day, we decided to ride the chair lift up to the top of the Angel Fire Ski Resort.  I recall back in the day when I used to ski, the ski resorts were a seasonal destination – winter only.  In the summer, the chair lifts were silent, and the slopes deserted.  Not any longer!  Now, one can take a “scenic” chair lift ride up to the top of the mountain, check out the views, and then ride the chair lift down.  However, if one is into mountain biking, you can enjoy the mountain in the summer, too!  Some of the chair lift seats have been replaced with bike lifts (my term), so that one can ride the chair lift to the top, and bike down…..again and again!

View thru the Trees

Right after we stepped off the chair lift, I shifted to the side (to avoid being hit by the chair lift making its turn to go back down the mountain) and took this shot of the valley in which you can find Angel Fire.  The fencing on the lower left of the image is what’s up to keep the skiers (and mountain bikers, I suppose) from deciding to ski down below the chairlift.

Two Trails

As we walked along a bit further on the top of the mountain, we saw a few other trails.  There are chair lifts galore up there, so that skiers can ski away from the main lodge, but eventually return to the top of the mountain to make the last run of the day back to their starting point.  One other summertime activity on the mountain is zip lining.  When we were on the top, there was a group being taught how to zip line before taking the plunge, so to speak!

Long Way Down

Here we are heading back down the chair lift.  I thought this was a really cool shot!  I admit, I hung onto the back of the chair lift seat when we came over the top ledge and saw this (as our chair lift didn’t have any bar in front of us to hold us in place!).  The guy helping us onto the chair lift had warned Jeff to take off his hat because the gust of wind that we felt as we came over the ledge was strong enough to blow it off!  Just as an fyi – the chair lift went all the way down to the lighter area that sort of forms the top of the letter “T”.  The chair moved pretty quickly, so it wasn’t that terribly long of a ride.  Fun!

View to the Side

As we were on the lift, I took this image of the valley as it unfolded from behind the trees.  On one of the posts on our way down, we saw a large birds’ nest built onto the machinery.  However, I wasn’t quick enough to capture it with my camera.  I tried to avoid sudden movements on the chair, so I wouldn’t lose my balance!

Ski thru the Pines

Here’s a view of one of the ski runs that cut across the path of the chair lift.  One of my favorite memories is the time I went skiing with some friends to Park City, Utah, and skied in knee-deep powder down a run very much like this one.

Spotted a Deer

Wildlife abounds, even with the noise of the chairlift overhead, and mountain bikers dotting the slopes – or are they more like streaks, given how fast they ride?  I think this deer got a bit spooked by the sound of Jeff & my voices, rather than anything else.

Enjoy!