Ski Apache
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My sons and I did the zipline 'tour' in mid-august 2017....weather was perfect! Not too cold or too hot. Wyn was a great tour guide that was a well experienced, passionate guy that knew his stuff, loves his job, and showed concern for your saftey. Zipline was a lot of fun: amazing panoramic views and was the closest thing to flying I'll get to do. My younger 10 year old son did the 'half price' zipline which is the last leg of the 3 ziplines on the tour. Although the first 'leg' is the mile long stretch-is the most breath taking, and is worth the difference in price alone! However the last leg was perfect for my 10yr old as it spanned over the ski lodge area from one side of the parking lot to the other and lasted almost a minute. The staff very accommodating and drove him up to meet us for the 3rd leg....so don't be afraid to ask for that. Even the last leg was much bigger and better than anything I've ever seen in a summer camp(and I've been to a bunch!) If you're waiting for your party when not everyone is doing the zipline tour: be prepared to wait a couple hours, they take their time, and want you to get your monies worth. You might even be able to ask them to take you up to the top to see the rest of your party launch off...(it depends how busy they are and what they got going on that day) As far as negative reviews go when it comes to customer service; you gotta keep in mind you are visiting a culture that is probably different than what most are used to. These are a terriffic people who have strong family heritage, great pride in who they are and what they do. They have a much more "chill-lax" attitude towards life that I know I can learn a lot from in my own insane life. Going up to ski apache is just what my family needed and it made a great day for our family!
Jeff KnowlesJeff Knowles
00
Ski Apache is a wonderful winter destination in the desert. The staff is friendly, the trails are easy enough to learn on the bottom of the mountain, and as you go up the mountain the trails get more difficult, but nothing too crazy unless you accidentally slide into a black.There are ski schools offered every two hours, not sure about cost. The price for a half day is a wonderful value for beginners starting at noon. The rental staff is nice and the equipment was updated with in the past five years.The gondola ride is wonderful. You can see the majority of the area and others enjoying the mountain. Enjoying the bottom of the mountain is easy as the chair lifts servicing this area are easily accessible. These lifts take you some more adventurous slopes. Taking the gondola is where you get to experience the entire mountain. Take the car walk to the main blue area and access to the slow sloping green of sierra Blanca trail. The opposite way drops you into fun blue slopes chino and ambush dumping into the main green slope taking you to the chair lift servicing the northern side of the mountain if you don't want to go all the down to ride the gondola again. The amount of people can seem great, but there is plenty of room for everyone and everyone is having a great time. If you've never gone before this a great learning mountain. Enjoy the day at ski apache
Dom MierDom Mier
20
I'd give 5 stars if we weren't stuck on the gondola for an hour and half, on the best portion of day to snowboard. Then followed up by horrible attitude about it. The staff over the phone was rude at first when I called to see what was going on from the gondola. Then changed her demeanor towards the end after a hold. When she came back to the line she politely recommended we go speak to someone at the window to see if they'd do anything for compensation. My family (6) and I drove over 3 hours to take part in a well needed adventure with our hobbies to the Casino and Ski Apache. The staff at the counter was also rude. Stated that their printed paper on the purchasing window says there are no refunds for maintenance. Well sure routine or repairing extensive maintenance is understandable. If you have problems that prevent a machine liable to maintain the safety of lives, then of course don't run it. I've spent time on those slopes when lifts were limited and understand the reasoning when the lifts have problems There is nothing that said they are not giving refunds for MALFUNCTIONS. We were not looking for a refund. We've enjoyed Ski Apache and it's Casino every time we've gone. We were simply asking if we could have voucher to redeem on another day we could enjoy the entire day to snowboard. We spent our time on the gondola from 9:30am to 11am. Which when it comes to desert climate and snow made resorts the best hours to ride. We spent most of ours riding on ice. By the time we were done, we tried to get in as much good rides we could before it getting too icy or too late to request compensation to enjoy another day. Around 2pm we got off snowboarding for another experience with horrible customer service. They even claimed the gondola wasn't open that day. So grateful I took a photo from inside. So I showed them it was, with the pictures that were last taken. My brothers and I were polite and patient the entire time. all of us having experience with customer service and maintenance, and keen understanding of safety when lives are at risk. It was difficult and frustrating dealing with people who delivered bad attitudes. I think training on customer service can be beneficial. Learn tactics on how to be cordial when delivering a response. Not once was their an apology for the problem. Only an attitude. People pay to enjoy the greatness you created of the mountain. We are grateful for the amount of ingenuity put in to make the mountain one filled with an experience to be remembered with beauty, delight, and to be active within nature. We all have bad days, but for an entire staff to be in a bad mood , there is a bigger problem.
Arlene S.Arlene S.
50
I skied here 17 days this season and 5 last season so i feel like i can give a thorough and honest review. I really want to give this place a good review as the staff seem friendly and the gondola is nice, however that is about the only good thing I can say about ski apache. Now for the bad -They NEVER have all the lifts open even if they get a ton of fresh snow. It's frustrating having fresh snow and half the lifts are not running. -The lifts run slow, and if it snows overnight then you have to clear them off yourself or ride up sitting on a icy snow covered lift. -The don't open during the week even if they get fresh snow, which is frustrating if you take off work to ski and can only go during the weekends. -There were several times the lifts including the gondola would open late because "it snowed overnight".... like WHAT? Your a ski resort! Hopefully you have snow! That's no excuse to not have things ready at 9am when you open. -the groomers didn't seem like they know what they were doing. There were ofen times large bumps, missed spots, and huge drop offs onto the catwalk and on the "freshly" groomed runs. -The bathrooms were absolutely disgusting and literally caused me to gag upon entering them every time!... I have used many porta pottys before and while those are disgusting, the bathrooms at ski apache are worse, which is saying something. -They have cafeteria food and is not good, and its expensive. Save your money and pack your own lunch. -the bar charges like $9 for 1 beer. Complete rip off. Probably why the mountain is littered with small liquor bottles from people bringing their own alcohol -Good luck trying to get a hold of anyone if you try to call. They never answer the phones. I really hope Ski Apache improves and drastically up's their game. Otherwise I hope someone else takes over, because it really does have a lot of potential but with how it's run currently I think I will chose to ski elsewhere in the future.
Dalton AllenDalton Allen
90
This is sad to write but I would like to save other families from having to discover the hard way. Ski Apache is not what it used to be. We have a home in Ruidoso and have been coming here for 25 years. Even just a few years back the prices were reasonable, the trails were open and groomed, and they had the amenities in place to have an enjoyable time. My 12 year old went to a great little ski school/camp that lasted through the day and included lunch so adults could ski while the kids were taught in a safe environment. That’s gone and replaced with a 50 minute crash course that could be replaced or even improved with a Youtube video. Spring break weekend and most everything was closed. By the end of the day just the bunny slope was open, which isn’t a bunny slope so much as a mushy ungroomed area that you need poles to even move forward. It’s flat. Keep in mind the website always says everything is OPEN. Spring break and only one food service area is staffed with no drink only line so to buy a coke you have to wait an hour. If you plan to eat there someone will need to give up an hour of ski time to wait in lines. The workers are for the most part doing their best but management is severely lacking. $865 for 1 adult and 3 kids with three 50 minute group lessons that were mostly standing in a line while someone yelled PIZZA at them. This does not include rentals. This was not a $1000 ski experience. Go somewhere that is investing some of the profit back in the mountain. Side note, I have a lift ticket from 2008 and the cost was $39. Today was $152!!
Jennifer SpinksJennifer Spinks
30
Unfortunate waste of time. We drove 3 hours to get here only to met with rude customer service from everyone but one lady who unfortunately wasn't behind a desk. We arrived about 30 min late for a tutorial so we decided to zip line instead and the ladies in there were rude and prejudice. They insisted that we should have made a reservation at least a day in advance yet the website speaks nothing of it and that they would book us for the next day but this was a day trip. The manager caught us as we were walking out to let us know they would fit us in today and asked us to wait a few minutes. When he came to let us know we could go pay and get started, I guess he had to step out because we were encountered by the same women again who decided to tell us that we still couldn't zip line because my friend's son was not the right age. So we ended up leaving not wanting to spend any money at the entire establishment. Also the zip line is unnecessarily expensive $84 for 3 lines. But as they monopolize the area they can charge what they want. We did get nice pictures from the drive up the mountain though.
Keira PKeira P
20
Learn more insights from Wanderboat AIBasic Info
Address
1286 Ski Run Rd, Alto, NM 88312
Map
Phone
(575) 464-3600
Call
Website
skiapache.com
Visit
Reviews
Overview
4.3
(1.3K reviews)
Ratings & Description
outdoor
adventure
family friendly
Description
Ski Apache is a ski resort located in southern New Mexico on the slopes of Sierra Blanca mountains. It is owned and operated, since 1963, by the Mescalero Apache Tribe.
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