Ski Apache — Attraction in Ruidoso

Ski Apache was our first place to try out this new sport, skiing.

Since we went during Spring Break (03/15 - 18/2022), there were not much snowing in this region except on Thursday morning, 03/17/2022, it snowed a little bit and that helped. We were all beginners so we signed up for group lesson on Friday. There were 4 of us and one instructor so the ratio was not bad at all.

Cons: the ticket sale person was not much helpful, but that wasn't the main issue. we rented the equipment from the town, Ruidoso to save some money because they were much cheaper than the price they offered there from Friday - Sunday or holiday. Their equipment rental price would have been double the rental price we made in town. The basic equipment includes ski, ski boots and ski poles. Helmet and ski goggle will be an additional rental prices if we want to rent them. The instructor was alright and he tried to be helpful. He was also very polite. However, because I watched the Youtube video from REI for beginner's ski, it was quite helpful to me and the video covered more topics than what the instructor covered for the class. However, I understood that maybe within an hour and with 4 students, he could not cover more topics. The lesson was more than $70/person + tax. Over all, I found that their ticket lift price was quite expensive comparing to other ski resort such as Ski Santa Fe. At the beginner ski lift, one male staffer was not nice at all. He kept yelling at us and when I fell, I even heard him laughing. My seven year old son almost fell from the ski lift as he grabbed onto the seat and I quickly held on to him. Fortunately, the young female staffer that manned the ski lift was quickly to hold on to the seat and stop the lift in time so that I could pull my son back onto the seat. In my opinion, the young lady working there was very nice and always encouraged us since we were new to this sport. On the other hand, the young man was not at all. He kept making comment such as "if you keep moving, you will not fall or stall the lift". I told him that we had to be careful because I did not want the incident of my son falling off the chair happening again. I felt that the management at the Ski Apache needs to train their employees on the customer service and safety. No wonder most of the reviews here were about the poor customer service. the timing of 9 - 4:00 p.m. is quite short for the price they charge of the full day ski lift.

Pros: Not all of the people that worked there were rude or impolite. I found the instructor who taught my 7 year old son quite nice and very helpful. I too want to support this ski resort as it belonged to the native people and I always have high respect and regard to the indigenous people. However, with the pricing of the ski lift, the rental and the lesson comparing to the quality of the place and the amount of snow falls, I would think twice about coming back here. Now, if I took the ill treatment and poor customer service, I will definitely not want to come back here again. However, like I mentioned on this review, not everyone working here was rude. There were some nice and friendly people who would make up for the lack of others.

The gondola price was $40/person. Their half day (from 12:45 P.M.) ski lift...

On the way to Ski Apache, I thought to myself, "This is gonna some awesome Powder, me and my friends are gonna have a great time," but that was clearly not correct. It all started when we started to drive up the mountain, when I immediately noticed the amount of annoying hatchbacks that were present on the road, and the scarcity of snow. Once we arrived, we showed them our lift passes, and they made us buy another one by lying about the validity of our passes. As we got in the complex, we decided that we needed a locker, but when we approached the lockers, one of the employees told us not to rent a locker due to employees stealing items! You can't make this stuff up! We decided to just put our backpacks on and hike to the trainer lift, and instantly noticed that all of the snow was either brown, or very icy, which showed the lack of snow, and proved to be some of the lowest quality snow I've ever seen at a ski resort before. We skiid down the trainer and then got on the gondola, and on our way up we noticed there was only one other lift open! We shrugged it off though. As we got to the top, the snow improved exponentially, but was still downright horrible, and when we asked ski patrol which way the blues were, he pointed to the freaking sign that said double black diamond, and when I confronted him, he replied, "Not my problem, F off." Not to mention that there is nearly no grooming on the trails, and has the biggest lack of signage I have ever seen in a ski resort. EVER! We should have left then, but skiid down the mountain, and noticed that all of snow started turning brown, and the snow we were seeing was almost not even there. Then we started to ride the gondola up again, but took a very tame black run, which was a horrible experience because of the low snow quality, but was nothing compared to what would happen next. As we switched to a green run, we noticed some unmarked objects, then out of nowhere, one of buddy's skis hits a large rock that was completely unmarked, and then gets ejected out of his skis and hits a tree, on a freaking green! We called ski patrol, and it took them 3 hours to respond, just adding on to the madness that was going on. He ended up breaking his neck because of this. We decided to go down the trainer one more time before we left, but that was the biggest mistake we made. As the lift gets halfway up, it starts to speed up very quickly, and was so fast at the top that when I got off, even with a helmet on, the lift hit me in the back of the head and gave me a concussion. Ski patrol was very mean about the scenario and took it lightly. NEVER, and I MEAN NEVER, should you EVER go to Ski Apache. This was the worst ski resort I have ever seen, or been to. I am currently complying with my lawyer for the sustained injuries, and a lack of emergency services in the event that an emergency happens. NEVER go to Ski Apache, as it is a down-right grotesque, and pitiful place to put...

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...