1. You'll go to Taos because you want steeps, bumps, and cliff hucks all on a mountain without attitude. Of its 94 marked trails, 54 percent of its terrain is advanced or above. Bumps that could be mistaken for breaching humpbacks riddle the steeps and it has immense hike-to terrain. Two ava-launchers, a 105mm howitzer, and a team of 26 patrollers with hand-thrown explosives are needed to control the terrain. It's been family run since founder Ernie Blake decided the grizzled and near-inaccessible basin was perfect for a ski hill. Now run by grandchildren Adriana (shown skiing here) and Alejandro Blake, it fosters a decidedly homegrown, un-corporate feel.