Ski lessons in summer? Visit Ski Cloudcroft!

Ever thought of taking a ski lesson in summer? Well, these days, with indoor ski resorts such as Ski Dubai, one can ski pretty much any time of the year. That aside, we never thought the kids could try skiing when we went on a summer road trip to White Sands National Monument in New Mexico. I would have never thought there would be a natural winter ski destination so close to the Chihuahuan desert. Nestled in the little town of Cloudcroft within Lincoln National Forest, Ski Cloudcroft is the southern most ski resort in the United States. In summer, they offer indoor ski lessons on an endless slope ski simulator.

When we started the road trip, we didn't know any of these details other than the fact that Ski Cloudcroft offered great pizzas during summer. After a hot morning, walking and sledding among the sparkling white sand dunes, we drove along the pine covered tree slopes, breathing in the crisp cool air of the mountains, in anticipation of good food.

Lincoln National Forest, New Mexico

From one of the view points near a tunnel, we could see a white patch as if someone had dropped truck loads of white sand onto the desert floor, thus creating the beautiful landscape of White Sands National Monument.

View of White Sands National Monument

A picture taken within White Sands

Further along the scenic road, we stopped to view the restored Mexican railroad trestle, an old wooden structure, which could be viewed up close by hiking down.

Restored Mexican railroad trestle

As we did not have time for any hiking, we stretched our legs and relaxed on the benches made out of old railroad ties, watching hikers down below close to the trestle.

Relaxing on a bench made from old railroad ties

Passing a busy area filled with restaurants and motels, we thought we would return to this place that looked like the town center, if we did not find the pizza restaurant. Finally, there it was - a signboard for Ski Cloudcroft! It diverted us to a narrow unpaved road heading up to a small building on a hill side with blue ski lifts.

Slopes with blue ski lifts

Just like the reviews said, the cozy restaurant served really good wood-fired pizzas. Unlike the pizza chains, this place did not use any canned ingredients - the red peppers, onions, pineapples and jalapenos were all fresh. And the cheese tasted so good.

Restaurant at Ski Cloudcroft

With our six year old who had a loose tooth, I had to cut up the pizza into small pieces using a plastic fork and knife, something I find tough. But it was worth the effort! The little guy skipped the dessert pizza opting to eat the one with veggies. "I'm choosing the healthy pizza", he kept telling us, when in fact he liked its taste and wanted to continue eating it. No one had any complaints as the rest of us were ready to grab his share of the yummy dessert pizza dusted with cinnamon sugar and topped with toasty pecans !

Though the restaurant had a sign board asking to check out the endless slope ski lesson, we were too hungry and tired to notice it. Seeing a person in ski boots, my husband jokingly asked him if he was going to ski. He turned out to be the director of the ski school, Rick, who demonstrated the endless slope saying the kids could try it if they were interested. Our eight year old was ready for it.

Ready to ski wearing shorts!

At first, it was difficult for her to balance and we could see she was really tensed. As Rick started to encourage her, telling her that the machine would run well only if she smiled, she started enjoying it. He was very patient and considerate giving her time to take a break, mentioning she can retry, if she wanted to.

Getting good instructions

While she rested, my husband gave it a try.

A fun pose with skis

It seems a practice on the endless slope prepared a novice for the skiing experience without having to worry about falling down in the cold snow. As for experts, they used variants of the simulator to improve their skills.

After a brief break, our daughter was eager to retry and was so happy when she got the hang of it.

Smiling to make the endless slope work :)

A big thanks to Rick for this interesting and wonderful activity. Hope we can visit again and try the real slopes in these beautiful mountains.

Follow these links for more details of Ski Cloudcroft:
Website: http://www.skicloudcroft.net/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ski-Cloudcroft-117907148296071/