Why Learning to Ski at Angel Fire is More Than Just a Day on the Mountain
If you ask Robin May — Angel Fire Resort’s Ski School Director, here since 1976 — what makes a successful ski lesson, he’ll tell you it has little to do with perfect turns.
“It’s not about teaching people to ski,” he says. “It’s teaching skiing to people.”
And if you spend even a minute with him, you realize what he’s really talking about: confidence, discovery, and life-changing moments that start with a pair of skis and a little courage.
A Culture Built for Kids, Families, and First-Timers
Angel Fire understood its identity early on. Not every mountain needs to be extreme — this one chose to be welcoming.
Here, being family-focused isn’t a marketing angle. It’s baked into how the Ski School was created and how it still operates today.
- Pioneers in children’s instruction
- Homegrown teaching methodologies for young learners
- Lessons start at age 3, but 3-year-olds are taught only in private lessons to ensure the right level of care
- Guests range from tiny tots to skiers showing up proudly in their 90s
- Historically, 60–70% of lessons are for kids
Every instructor — whether they’ve taught for two seasons or twenty — happily steps onto the bunny hill. There’s no ego here. No hierarchy about who gets which level of lesson. When a last-minute private comes in, the whole team is ready.
Because the “magic” doesn’t happen only on black diamonds. It happens in:
- that first independent slide
- the first controlled stop
- the moment a child turns around with wide eyes because they just did something they couldn’t do twelve minutes earlier
Confidence That Lasts a Lifetime
When a first-timer clicks into skis, they’re taking a risk. They’re trusting someone they just met. But when they succeed — even just linking a turn or stopping on their own — something shifts.
“That sense of accomplishment changes people,” Robin says.
“They had no idea they could do that. They walk away with confidence.”
And that confidence doesn’t stay on the mountain. It goes home with them. It shows up in school, in careers, in big decisions, and sometimes… in where they eventually choose to live.
The $4 Million Lesson
One of Robin’s favorite stories happened around Christmas.
A man approached him and opened with:
“Are you Robin? I’ve got a bone to pick with you.”
Robin braced himself — was this a complaint?
Instead, the man told him this:
- At age 14, he took a lesson with Robin.
- He fell in love with skiing.
- His family returned year after year.
- As an adult, he brought his wife to Angel Fire to learn to ski.
- Eventually… they bought a home in Angel Fire.
- Then they became members.
- Then they started golfing.
- Then their kids and grandkids became skiers too.
Finally, the man laughed and said:
“You probably cost me three to four million dollars.”
A single ski lesson had quietly shaped an entire life — and a legacy.
A Ski School That Feels Like Family
The connection isn’t just between guests and instructors — it’s between instructors and each other.
Angel Fire has long been an incubator for professional teachers who go on to work in Telluride, Aspen, and even on national demonstration teams. But many eventually come back.
Some return year after year. Some take PTO from high-powered careers just to teach.
One former instructor — now an engineer working in Taos — still schedules time away specifically so he can keep teaching at Angel Fire. He once said that earning his full ski teaching certification was “more important than getting my PE.”
As Robin puts it:
“Great teachers start as great learners, and they never stop learning.”
Instructors train together, eat together, and celebrate the tiny breakthroughs only another pro would understand. It’s less a staff room — more a family dinner table.
Why Lessons Matter Even More During the Holidays
The holidays at Angel Fire have a special feel. Families come to be together, many trying skiing for the very first time. The lifts aren’t overwhelming, the energy is festive, and with new lift expansions coming soon, it’s a sweet spot for learners.
“It’s Christmas,” Robin says. “You make the best of it and have fun. That’s the expectation.”
There’s joy built into the atmosphere — no matter the weather.
The Secret Ingredient? Human Connection
Yes, you can watch a YouTube video.
Yes, a friend can offer tips.
But Robin has a simple reminder:
“There is no finish line to learning… and YouTube can’t coach you.”
A real instructor sees things a video can’t. They know how to translate fear into progress, and progress into pride. They’re not just teaching turns — they’re teaching people.
And that’s why Angel Fire’s Ski School is different.
Here, a lesson might change your day… or your entire life story.
Ready to Start Your Story?
Book your lesson early.
Kids’ group lessons stay intentionally small — an average of 3.8 kids per group over the whole season. (Holiday groups are a bit larger, but the Children’s Center shuts off sales when it hits its limit.)
As Robin puts it:
“I’d rather people be disappointed they didn’t get in than disappointed they did and the class was too large.”
Small groups. Real connection. True teaching.
That’s where the magic happens.
