The first gold on the mountain
Welcome back to The Santa Fe Weekender — five handpicked things worth your weekend, no scrolling required. Fiesta takes its final bow on the Plaza this weekend, and you already have our guide to that. So this week we look up — to the mountain, where the first aspens are turning — and out, to the ranches and villages where fall arrives a little early.
The main thing
Fall chairlift rides open at Ski Santa Fe. Starting Saturday, September 12, and every weekend through October 11, the ski area at the top of Hyde Park Road runs its chairlift from 10 to 3 — a slow, quiet ride up through the aspen groves to 11,250 feet, with the Sangre de Cristos folding away beneath your boots and live music back at the lodge. A word of honesty: mid-September is early. The color starts at the top and works its way down, and peak usually lands in late September or the first days of October. So call this the scouting run — the first gold on the mountain, the air sharp, the crowds not yet arrived. It’s about sixteen miles and a good half hour of switchbacks from the Plaza. Bring a real jacket; it’s a different season up there. Rides are weather-dependent, so check skisantafe.com before you drive up.
Eat
Izanami, at Ten Thousand Waves — the natural stop on the way back down the mountain. The Japanese-inspired izakaya tucked into the spa grounds does small plates made for sharing, a cold-sake list that runs deep, and a deck among the pines. Dinner nightly, 5 to 8:45; reservations required.
Jambo Bobcat Bite, out on Old Las Vegas Highway — the Green Chile Cheeseburger Smackdown sold out Sunday, so take matters into your own hands. Chef Ahmed Obo of Jambo Café now runs the little roadside spot where the old Bobcat Bite made its name, pairing a proper burger (green chile, naturally) with his spice-forward breakfasts. Saturday it’s open 9 to 3, breakfast all day plus lunch; it’s closed Sundays and doesn’t take reservations.
Do
The Santa Fe Renaissance Faire, at Las Golondrinas. Saturday and Sunday, 10 to 5, the living-history ranch south of town trades its colonial chores for chain mail: jousting from the Knights of Epona, an armored combat tournament, jugglers, a fairy village for the kids, and mead from local makers. The ranch bills it as New Mexico’s longest-running faire, and it sells out every year. Saturday already has; Sunday tickets are still available, online only through HoldMyTicket — nothing is sold at the gate. Adults are $10, kids 12 and under free, and costumes are very much encouraged.
See
The 39th El Rito Studio Tour. Saturday and Sunday, 10 to 5, more than a dozen artists open their studio doors across the old village of El Rito, tucked between Abiquiú and Ojo Caliente about an hour and a half north. Expect the full span of northern New Mexico craft — backstrap-loom weaving, tinwork, woodcarving and retablos alongside ceramics, photography, and contemporary painting — plus a community mercado at El Pueblito on the Northern New Mexico College campus, with local food and live music. Half the point is the drive: up the Chama valley past the red and gold cliffs of Abiquiú, the same country O’Keeffe couldn’t stop painting.
Also on
Fiesta’s final weekend, three things we didn’t mention last week. The official Fiesta weekend opening ceremonies are Friday at noon at the Plaza bandstand. Saturday night brings the Gran Baile, Fiesta’s century-old dance in honor of Don Diego de Vargas and La Reina — 7:30 at the Community Convention Center, $20 through HoldMyTicket, with Gonzalo on stage playing rancheras and cumbias. And on Sunday at 10:30, ahead of the 1 p.m. Historical/Hysterical Parade, Los Matachines de Bernalillo dance at the bandstand. One more number worth knowing: Saturday morning’s Pet Parade is the hundredth.
Looking ahead: the Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta runs September 23 to 27, with the Grand Tasting on Saturday the 26th, noon to 3, at Fort Marcy’s Magers Field. The best of its dinners go early, so if it’s on your list, now’s the time.
That’s the weekend. If a friend would love it, forward it their way — they can subscribe at thesantafeweekender.com.
See you next Friday, The Santa Fe Weekender
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