Why Texans Love to Ski

Feb. 2 -- Despite its vastness and variety, one thing Texas does not have is snow-covered mountains.

Fortunately for Texas skiers, however, some of the best ski areas in the nation are less than a three-hour flight away, and in some parts of the state within driving distance.

Texans give some ski areas a major portion of their business. For Southwest Vacations, which packages deals with Southwest Airlines, Texans make up nearly 70 percent of the ski business to New Mexico, nearly half of its traffic to the Lake Tahoe area in California and Nevada, and nearly a fifth of its ski traffic into Salt Lake City.

Texas skiers also are among the top five groups at Aspen, which pulls in skiers from around the world. Large numbers of Texans also ski Salt Lake City and Canadian resorts such as Whistler/Blackcomb.

Flights Abound

And in an era when airlines are cutting back on much of their service, they're still adding flights for skiers out of Texas. Continental introduced nonstop service from Houston into Durango in Colorado this year, for example.

Continental also offers nonstop daily service from Texas airports to Vail, Telluride and Steamboat Springs. (See our Snow Condition Report main page for info on these and other resorts.) United has nonstop service out of Dallas/Fort Worth into Aspen. American also offers nonstops into Telluride.

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Texas skiers can also opt for charter service through Dallas-based Adventure Tours USA directly into Durango. Tour operator Mountain Vacations sells packages with nonstop flights to Durango and Gunnison, the gateway to Crested Butte, another popular Colorado ski resort.

Behind the Wheel

Skiers in western Texas can drive to southern Colorado and New Mexico ski areas such as Taos and Angelfire in five or six hours. Even Dallas is within a day's drive — albeit a hefty 10 hours. But it's close enough to make Texas the No. 1 market for Taos, which has been offering aggressively priced packages to skiers in that state and New Mexico. Snowboarders take note: it's skiers only at Taos, and a large number of them are telemark skiers, who go downhill with special boots that allow their heels to remain free rather than be fixed to the skis.