2009 Ski Hall of Fame

Mickey Blake grew up as part of one of New Mexico’s most notable ski families. His father, Ernie and mother Rhoda were ski pioneers in every sense of the word and built Taos Ski Valley from just a dream in 1955 to the world renowned mountain village that is today. Mickey was on skis as a young child in New York before Ernie moved the family to NM to manage the fledgling Santa Fe Ski Basin in 1949. When the family moved to the site of Taos Ski Valley in 1955, Mickey helped wherever he could, including driving the area Sno-Cat in 1956 when he was only 12. Since there was only one small lift at the time, Mickey, who could barely see over the steering wheel, would pull skiers behind the Sno-Cat up a narrow trail.

During the early years of Taos Ski Valley when it was slowly growing, Mickey, who was more mechanically minded than Ernie, was involved with installing new lifts, building the snow maintenance fleet and a hands-on approach to running the area. As the area grew, Mickey’s responsibilities grew as well and when Ernie died in 1989, Mickey took the reins as president of TSV and his wife, Ann became vice president. Mickey’s sister, Wendy, became the manager and buyer of the retail outlets at TSV.

Mickey has guided the Ski Valley as it has moved forward through the last several decades with such things as expansion plans for the ski area, incorporation of Taos Ski Valley into a town in 1996 and all the infrastructure improvements that have been made. In 2008, he decided to open the mountain to snowboarders. Previously, Taos had been one of the few ski areas in the United States that had been a skier-only mountain. Mickey continued to move towards the future of TSV with the help of daughter Adriana and son Alejandro. Those plans to upgrade existing facilities with a look toward more modern designs and amenities while still keeping with Ernie’s vision of a small European-style destination resort came about when conservationist Louis Bacon bought TSV in 2014 and began initiating major upgrades.

Mickey has kept a steady hand on the destiny of TSV with Ernie’s vision in mind and has contributed greatly to the ski industry in New Mexico.