Ski Santa Fe, in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains east of Santa Fe, stands among the highest major ski areas in the United States and the southernmost major resort in the Rocky Mountains. Its history reaches to 1936, when New Mexico’s first rope tow was installed there under Robert Nordhaus. During the Second World War, the 10th Mountain Division trained in the area. In 1949 Sierras de Santa Fe organized the Santa Fe Ski Basin and funded its first chairlift, and Joe Juhan soon placed champion skier Ernie Blake in management. The resort’s development connects early New Mexico skiing, wartime mountain training, and later destination skiing.