Santa Fe Winter for Dummies

How to keep on keeping on during the cold months

Get in gear for the howling winds, sputtery snowstorms and black ice of the Santa Fe winter with SFR's step-by-step guide on how to, well, enjoy it. From surviving in a high desert landscape when a day of snow sports goes awry to cozying up with a knitting project and homemade bizcochitos fresh out of the oven, to rescuing your car before it slides into an arroyo, we've had the experts weigh in with their best advice.

How to Fix Your Luck With the Truck

Santa Fe winters can send you slipping and sliding off lesser plowed side roads and driveways. As panic and overcorrection will probably lead you down a ditch, remember to breathe when you start losing control: Take your foot off the gas, grip the steering wheel tightly, turn your wheel in the direction of the slide and consider shifting the car into neutral to get the spinning wheels back in control, as Express Towing owner Chris Padilla recommends. If you do end up in the ditch, think first. Watch for ice when pushing, so you don’t slip. If you use a tow rope, tie it onto a solid place where you won’t tear off the bumper. Finally, if you are on a hill and want to push the car up from the front, don’t. Unless you hate your friends.

ProTip: "I've always learned the way the car goes in is the way the car has to come out," Padilla says. "If you try to make a path and pull it out the way it didn't go in, I think you'd be in a bigger mess that you're already in."

How to Slice Nice Ice

Ice carving is a fading art, says La Fonda’s veteran ice carver Gil Mesa. If you can use a chainsaw and have a bit of disposable income, you, too, can help bring it back. Start with a professional block of ice (Mesa gets his at Quality Foods in Albuquerque for about $125. Unlike lesser blocks from the convenience store, this one won’t crack.), and keep it in the freezer until you’re ready to work. Let it sit out for three or four hours to clear off the frost, while you gather your chainsaw and ice chisels (pure hobbyists can use the less fancy wood chisels). Then, work fast, Snow Miser. Carve the main shapes outside of the freezer and work inside the freezer for finishing detail. Don’t forget eye protection, winter gear and non-slip gloves.

ProTip: "A cactus. It's simple," Mesa notes. "You can do almost all of it with a chainsaw."

How to Bake Bodacious Bizcochitos

NM native Bettina Armijo of Desert Grows Mobile Kitchen wouldn’t divulge her family recipe for the anise-packed state cookie (apparently

New Mexico Magazine

’s December 2013 issue published a good one), but she does have a few tips to better your batch. Traditions dictate you use lard (blasphemers bake with butter). Roll ‘em out and cut them into the lily-shaped fleur de lis formation to hearken back the good old days of Spanish colonization. And don’t you dare add orange zest or ginger. Stuff’s not authentic.

ProTip: "A cinnamon-sugar topping is good because otherwise it's not a very sweet cookie," Armijo explains. "I just dip them in sugar after I bake them."

How to Get the Warm and Fuzzies

During this time of flu shots and seasonal blood donations, put yourself in a position to actually love needles: Knit a piece for the 2014 Holiday Scarf Project, which gifts scarves to folks at St. Elizabeth’s, Esperanza and other shelters. Yarn & Coffee owner and longtime knitter Deborah Grossman says she often starts beginners with single-ply yarn in a light color (you can see the stitches easier) and teaches them first to cast on, or form the first loops on the needle, to their scarf’s desired wideness. Knitting and purling come next. Getting frustrated with learning technique via instructional videos on YouTube? You can stop by Yarn & Coffee for a lesson or try out a knitting book. Grossman’s favorite is

Debbie Stoller's Stitch & Bitch

. Drop off your creation at a local yarn shop by Dec. 13 and call the project’s Kristina Martinez with questions at 310-1772.

ProTip: "Relax and enjoy it. It's easy to knit when you aren't tense," Grossman points out. "You're in control of the yarn."

How to Shovel Snow Like a Boss

The heinous heap at the end of your driveway must go. Banish it without straining your back, inflaming your shoulder joints or torquing your knees. Paul Maloney, senior physical therapist and clinical director at New Mexico Sports and Physical Therapy, recommends setting aside a block of time to shovel, taking periodic breaks for stretching and rest. He suggests you use a scoop shovel so you can push, instead of throw, the snow, and bend your knees with a straight back when lifting. Pivot your knees instead of twisting your torso to send the snow flying to the bank. Don’t forget to dress warmly.

ProTip: "Know your limits," Maloney says. "If it's too heavy for you, especially for your older generation it's too heavy, that's when you want to get the kid down the street and pay him 10 or 20 bucks and let him do it."

How to Shred 'Em Dead

We’re in the midst of a long December, and there’s reason to believe maybe this snow year will be better than the last. Snowboarders, you’re on your own, but if your aim is to ski, Ski Santa Fe Sports School Director Bill Gould has tips for beginners and old hats alike. Newbies should focus on staying centered over their skis—really feel those shins on the front of their ski boots—and look far ahead for balance. The more seasoned can work on what Gould calls “absorbing terrain”: Practice by traversing the hill while doing a series of hops, focusing on coiling your legs like a spring, and striving to keep your torso smooth and level when hitting the moguls.

ProTip: "Everyone can benefit from skiing with a pro," the expert says.

How to Get in a State of Skate

New Mexico’s underabundance of lakes can leave a transplanted ice skater in despair. Before depressedly shooting a stick-handling ball into the wall of your bedroom, quell your longings for open ice with a few local solutions. Taste the crisp high desert air with a glide around Los Alamos County Ice Rink, the state’s only refrigerated outdoor National Hockey League-grade sheet. Take a cheap (ahem, free) skate at Montezuma Ice Pond a few miles from the United World College in Las Vegas. Or escape the wind and snow to enjoy the fresh-cut ice inside at Santa Fe’s beloved Genoveva Chavez Community Center.

ProTip: "If you have a helmet, that's always a good piece of equipment to wear," says GCCC rink manager Tom Miller, "helmet, gloves, a nice warm jacket. It does get cold in the ice arena."

How to Track Like a Pro

Former professional hunting guide Tom Briggs remembers opening up his cabin to roll around with a pair of bear cubs under their mother’s watchful eye. Even if you aren’t as in touch with nature (or “dumb,” as Briggs puts it), you can track animals’ passage through the woods. First of all, feces are your friend; the berries and bones within can reveal what species you’re dealing with. Tracks hint at speed and direction of travel, as well as how long ago the creature passed through. Coyotes are a good place to start, Briggs says, because of their prevalence, and a sturdy guidebook can help you find other species in the area.

ProTip: "Always take a flashlight with you," Briggs cautions. "Sometimes when you go out, you get so mesmerized, you get so involved in the tracking that you can get yourself lost."

How to Winterize Your Skin

Winter winds, chilly temperatures and dry air can dehydrate skin, leaving it cracked and itchy. While balms and salves provide needed comfort post-exposure, prevention is substantially more comfortable. Essentially, you should remember two things: exfoliation and hydration. Mary Johnson of Ten Thousand Waves suggests using a rich moisturizer like an essential oil (such as grapeseed) after showering and keeping hydrated by drinking liquids and eating water-rich foods such as celery. Also, while sugar and salt scrubs are a tad harsh for the face, the body can benefit greatly from a good slough.

ProTip: "I would recommend getting a good facial," Johnson suggests.

How to Survive in the Winter Desert

Staying dry should be your first priority if you find yourself stranded outside during the winter, says Atalaya Search & Rescue’s John Becker. Along with packing extra socks, at least two quarts of water and sweat-wicking clothing layers before leaving the house, you should focus on staying in one place, finding shelter and creating fire. Look around you for materials to keep you out of the snow, sleet, wind and winter sun—a rock overcrop may serve as preexisting solution, while deeper snow can be conducive to a snow cave and brush can construct a lean-to. Use a tarp, poncho or space blanket for insulation. Your best bet for fire is to have the basics on you: a lighter, waterproof matches and some form of kindling (Becker recommends a cotton ball saturated with petroleum jelly). Look on the lower parts of trees for dry branches. Then, pray that you let someone know where you were going and when you planned on coming back.

ProTip: "There's this thing called the 10 essentials that you should carry with you in your pack," Becker says. "It's like food, water, fire starter, insulation and clothing, you know…that kind of thing."

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