One New Mexico Ski Resort Features Cocktails Hidden Along The Mountain

In the high country of northern New Mexico, where the ponderosa pines stretch into the blue sky, an intriguing liquid legend has endured for decades. It began in the winter of 1959 at a resort just north of the celeb-friendly town of Taos. What took place during those snow-blanketed months has endured not just in local lore, but in après-ski culture far beyond. 

The legend of the Martini Tree at Taos Ski Valley can be traced back to Ernst Hermann Bloch, better known as Ernie Blake. Blake, a German-born U.S. Army intelligence officer during World War II, founded the skirt resort in the 1950s after relocating to New Mexico with his wife, Rhoda.

In an early interview (via YouTube), Blake explains that the martini in the snow happened because of a single ski lesson. During a run, one of Blake's middle-aged students became paralyzed with fear on the slope. Blinded by the afternoon sun reflecting off the snow, she understandably refused to continue. Ever the problem solver, Blake called on his teenage son Mickey to perform a "medical experiment."

He ordered his 15-year-old son to ski down to the lodge and return with a dry martini and a few olives, specially prepared by Rhoda. The student took a sip and, legend has it, skied the rest of the way down without hesitation. Blake recalled, "We made a great medical discovery and we've carried this tradition — minus the olives because they were too expensive — we carried this tradition on ever since."

This improbable success story inspired Ernie Blake to turn it into something bigger. That winter, he began tucking porróns (a traditional Spanish glass pitcher with a long spout) filled with martinis into the snow near select trees along the slopes. The trees were unmarked except for a bit of yellow ribbon, their contents available only to those in the know. The martini was an intentional choice. Blake told The New York Times, ”White wine is dangerous. It makes the knees buckle.”

By the early 1960s, the practice had evolved into a celebrated tradition. Blake established an elite ski club called HAMS (High Altitude Martini Skiers). Membership required consuming a martini mixed at least 10-to-1 (gin to dry vermouth) at an altitude of 11,000 feet or higher, in an unpressurized environment, with at least one foot on the ground. Granted, this was the era of "three-martini lunches," so having a couple of drinks before lunch was no biggie.

Sadly, Blake's family sold the ski resort to a billionaire conservationist in 2016. But while the original practice of leaving martinis in the snow has ceased, the Martini Tree tradition continues in a new form. 

Today, at the conclusion of a week-long course at the Ernie Blake Snowsports School, students over the age of 21 are led into the woods by an instructor. There, they find a birdhouse-like lockbox mounted to a tree, containing a porrón filled with martinis to share and celebrate their accomplishment.