What an awesome place, especially for first-timers such as we were. The ski staff was great (Leslie at the Ernie Blake School ROCKS), as was everyone else there. Having once been in the service industry, I know good service, and they gave it.
We got there as a winter storm hit, dumping lots of fresh powder (16 inches over 24 hours). Taos Ski Valley (TSV) takes great pride in being a ski-only (no snowboards) area.
This spoiled me. The roads in New Mexico had been closed due to the storm, so the lift lines were short. According to our instructor, about it was four times fewer than what they were planning--great for us, bad for them.
If you are new to skiing, I can't recommend the Ernie Blake School at Taos enough. They are professional and guarantee you will learn (yellow bird program) enough to get you on the beginner hills. Next season, we plan on doing a "ski week" where you're part of a week-long group lesson (more or less) tailored to your level of skiing. At the end of the day, you get more "instruction" on the psychology of skiing, techniques, critiques, etc., from the staff.