For John and Judy Miller, a life in Red River was somehow inevitable. The mountains called and they answered, then left an indelible mark on skiing in Red River.
In return, they were inducted into the New Mexico Ski Hall of Fame in 2008, joining such luminaries as the late Drew Judycki, longtime owner of Red River Ski Area, Taos Ski Valley founder (the late) Ernie Blake and Angel Fire’s Bill Burgess, creator of the World Champion Shovel Races and a certified ski instructor for 60 years.
John, a native Texan, spent summers at his family’s cabin in Red River beginning in 1935 and occasionally “skied” West Texas courtesy of a rope and pick-up truck. He later learned on a actual mountain while attending the University of Colorado (CU). “I started skiing at Arapaho Basin on 7-foot, 2-inch long skis with bear trap bindings. My instructor, who had a German accent, said, ‘Ve go to the top!’”
Judy has skied since she was a child growing up in Denver, “The first time I ever skied was up at Berthoud Pass where the 10th Mountain Division was training. They had a rope tow there and I fell off. I couldn’t stand skiing.”
She tried again at Steamboat Springs and then, “I joined the Eskimo Club and took the ski train to Winter Park every weekend. The kids would terrorize all the passengers. They’d open the doors in the tunnels… and it was a steam train!”
They met at CU, married in 1957 and honeymooned in New Mexico, staying first at the Taos Inn, then backcountry skiing up to the Upper Red River Valley for a few days of roughing it in the Miller cabin, which lacked winterization or running water.
After John served a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, the couple settled near his family in Texas.
Says John, “I was working in a windowless office in Amarillo and so I said to Judy, ‘The heck with it, let’s go to Red River!’”
Despite the protestations of family, many of whom believed they were crazy, they moved to Red River in 1963 with three children in tow. John worked at Red River Ski Area, then the Molybdenum Mine before they made another “crazy move” purchasing Powder Puff Mountain (along with partners Gary and Fran Starbuck) from Lester and Jan Lewis in 1970.
With a mere 700-vertical feet, Powder Puff had few runs and no trails to speak of — other than “Expert” which was so short one could go straight down without having to break into a turn before hitting flat terrain. Lift tickets were $6 for adults, $4.50 for kids. Lessons were $5. They taught using Cliff Taylor’s radical Graduated Length Method (GLM) on 100-centimeter skis.
Powder Puff was also one of the first western ski areas with snowmaking, a concept so novel one brochure featured a picture of a snow gun blowing snow and the caption, “We make snow!” It was a promise guests took a little too seriously. Natural snowfall prompted demands for a refund.
Gary Starbuck was Powder Puff’s ski school director, Fran its business manager, John Miller its mountain manager, and Judy its customer service and public relations department. Says John, “If people were cruising the parking lot looking around she’d go out and talk them into skiing.”
Judy was also known for her announcements. She used the loud speaker, which could be heard all over the mountain, to sell lessons, find lost parents or kids, announce events… oh lots of things. Sometimes she’d forget what she was going to say altogether, announcing “Attention please… ” then leaving her listeners hanging, waiting for that all-important announcement that was never going to come. Once when a daughter went skiing in the early morning mom announced, “Attention please, Linda Miller, you put a hat on right now! It’s cold outside!”
John was — and is — known for his sense of humor. He once put a sign over a big wall clock that instructed people who were coming from Central Standard Time to set their watches back 42 minutes instead of one hour “because of the altitude.” He says people would stand there, wrist watches extended, trying to make the correct calculations.
Another time, there was a box of insect repellent left over from the Powder Puff’s summer campground convenience store. John had his niece Melynn (Miller-Huntley) make a poster warning customers of the “snow flea” whose bites can affect your central nervous system making you fall. They sold out.
During the Powder Puff years, John bought a fleet of used wooden cross country skis from another rental shop in town and began teaching cross country skiing in Red River’s backcountry, so when the area sold in 1979, it seemed natural to make that a full-time business.
In spring 1985, a Cross Country Ski Areas Association convention at Royal Gorge in Truckee, California, inspired John to build a groomed ski area on a plateau atop Bobcat Pass. Enchanted Forest opened with about 10-kilmoters of trails in winter 1985-86.
In the beginning, John groomed the trails and taught lessons, but the area has grown enough that his role is now “official grooming inspector.”
Judy led Ladies Ski Days and, later, Snowshoe Tours and — just as in her Powder Puff Days — sold Enchanted Forest to anyone who wandered within her field of view.
– Ellen Miller-Goins