Well then, look no furthur. Totemoff’s Bar and Grill at Ski Santa Fe is a great place to take a quick rest, and an even better place to relax after a hard day on the slopes.

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“Snowboarding,” one veteran skier told me on our ride up the lift, “is like riding a bicycle on the highway; I can see why it’s fun, but I’d rather you didn’t.”

Seventeen years after throwing aside my skis for what many considered a fad, the traditionalists who wish I’d go back are fewer and farther between, but, apparently, still exist and aren’t afraid to be vocal.

Fortunately, the slopes at Ski Santa Fe are friendly to downhill skiers, telemarkers and snowboarders alike. And though these sports spawn a sense of individuality, they also result in a strong sense of community.

Nowhere on the mountain are the inhabitants of these varied subcultures able to mix so well as Totemoff’s Bar and Grill, a 50-something-year-old cabin located just above the bunny hill.

Named for Pete Totemoff — an Alaska native who came to New Mexico in the 1940s to fight tuberculosis and who spent the next 50 years helping to develop ski areas and fight forest fires throughout the Southwest — Totemoff’s is a cozy little spot that offers the perfect respite from a morning of eating snow and allows skiers and snowboarders to bond while they warm up with nachos, tamales or a piping hot beverage. From Friday through Sunday the grill expands its weekday menu of appetizers to include burgers (of the meat and veggie variety), fajitas and chicken sandwiches.

It’s the drinks though, that make Totemoff’s the place to kick a bit of snow off the old boots, loosen those bindings and take in the scenery. The “Totemoff’s Special,” a concoction of hot chocolate, Copa de Oro coffee liqueur and Wild Turkey, not only takes the edge off but, consumed at nearly 11,000 feet, makes it a bit easier to catch an edge on the way back down the mountain, unless, of course, you’re Wild Turkey’s most famous advocate Hunter S Thompson, who probably could have downed a dozen and glided down the hill with ease.

As I lack even a BA in Gonzo, my Wild Turkey adventure seemed like a good excuse to pair the drink with a deliciously spicy bowl of green-chile stew (personally, I prefer pork, but the chicken Totemoff’s uses is tender and flavorful) to ensure a safe run — for myself and my fellow outdoor athletes — down the rest of the mountain.

Since getting grub from the supermarket to the house on a snowy Santa Fe day can be an adventure in driving, getting it halfway up a mountain seems like an impossible task. Totemoff’s manager Christian Fallard, who began as a bar-back at the grill more than 30 years ago, says getting food up the mountain is “a big challenge because we must move everything very quickly.”

To get the food to Totemoff’s, where everything is prepared in the on-site kitchen, snow cats and trailers are employed and “when we don’t have too much snow, we use trucks,” Fallard said.

OK, that sounds doable, but what about beasts, I had to wonder. It seems like a restaurant on the middle of a mountain, surrounded by woods would be a prime target for a few greedy, fuzzy creatures looking for a snack and a bit of warmth. “Animals don’t come around when there are people,” Fallard assured me, which makes sense. Not only are Totemoff’s patrons a boisterous bunch, they’re also armed with pointy sticks and clompy boots, just the kind of thing to scare off the most devilish woodland critter.

Working at Totemoff’s seems like a pretty sweet gig and Fallard — who came to the United States from France in the ’80s — is about the friendliest bartender in Santa Fe. He welcomes old faces to the bar with an enthusiastic “hello” and is joyously greeted right back.

“I love when people remember me over the years,” he said.

And how could anyone not remember the man who makes every customer feel like an old friend with his gregarious smile and stiff drinks. In fact, were it not for the cover charge (lift tickets range from $30 for the beginner lift to $60 for a day pass) Totemoff’s would be one of the most reasonably priced, most homey bars in the area. The drinks are inexpensive ($6-$7), beers are local favorites from the Santa Fe Brewing Company and the food is satisfying and fresh.

Maybe part of Fallard’s joyful disposition is his need to live vicariously through his customers, as he doesn’t get much of a chance to ski himself these days.

“I’m pretty busy working,” he said. “I like to go when there is a lot of powder, but it’s hard when there’s that much snow because it’s harder to get everything up here and to open on time.”

Come powder or not, Christmas Day at Totemoff’s will be busy but, according to Fallard, “pretty low-key because it’s a family holiday, and we can only serve beer and wine on Christmas.”

Things will start to heat up again after New Year’s with the Beats on the Basin concert. Every other Saturday (beginning Jan. 9 with Albuquerque Americana band The Porter Draw) in January and February, a different live act fills the patio at Totemoff’s with live music, giving skiers and snowboarders another excuse to escape town and hit the slopes. I remember a DJ set at Totemoff’s a few years ago that was so hoppin’ people peeled off layers of snow gear as they danced and the runs were virtually empty!

While the bottom of the mountain features La Casa Café Grill, a restaurant with a slightly fuller menu, Fallard is dead on when he says, Totemoff’s is “more like a little family because all the locals love to come to the bar. There’s great food down below, but people won’t hang out down there.”

That doesn’t mean nonlocals aren’t welcome though. In fact, that’s what makes locals so fond of Totemoff’s, everyone — skier, snowboarder, native Santa Fean, import or tourist — mixes and mingles over their love of winter and the need for a little warmth.

By: Patricia Sauthoff

The New Mexican

Tags: Apres Ski Santa Fe, Santa Fe Holidays, Santa Fe living, Santa Fe Restaurant, Santa Fe Skiing, Ski Santa Fe