What ski and snowboard gear does NMLP accept?

Skis (alpine, all-mountain, powder, touring, telemark, kids), snowboards (freeride, freestyle, splitboards), ski boots and snowboard boots (any size, any brand), bindings (alpine, alpine touring, snowboard — separated or mounted), poles, jackets and shell pants, base layers, helmets (only those NOT involved in a crash — see below), goggles, gloves and mittens, balaclavas and neck gaiters, ski socks (clean), backpacks, climbing skins for touring setups, and ski/snowboard bags. Kids' growing-out-of-it gear is especially welcome — there's a real shortage at the youth-lesson programs in NM.

Do you take helmets that have been in a crash?

No — helmets have a one-impact lifespan and any helmet that took a real hit needs to be retired, not redonated. If you're not sure whether a helmet has been crashed, that's reason enough to dispose of it; I won't pass crash-history-unknown helmets to a youth program. The cost of being wrong is too high. Uncrashed used helmets (kid outgrew it, you upgraded, gear-closet find) are welcome.

Are old skis with non-current bindings still useful?

Depends. Most NM shops won't remount or DIN-test bindings more than ~10 years old because release indemnity manufacturers (Marker, Look, Salomon, Tyrolia) publish indemnified-binding lists that age out. So a 1995 ski with original bindings is decorative or for community-program flat-light use, not for bombing groomers at Taos. I'm honest about this when I route: vintage gear goes to display, instructional, or low-speed community use — not to anyone who'd ride lifts on bindings a shop won't certify.

Where does donated ski gear actually go?

Three tracks. Premium-brand gear in resaleable condition (touring setups from Dynafit, Plum, ATK; current premium skis from Volkl, Atomic, K2 pro line, Black Crows, Faction; premium snowboards from Burton, Jones, Lib Tech, Never Summer; technical jackets from Patagonia, Arc'teryx, North Face Summit) goes to eBay and Amazon FBM resale — that revenue funds the free pickup operation. Mid-tier alpine and snowboard gear (Salomon mainline, Rossignol, K2 mainline, Burton mainline, Ride, Nitro, North Face mainline) routes to Ski Apache's youth lessons program on the Mescalero reservation and the Boys & Girls Club of Central New Mexico ski programs. Kids' jackets, pants, and gloves go to Casa Q and other youth-services orgs that need winter outerwear for clients. Anything unsalvageable enters the textile recycling stream.

How fast can you pick up?

Same week is typical for Albuquerque metro, often within 48 hours. Rio Rancho, Corrales, Bernalillo, and the East Mountains are also same-week. Santa Fe and northern NM towns get batched — typically 7–10 days. Text 702-496-4214 with a photo of the gear pile and your zip; I'll confirm the route within a few hours.

Free Pickup • Skis • Boards • Boots • Bindings • Jackets

Ski & Snowboard Gear Donations in Albuquerque

The skis in your garage have been there for four seasons. The kids' boots from 2020 won't fit anyone. The shell jacket you bought for Taos works perfectly and you haven't been since. I'll come get all of it — one truck, one trip, free across the Albuquerque metro.

Call or Text 702-496-4214 Schedule a Free Pickup

Quick answer: Free ski and snowboard gear pickup across the Albuquerque metro from NMLP. Skis, snowboards, boots, bindings, jackets, helmets (uncrashed), goggles, gloves, kids' gear. Premium-brand items (Volkl, Atomic, Burton, Patagonia, Arc'teryx) resold to fund the operation; mid-tier and kids' gear routes to Ski Apache youth lessons on the Mescalero reservation and Boys & Girls Club of Central NM ski programs. Crashed helmets don't go to youth programs — they get retired. Text or call 702-496-4214.

New Mexico Has Real Skiing

Most of the country forgets that New Mexico has serious ski terrain. Taos Ski Valley has been a destination expert mountain since Ernie Blake founded it in 1955, with terrain that takes a season to learn. Ski Apache, on Sierra Blanca and run by the Mescalero Apache Tribe, is often the southernmost major ski area in the United States. Pajarito outside Los Alamos is largely volunteer-operated and has a fierce local following. Angel Fire, Red River, Sipapu, and Ski Santa Fe round out a full season's worth of options within a four-hour radius of Albuquerque.

What this means for gear donations: there's a genuine community of skiers and snowboarders in central and northern New Mexico, AND there's a steady pipeline of kids growing into and out of equipment every year. The youth-lessons programs at Ski Apache and the Boys & Girls Club of Central New Mexico run on donated and recycled gear — lift tickets are subsidized, but boots and skis are not, and a kid in the wrong-size boot doesn't ski twice.

Most households in the metro have at least one set of someone's outgrown gear in the garage. I want it.

A note on Sandia Peak Ski Area: it closed in 2017 and the lifts have since been removed. The Sandia Peak Tramway still runs for sightseeing and hiking. If anyone tells you otherwise about resort skiing at Sandia, that's a 2016-or-earlier memory.

What Ski & Snowboard Gear I Take

Hard goods

Alpine skis, snowboards, splitboards, telemark skis, alpine-touring skis, kids' skis, ski/snowboard boots (any size, any brand), bindings (mounted or loose), poles, skins.

Soft goods (outerwear)

Shell jackets, insulated jackets, shell pants, bibs, base layers, fleeces, mid-layers, neck gaiters, balaclavas, beanies. Kid sizes especially welcome.

Hands & head

Gloves, mittens, glove liners, helmet liners, goggles (any tint), uncrashed helmets, sunglasses, hand warmers (unused only).

Carry & storage

Ski bags, snowboard bags, boot bags, AT-day packs, avalanche packs (without live cartridges), roof boxes, ski racks.

Avalanche & touring

Beacons (any age, but I disclose age when routing), probes, shovels, harnesses, climbing skins, crampons, ski-mountaineering tools. Beacons older than ~10 years go to instructional use, not active rescue.

What I won't take

Crashed helmets. Avalanche airbag cartridges with live charge (HHW disposal). Skis with binding mount holes leaking water-damaged core foam (structural rot, unsafe to remount).

Premium vs Mid-Tier vs Basic — How I Route

Ski and snowboard gear has unusually strong brand recognition in the resale market. Premium gear from five seasons ago still moves on eBay because the buyers know what they're getting. Mid-tier moves slower but reliably finds homes through community programs.

Premium (resale → funds pickup): Volkl, Atomic, Black Crows, Faction, K2 pro line, Stockli, Blizzard, DPS, Salomon S/Max line, Dynastar M-Pro line. Snowboards: Burton (Skeleton Key, Custom X, Family Tree), Jones, Lib Tech, Never Summer, Capita Mercury, Yes Optimistic. Boots: Tecnica, Lange, Salomon S/Pro, Nordica Speedmachine. Touring: Dynafit, Plum, ATK, Marker Alpinist. Outerwear: Arc'teryx, Patagonia (Snowdrifter, Powslayer), North Face Summit Series, Norrona, Mammut, Black Diamond Recon.
Mid-tier (community route — Ski Apache youth program, Boys & Girls Club, family shelters): Salomon mainline, K2 mainline, Rossignol, Head, Fischer mainline, Nordica mainline, Burton mainline, Ride, Nitro, GNU, North Face mainline, Patagonia mainline insulated, Marmot, Helly Hansen mainline, Columbia OmniHeat, Spyder.
Basic / family-shelter route: Walmart house brands, Costco-floor outerwear, Decathlon, low-end Burton "Learn To Ride" boot-board combos, no-name kids' jackets. Still useful for first-time outerwear coverage; what isn't usable enters textile recycling.

You don't have to know which tier your gear is in. I sort it at the warehouse. The reason I'm naming the tiers is so you understand the donation goes somewhere thoughtful — resale revenue subsidizes the free pickup operation, mid-tier keeps NM kids on snow, and basic gear keeps people warm.

Common Donor Scenarios

Kids grew. A six-year-old in size 23 boots is a nine-year-old in size 26 in three seasons. The 23s and the 24s are in the garage. They fit the next kid in the Ski Apache youth lesson program perfectly.
You upgraded. You bought new touring skis and the old all-mountain set is taking up space. Premium-brand setup with current-decade bindings → resale. Cash-equivalent to NMLP funds the next ten free pickups.
Knees, time, geography. You used to ski Taos every February. Now you don't. The gear deserves to be on someone's feet on a mountain.
Inheriting a gear closet. A parent passed and you're cleaning out a Santa Fe garage with twenty years of ski-trip equipment. Estate cleanout service handles the whole house, not just the gear.
Moving out of NM. The skis aren't coming with you to Texas. Moving donation pickup handles books and clothing too — one truck.

The Helmet Honesty

Ski and snowboard helmets are designed for a single significant impact. The foam liner compresses on a crash and doesn't fully recover — subsequent impacts get progressively less protection. Manufacturers (Smith, Giro, POC, Sweet Protection, Bern) all publish this; some bake it into product warnings.

So: I won't take helmets known to have been crashed, and I won't pass crash-history-unknown helmets to a youth lesson program. If you can confidently say "I bought this for myself, wore it twice, upgraded" — great, that's resaleable or community-routeable. If you're guessing about its history, the responsible move is to throw it out, and I'll say that to your face. The cost of being wrong is a kid's head.

This is the kind of thing most thrift stores don't bother sorting for. I do. It's part of why I bother existing.

Ski & Snowboard Gear FAQ

What if my skis have old bindings?

Bindings have a release indemnity lifespan — the major manufacturers (Marker, Look, Salomon, Tyrolia, Atomic) publish lists of "indemnified bindings" each season. Bindings off that list usually can't be safely remounted by NM shops. I still take the gear — vintage setups go to instructional or low-speed community use rather than to anyone riding lifts on uncertified release values.

Will you take used long johns and base layers?

Clean ones, yes. Base layers and ski socks need a wash before donation but are otherwise welcome. If something's smelled like Taos parking-lot for five seasons and you can't bring yourself to wash it, route it to textile recycling instead.

Tax deduction?

No. NMLP is a for-profit business, not a 501(c)(3). Donations are not tax-deductible. The verification page has the full operating-model explanation if you want to understand how a for-profit single operator can offer free pickup without subsidies.

Can you take everything — ski gear plus books plus clothing?

Yes. One truck, one trip, one call. See the free pickup service hub for the full scope.

What about kids' equipment specifically?

Kids' ski gear is the highest-impact donation category I handle. Boots, skis, jackets, pants, helmets (uncrashed), gloves. The Ski Apache youth lesson program and Boys & Girls Club ski programs cannot run on adult-sized hand-me-downs — they specifically need the size-21-through-25 boots and the 110cm-through-140cm skis. If your closet has this, please call.

Related guides

Get the Skis Out of the Garage

Premium gear funds the pickup. Mid-tier and kids' equipment keeps NM kids on snow at Ski Apache and Boys & Girls Club programs. Crashed helmets get retired honestly. Nothing gets landfilled by default.

Call or Text 702-496-4214

Josh Eldred — NMLP — Free ski & snowboard gear pickup across the Albuquerque metro and most of New Mexico.