Did you know Red River once had a salesman who carried the whole town with him in a red Jeep? Walter Dobbs, known to everyone as Wally, grew up in Mesquite, Texas, and discovered skiing in 1968 during a visit to Red River, just before reporting for duty in the United States Army. His first run took three hours and included many tumbles, but the passion stayed strong through two tours in Vietnam, and Red River had a hold on him from that very first, very long descent.
Click to see more photos of Red River skiing — rope tows, Powder Puff Mountain, and the early ski area years
After leaving the Army, Wally returned to Texas and managed a large printing company in Dallas, but he continued to dream of skiing. He traveled periodically to Colorado and New Mexico before deciding, in 1985, to make the move for good and settle in Red River. He started out as a bartender at Texas Reds and the Alpine Hotel, took up skiing seriously, and became a ski instructor within a few years. He later founded Red River Adventure Tours, promoting tourism activities that included fly fishing, rafting, horseback riding, and Jeep tours, so visitors could enjoy the mountains in every season.
Red River Ski Area owner Drew Judycki recruited Wally to help promote the ski area, and then asked him to stay on as marketing director. For 17 years, Wally tirelessly promoted Red River and other New Mexico ski areas throughout the central United States. He drove his iconic red 1951 Willys Jeep, with a ski bolted to the front bumper and New Mexico ski posters on the sides, handing out brochures and coupons and sharing his infectious enthusiasm for New Mexico slopes with anyone who would listen. It was marketing the Red River way: personal, cheerful, and impossible to ignore.
By 2000, Wally had become director of the Red River Ski School, a fitting post for a man whose own first run had taken three hours. Each summer he visited more than 700 ski, sports, and travel groups to promote skiing, turning his own story into an invitation for beginners everywhere. He slowed briefly in 2009 for a bone marrow transplant and chemotherapy, but he was back on the slopes the following winter, teaching and greeting skiers as if he had never left.
Wally Dobbs was inducted into the New Mexico Ski Hall of Fame in 2012 and was also honored in the New Mexico Tourism Hall of Fame. He passed away in 2015, leaving behind a legacy of dedication and love for New Mexico skiing. Ski New Mexico remembers him as a beloved fixture on the slopes of Red River, known for his contagious spirit and energy, who inspired countless skiers through genuine personal interactions. The next time a first-timer takes three hours to reach the bottom and falls in love anyway, that is Wally's story, still being told on this mountain.