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Skiing Stoke from Lake Tahoe

Category: News (Page 15 of 30)

Flip the Switch

January 22, 2012 / / 1 Comment

Harvesting cold smoke along the Pacific Crest.


We needed a wet storm to kickstart our winter but when I heard it rained to 9,000 feet well into Friday night I began to worry. On Saturday Squaw looked better than it had but definitely not like the game changer skiers had hoped for. I skeptically planned a tour for Sunday morning and am really glad I did. We skinned into a wind protected zone just below the Pacific Crest and when I took off my skis I sank up to my thighs in dry powder. We prospected the zone for three runs as the day turned from sunny to imposing as our next storm rolled in. Conditions far exceeded my expectations. If the Sunday night storm produces the 15 to 30 inches being called for above 7,000 feet, it should start feeling like ski season has arrived. That is until temperatures return to 50 degrees later in the week. Hopefully north aspects at higher elevation will hang in there.

Finally looks like winter in Tahoe.


All smiles in the Tahoe Backcountry on January 22.

B.A.S.I.C.S. Premiere at OVL January 21

January 20, 2012 / / 0 Comments

B.A.S.I.C.S stands for Be Aware and Safe In Crazy Situations. Program Director JT Holmes wants to promote a progression into sports that maximizes safety and sustainability. High Fives has produced a short film about their athletes, the injuries they sustained, and how their injuries could have been prevented. Showtimes are 4:30 and 6:30 at the Olympic Valley Lodge on Saturday, January 21.

High Fives BASICS Premiere

Smith, Scott Partner with Recon, Deliver Heads Up to the Masses

January 18, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Get ready for the next level of ski geekery to hit the slopes next season. Recon’s Micro Optics Display (MOD) Live is dashboard that projects live data from your ski experience out in front of you so that you can monitor your stats without taking your eye off the snow. With it, you can track your speed, altitude, airtime, distance and location. You can also track your friends, find your position on a map, view your texts, see your camera shot through a viewfinder and more. A glove-friendly bluetooth remote lets you control what you see on the go. Now, Smith and Scott will offer this technology in their lines. With this new partnership, getting this technology in your googles will be easier and more stylish than ever before. They’ll be on display at SIA this month and on the hill next season.

Powder Sequence from Janky Films, Boot Deep

January 16, 2012 / / 0 Comments

I like the fact the Janky Films Crew don’t take themselves to seriously. However, there is nothing janky about this gorgeous powder edit from their 2011 release, Boot Deep. The storm system for later this week is predicted to start wet which is exactly what we need to get a base going from scratch. Drier snow is expected by the end of the weekend. It won’t likely be the Alta quality found in this segment but let’s hope for the best. Do yourself a favor and watch it full screen with good sound…it’s a gem!

Boot Deep Powder Segment 2011 from JANKYfilms on Vimeo.

Lazy days of summer…I mean winter

January 11, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Ridin' to ski at Squaw on January 11

Afros, fishnet stockings, cut off shorts, BBQ’s, PBR’s, disco beats and soapy cars being hosed down in the warm afternoon sun. Another summer day in Tahopia? Nope. The PlumpJack Squaw Valley Inn hosted a pray for snow car wash today and it rocked! The event raised over $500 for Disabled Sports USA Far West.

PlumpJack Pray for Snow Car Wash on January 11

PlumpJack employee Rob Birney getting his scrub on.

PlumpJack Managers Steve Lamb and Kristina Jetton

Happy New Year

January 2, 2012 / / 0 Comments

New Years Day in Truckee looking more like November 1 than January 1.

The Janky Films crew recently sacrificed a nice pair of skis to the snow gods. Let's hope the Janky boys, who relocated from Alta to Tahoe this season, see some Sierra caliber dumpage in 2012.

Happy Birthday Shane

December 30, 2011 / / 0 Comments

Shane McConkey would have turned 42 years old today. Friends climbed to the top of KT22 to sit beside the eagle and celebrate his life. Nearly three years since his passing his spirit seems stronger than ever. We’ll never forget you buddy.

Friends remember Shane beside the eagle shrine at the summit of KT22.

SBDC author Rob McCormick with Shane McConkey circa 1993

Backcountry Ice Skating

December 24, 2011 / / 0 Comments

If there is a silver lining to our lack of snow it is that ice skating on local lakes is all time right now. Cold temperatures and no snow has turned many lakes into perfect slates of clean black ice. We’re talking better ice than an NHL Zamboni could produce. The combination of awesome ice and clear, dry hiking trails has brought into play an elusive sport known as backcountry ice skating. Small high alpine lakes are in perfect skating condition and easily accessible. If you want to turn your lack of snow frown upside down perhaps you should pack a lunch, pair of skates, and a nip of Scotch and head to the hills for some backcountry ice skating. It won’t be this good again until we have this bad of a start to winter again. And let’s hope that’s a long time.

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Here’s another great ice sport:

Return of the Extreme Bench

December 21, 2011 / / 1 Comment

Back where it belongs. The Extreme Bench at Squaw.


Remember the Extreme Bench at Squaw Valley? You know, the one in front of Dave’s Deli? The bench where Squaw Valley’s raddest rad dogs would saddle up with a mediocre beer of the week and tell everyone how rad they got that day? Under the Cushing Regime, the Extreme Bench was removed to prevent riff raff from hanging out at the base of the mountain. Paradoxically, many of the apres dwellers they were trying to eliminate are now legends of skiing and guess what? The Extreme Bench is back! Although most of it’s former occupants have migrated to the sanctuary of the Chammy, it’s nice to know this artifact of ski culture is back where it belongs. Next time you’ve slayed every line on KT in a far radder fashion then everyone else at Squaw, maybe you should grab a tall boy from Dave’s, saddle up and let the spraying begin on the good old Extreme Bench.

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