Yes, it’s winter in Tahoe. More wintry than it ever was last year. Even enough snow to make some turns!
Quick session yesterday at Heavenly to work out the kinks before a full on session today at Kirkwood. Bring it!
Here’s a quick video of the turns before my GoPro ran out of batteries.
Filed under Backcountry Skiing, Skiing, Tahoe
This weekend was way too much fun! It started off with a killer diving board session on $1 Fridays at the Carson Valley Swim Center. Some pro skiers were there showing us how it is done and it was good to scare myself by throwing gainers all night. My biggest accomplishment was nailing some gainers off the 1 meter board since previously I could only get them around on the 3 meter board. My friend Lauren took a few great photos.
Gainer off the 3m board – by the end of November I’m getting a lay out!
Skier JJ Schiller throwing something I don’t know the name of.
“Team Adventure” on the way up to Mr. Toads Wild Ride. Great friends and good times!
Then the most incredibly awesome thing happened (besides both Notre Dame and the Detroit Tigers winning) – we received a call that Allison’s bike was found and at the police station!!! YES, somebody from Wattabike saw the bike, called it in, and the South Lake Tahoe Police recovered it! UNBELIEVABLE!
The bike was recovered! The flyers worked! Justice is restored! The best part is the lock the bike thief bought for it, which I’m pointing to.
Yep, Saturday was amazing. Could Sunday top it? Probably not. But I gave it a go anyway…
Three of my friends met me at my house to do a SheJumps Flume Trail ride. With the recent rain, we knew we couldn’t pass up the Chimney Beach Downhill, so we met at Chimney Beach, but no other girls showed up! Without the ability to set a shuttle, we decided to take a chance and do the ride anyway… we’d just figure the shuttle out later. So we started off from Mt. Rose and rode a super fun 18 miles of singletrack with expansive Lake Tahoe and Washoe Valleys as well as peaking aspens, and ripping downhills! I even cleaned a section I’ve been scared of for 3 years since I once endo’d and popped both tires trying it! The weather was perfect and we all had a great time. We even scored a ride when we saw two friendly guys descending Chimney Beach Downhill and asked if we could join their shuttle. I had so much fun riding with the girls… I can’t wait to do it again!
Cleaning a section that I’ve been scared of for a while!
Juliana on the scenic Flume Trail
The whole crew above Lake Tahoe on the Flume
SheJumps in the aspens near Marlette Lake
Photo by Lynsey Dyer, Selkirks, BC
Filed under Backcountry Skiing, Random rambling, Skiing, Travel
I rode my awesome new commuter build around Tahoe putting up flyers for this event!
New take on an old classic – Alaska bike becomes flyering machine!
The fall temperatures were perfect so I headed to Octoberfest at Camp Richardson to meet some friends and then check out the spawning Kokanee Salmon.
Non-native, but awesome, Salmon spawn up Taylor Creek from Lake Tahoe.
The author teeing off on scenic hole 17.
PK with a great shot out of the sand on 17.
Filed under Biking, Fundraising, Random rambling, Tahoe
Check out some of our events and if you’re a female, get stoked! Dudes, we still love you and you’re more than welcome to the Vintage Ski Party!!!
At 4:30 am, Sunday, September 30th, I met up with my friends Travis and Marissa to hike Mt. Tallac via the full moon. It was reminiscent of ski season, when I often meet friends at 5 am to ski before the work day begins. As we set out on the trail, we rarely needed our headlamps; the light of the moon was enough to illuminate our way.
Moon views on the way up Tallac
Beautiful view of the lake and Fallen Leaf Lake.
View down one of the classic Tallac winter ski lines
Another great shot from the summit of Tallac. Emerald Bay views.
Filed under Tahoe
I grew up in Michigan and started riding mountain bikes in high school at the local state park. By college, I was known as a pretty good rider in Michigan, but when I moved to Tahoe with my hard tail Trek 7000, I was immediately shocked by the difficulty of the trails and endless climbs. 6+ years later, those same rides, while still challenging, are my daily rides on a full suspension cross-country bike. Last week, my friend Nils invited me to ride mountain bikes at Northstar Ski Resort, so I called my friend Allison who was out of commission (due to riding bikes at Northstar – ok, racing bikes) and borrowed all of her downhill gear. The huge bike and full pads gave me confidence to ride Northstar’s most difficult trails, however, I was pretty scared the whole time! Mountain biking is scary! The bike just seemed huge and my feet were not staying on the flat pedals. Yes… Mountain bike gaper!
We rode most of the day and I was suprisingly tired at the end of it all – my legs were even sore the next two days from keep active legs the entire time. A week later, I rode my regular XC bike on the Tyrolean Downhill in Incline Village after work and crushed it! I mean, I was flying, hitting jumps, and cruising through the turns! The downhill biking really paid off. Turns out Nils was right – a day on a downhill bike will really help your skills!
Near the end of day 1 and getting it dialed on a downhill bike.
When you ask people about Tahoe, it is often said “they came for the winter, but stayed for the summer.” There are arguably better ski destinations in North America, but I’ve never heard anyone claim that their ski town is better than Tahoe in the summer. This past weekend, I had a super fun multi-sport day wakesurfing with my friends Mark and Julie and then rallying an all-female crew to ride to “the Bench” – a technical 15 mile out and back mountain bike ride along the scenic Tahoe Rim Trail.
Julie getting “pitted” with Mt. Tallac in the background
Jumping for joy at “the bench” overlook above Lake Tahoe
A beautiful sunset on the way home via paddleboard from the Thursday night Summer Lakeview Concert Series.
A few weeks ago, I headed up to Oakridge, Oregon with my friend Lauren to participate in Mountain Bike Oregon (MBO). This was my first organized mountain bike event – basically camp in a park with a bunch of mountain bikers, sign up for rides which are shuttled and guided, drink microbrews at the end of the day, and, oh yeah, you get to demo pretty much any bike you want. I rode $4,000+ carbon mountain bikes all weekend (favorites being the Ibis HD and any bike with X-Fusion Shocks).
The trails in Oakridge are narrow, forested, and smooth. We rode Salmon Creek, ATC (Alpine Tire Clover), Lawler and Hardesty, Moon Point and the Middle Fork, and Larison Rock – we rode a lot – but it was easy when you’re used to climbing 2,000 feet to start rides in Tahoe and all of our shuttles were included in the price! I also got to hang with my old college friend Nikki and her husband Sean!
Though I’m not sure I’d go to MBO again, I’d definitely pay another visit to Oakridge. Next time I’ll bring my own carbon bike, play boat, and fly rod!
Scenic Section of ATC
Rider in the forest
Racing in the Pixie Bike Race – made it to the finals but was taken out from behind! (Photo by Lauren)
Lauren, Bill and I up on the Moon Point Lookout
Cool waterfall on the way home
Labor day weekend that is. I’m alive, but haven’t had much time to post since I’ve been working too many hours per week on a stream restoration project in Incline Village, NV. This 3 year restoration effort will help keep 10,000 Cubic Yards of sediment out of Lake Tahoe every year!
Building a new channel for Rosewood Creek
Nice way to end an long, dusty day and definitely worth keeping blue!
Filed under Random rambling, Tahoe
Meghan Kelly Teles! 