January 7, 2012 · 12:25 am

The Search for Snow Pays Off!!!

It’s a well-known fact that this winter has started off slow for us skiers in the lower 48.  While it was easier to cope with the lack of snow before Christmas, once the new year hit, I decided it was time to take action and seek out snow.  While some have traveled to Alaska, Canada, Europe, and even Japan, I didn’t quite have that time or budget, so after scouring the weather and finding a willing ski partner, we headed north, first stop Central Oregon.  Busting out of Tahoe on the 1st day of 2012, it was eerily warm, we made quick time up to the Oregon border where we saw our first dusting of snow on one of the higher passes east of Shasta.  We rolled into Bend that evening and met up with a local skier, who was injured, but gave us some beta.  The next morning, we headed up to Mt. Tumalo, a quick backcountry jaunt across from Mt. Bachelor. It was windy, but the skies were mostly clear.  A mellow skin amongst the trees led us to the summit where we could witness the wind piling the snow into the northeast facing bowl.  “GAME ON” we thought as we transitioned, did a quick snow assessment, and dropped in.  The first powder turns of the season – so effortless and fun.  We skinned back up for 5 more laps, upping the ante each time and connecting with a local professional skier and photographer.  Small cliffs, then doubles, then a 30 footer, and finally a few flips off a natural kicker; we finished the day with high fives, snow on our goggles, and some new friends (all photos by Court Brock).

a windy skin

small hits to warm up

oh yeah, that’s the stuff!

big hits with deep landings

stoke rubbing off! time to throw some backies!

And a photo montage by the talented Paul Clark:

We headed back to Bend to refuel and plan our next destination and ended up at Deschutes Brewery where the atmosphere was buzzing from a combination of locals night (1/2 off!), the Ducks playing in the Rose Bowl, and the fact that it was the last night open for a few months and they were planning on knocking the wall down that evening to kick off the remodel.  The Bend locals seemed to welcome us and we even found a place to crash for the night and hatched a plan for the next day – Central Oregon was paying off so far, why leave a good thing?

The next morning we headed to the Three Creeks Sno Park to access the Tam McArthur Rim.  We knew it was a long approach on a snow-covered road best done by snowmobile.  We also knew there were yurts back there, but they were booked last time we checked.  So the plan was to head up there, skin out to the base of the Rim, waving down a snowmobile for a tow if possible, and then ski out the road that evening by headlamp.. until we met Shane, who runs the Three Sisters Backcountry Huts on the road in.  He had a group book both huts, but there were 5 no shows and 1 heading out that day.  He offered us a ride in to the yurts and the chance to stay there for free.  He even went back to our truck and got our sleeping bags and a change of clothes for us while we were out skiing!  We couldn’t believe our luck so far in Oregon.

With our new friends, we headed up to the top of Tam McArthur Rim and checked out a zone called the Playground.  It had great terrain and soft snow.  With a rare windless day in the Cascades, we decided to leave the group and do a more scenic tour of the Sisters Range and headed out to ski Broken Hand and Ball Butte.  It was a slog, but a beautiful one.

heading out to Broken Top (Photo by Court)

chalky snow on Broken Hand

skiing amid a volcano sunset

making the most of the short days and good snow

With no snow to even tour on in Tahoe, it was just what we needed – a full day out in the mountains.  Back at the yurts, we enjoyed a gourmet meal prepared by our new friends.

the beautiful three sisters yurt

The next day we focused on objectives closer to the yurt, hitting a sunny line in the morning and numerous lines in the Playground – skiing and skinning until our legs gave out on any landings we tried.

sunny soft lines on Tam McArthur

last round of soft turns in the Playground

Skiing out the 5.5 mile road was quick and we thanked Shane for a memorable time and headed back to Bend for a quick soak in the Turkish baths before the long drive back to Tahoe.  Both of us were reluctant to leave since there was still great snow out there and Central Oregon had treated us so well, but it was time to get back to Tahoe.  But right before we crossed the border back into California, I had to make one last stop – to buy a lottery ticket in Oregon because that is how lucky skiing powder with friends in beautiful places makes you feel.

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Filed under Backcountry Skiing, Travel

December 26, 2011 · 10:54 pm

2012 Ability Challenge! Make Your Year End Contribution!

I’ve signed a team up to compete in the Disabled Sports USA Far West 2012 Ability Challenge. It is a fundraiser where you also get to compete in an All Mountain race by wearing a chip and skiing through different checkpoints. We are competing with an all female SheJumps Team. Each member has to raise $200, but my individual goal is to raise $500 for this stellar organization.

Click here to donate! Any amount helps!

If you don’t know about Disabled Sports, it’s a non-profit that helps people get out and participate in adaptive sports at an affordable price. I started volunteering with both their skiing and whitewater programs last year and have had so many memorable days. Just a few days ago, on Christmas eve, we skied with a 55 year old woman who thanked us at the end saying that it was her best Christmas ever.

Kathleen enjoying her first day back on the slopes in 30 years

So, don’t make me beg and harass you like Donna Abadone or whoever your local NPR person is… donate!  And, as always, thanks for reading this blog.

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December 23, 2011 · 1:34 am

SheJumps Ski/Board Tuning Clinic and Wine Night

The SheJumps mission is to increase female participation in outdoor activities by building upon a supportive community that inspires its members to reach their highest potential. When I first heard about SheJumps, it sounded like a pretty great idea, so I became a fan of the organization on Facebook.  Then last summer they announced an event where we could ski off ramps into pools and practice aerials, so  a few brave female friends and I traveled to Utah to attend this SheJumps-sponsored event at the Utah Olympic Park Water Ramps.  This was our first foray into backflips…

Oh how far we’ve come!

Fast forward to a few months ago and SheJumps needed someone to lead events in Northern California.  I stepped up to the plate with the encouragement from my friend Ashley, who is the Colorado SheJumps representative, and started planning events.  The first event we wanted to do was an all women’s ski and snowboard tuning clinic… and wine night, because we are women.  I started broadcasting this plan to friends and Lauren P knew the perfect instructor… Pam Warman.

Pam Warman was the first and only female ski technician for the US Ski Team.  She is also a cancer survivor and mother of two.  When Pam was diagnosed with cancer, the US Ski Team and the Lake Tahoe community rallied around her to provide emotional and financial support.  Bode Miller even auctioned off his 2010 Olympic Slalom helmet to raise money for Pam. A resident of South Lake Tahoe, she currently teaches skiing at Heavenly Mountain Resort while tuning skis at South Shore Snow. Yeah, she’s basically emblematic of SheJumps and she was a charismatic, knowledgeable, and overall outstanding teacher!

Pam excited to teach women to tune their skis and drink some wine!

Lauren L took a ton of great photos that night, including the one above, which you can find here.

I’m excited to be a part of SheJumps and can’t wait for the next event.  Taking suggestions and if you’re a female reading this, get involved!

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December 19, 2011 · 1:26 am

Making Lemonade

I grew up in suburban Detroit. There were no mountains or giant clean lakes out my doorstep, but if anyone asks, we had a lot of fun as kids. This weekend was all about bringing the creativity back to fun times. We kicked off things Friday morning with a dawn patrol skin up a groomer at Heavenly. The crew couldn’t have been more excited to be skinning up a GROOMER at 6:30 AM. When we clicked into our skis and boards at the top, you would’ve thought we were about to ski 1,600 vertical feet of untracked powder. We were hooting and yelling the whole way down. I’ve managed to leave both of my cameras in places that are hundreds of miles away, but luckily Lauren was there to capture the morning.

i love this one she got with the cats coming down the run and me skinning up

crew pumped for a combo of fresh corduroy and untracked manmade in a foggy haze

I didn’t have much time to recover from that ridiculous amount of fun, because later that day, I headed down to the Carson Valley Swim Center with three dudes to huck ourselves off the diving boards. This amazing place has a 1 meter and 3 meter springboard, a lap pool, and 2 awesome water slides.

the epic waterslides coming out the building at CV Swim Center

With coaching from the boys, I was able to dial in a gainer off the high dive. I can’t wait to go back and practice a more laid out version – it is such a fun trick. And I had not been down a long curvy water slide in more than a decade… pure childhood fun flashbacks.

Saturday morning PK and I had the goal of skating on a lake and playing some pond hockey. After scouting a few places, we decided to hit up Caples Lake – the ice looked smooth and thick went for nearly a mile.

pond hockey with a view

pk on thick, clear ice

I put together this short video to try to capture the good times.

After more than an hour of skating, we headed to Kirkwood to ski a few runs and hit up the airbag that they finally set up thanks to US Airbag. I threw a few backflips and didn’t get either of them around, but they felt pretty good and with a bigger jump or a longer run in, I think I would’ve landed them. The amazing thing is how nice of a landing the airbag is – much more forgiving than foam and so much easier to dial your take off on real snow.  I talked to the crew at US Airbag and the plan was to lengthen the run in for tomorrow and so I made the plan to be there at 10 am for the opening.

The next morning I headed back out to Caples for a morning skate before heading over to Kirkwood.  This time Lauren was there for moral support and photos and the run in allowed for much more pop.  I nailed the backflip on my first try!  It was awesome.  After getting 6 tucks in a row, I started to lay them out a bit more.  Here is my final one caught on film.

And a photo for good measure

doing my best rachel burks impression!

I really felt like I finally dialed the ski backflip this weekend and US Airbag will be at Kirkwood until New Years Day, so I’m excited to keep practicing and learn some other new tricks.  The atmosphere is inspiring.

And tomorrow morning we’ll head out for another dawn patrol groomer ski and continue to make lemonade out of lemons or rock n’ roll out of rocks?  Or snow cones out of ice?  Something like that.

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December 16, 2011 · 1:21 am

Dealing with the Dry Days

The precipitation in the first half of December has been disappointing to say the least. This time last year, I think I already had 10 powder days. At this point, I have 14 groomer days and 3 thin backcountry days. People are going a little stir crazy. It’s not uncommon to see posts on Facebook inquiring where the snow is and proclaiming “seriously, I’ll get in a car right now, where is the snow?!?” I’ve felt the same way and actually planned a trip to Baker last weekend… then it stopped snowing there. I was talking to a girl about the 10 day forecast last week and she started crying out of shear frustration. Some long time locals like to say things like “this is normal.” Weather variation is normal, but I think the reason it has been so hard to accept this year is because of all the early storms that hit the Sierras – we literally felt like we were going to have the same exact start to winter as last year. The guy over at Tahoe Weather Discussion even pointed this out. I think he’s going a little crazy too. And who wouldn’t when the models show this:

nothing to do but laugh

A giant snowless hole over Tahoe.

The lack of snow is a “First World” skier problem and I often have to remind myself how great I have it – I live in a beautiful place, I have a job, no one shot me in the head during a meeting with my constituents (did anyone hear Mark Kelly on NPR today? It was amazing), but this blog is about skiing, so I thought I’d fill you in on what I’m doing to pass the time during this drought.

A few weekends ago, I headed down to Sly Park to ride my mountain bike. The trails are packed, well-labeled, and fun and there are a good number of options. The 17 mile ride I did took me around Jenkinson Lake and through Fleming Meadows via trail 8. It’s definitely worth the 45 min drive from Tahoe.

packed singletrack in fleming meadows

We cut down a Christmas Tree in our neighborhood and put up some lights on the new house.

um, kind of super easy to cut down a tree this year with no snow

I helped start up an adult gymnastics program at Tahoe Gymnastics. Darryl Fergus, a former acrobat and one of the original ski hot-doggers has been coaching me for the past year. With his coaching I went from someone with a suspect cartwheel to an athlete with solid front and backflips, round offs, cartwheels (I now know the difference), and some less than solid off-axis tricks. He is a phenomenal person and coach with an infectious love for gymnastics, really all sports, and I knew so many people could benefit from working with him. So, we started up this program

The free day was incredibly well attended and my friend Lauren, fresh off a marathon, took some great photos.

Darryl working with students

some mini-tramp flipping action

some big tramp flipping action

Speaking of which, we also traveled down to Sacramento to cheer on Lauren to a successful first marathon completion. She definitely beat Oprah, even though she was under-trained and Oprah was in her heyday and had trainers and nutritionists, I’m sure. On the way back to Tahoe, we took advantage of the valley warmth and rode the Salmon Falls mountain bike trail along Folsom Lake. I had heard about this trail and it lived up to its reputation – rolling, packed, fun singletrack, and a scenic course along Folsom Lake.

Pat biking among the oak and grass

sunset over the american river

As part of SheJumps I also put on an incredibly successful all women’s ski tuning clinic and wine night, but that deserves a post of its own.

Finally, last weekend, PK and I traveled to the Bay Area for our dear friends’ baby shower and wound up going on an epic full moon hike, eating delicious food, riding road bikes on car-less hilly roads with stunning natural and city viewscapes, and helping our friend Jake edit this inspiring video.

There is always something to do in Tahoe and truthfully, we are all probably a lot more productive without skiing our brains out in never ending powder. A powder day is true escapism and maybe these dry days are time for us to connect to the rest of the world, or maybe they just remind us that we should cherish those deep snow days.

Still, one of the best things about Tahoe is its California location, close to so many different climate zones and a world class city like San Francisco. And even though the 10 day continues to look dry, I’m looking forward to new adventures this weekend, we’ll just have to be a little more creative.

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Filed under Random rambling, Skiing

December 1, 2011 · 5:03 pm

Inspired

This is so amazing:

Thanks JP, Sherpa, and James Murphy for inspiring me the rest of the season. Winter is taking its sweet time to get going in Tahoe, but it will come and meanwhile we just stay in shape any way possible and stay inspired by watching a movie like that!

I’ve already gotten 13 days in this season and thanks to Lauren, Nikki, and Sean, I get to go skiing at Baker next weekend.

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November 23, 2011 · 12:58 am

Moonwalk

I’ve been doing the moonwalk since I was 4 years old, so apparently I was pretty much destined to be a telemark skier.

MJ Cares

Sick backwards tele turns!

Seriously, these are all shirts I owned (still own) and wore when I was 5.  True story, the shirt on the bottom left actually saw Michael himself perform on the Thriller/Victory Tour.  According to my mom, I wore that shirt, pegged jeans, white socks, and one glove to see MJ and the Jackson 5 at the Pontiac Silverdome in 1984.  Now you know how old I am!

King of Pop Shirt Collection

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November 20, 2011 · 10:15 pm

Winds of Change

It was super windy Friday:

Meanwhile kids were getting pepper sprayed at UC Davis. 18 year old kids. Come on now!

Heavenly opened some groomers this weekend and it was great to reconnect with friends I only seem to see regularly in the winter. And try to ski my legs into telemark shape.

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November 17, 2011 · 5:51 pm

Progress

My lip is healed… well, almost. At least it is at the point where no one says, “what happened to you?” or more realistically, “what did you do this time Meghan?”

Now that I’m looking good, it’s time to start a revolution! “Tax the rich, end the wars and restore honest and effective government for all!”

Oh yeah, and time to buy a new GoPro, since I never recovered mine from the McCloud River. Because even though I want to end corporate personhood, people should still be able to make and watch rad movies!

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November 16, 2011 · 7:56 pm

Fall Fun

While we wait for the snow and start checking this page frequently, I thought I’d let you know how the fall mountain biking was super awesome this year! Short but sweet! I missed some of it due to a trip to Michigan to visit my mom, but it only motivated me to get after it before and after that trip. Not to mention, the trip to Michigan was pure autumn, pumpkin patches, cider mills, piles of leaves, all with the background of crisp blue skies and red, orange, yellow and green tree canopies. Sure, aspens are a taste of the annual visual stimulation of fall foliage for people out west, but they really can’t rival the deciduous tree diversity of the east. Plus, I got to go to this crazy parkour night at the local Michigan gym – that’s right, Metro-Detroit Urban Ninjas. Anyway, back to biking in Tahoe. The October snow storms packed the trails and the weather couldn’t have been better for biking.

First up, Freel pass via the new Star Lake Trail, which, if you haven’t heard, is a mega-awesome XC trail up to Star Lake.

Nira and I at Star Lake

A long and scenic downhill from Freel Pass

Then the world-famous Flume Trail from Mt. Rose Meadows to Chimney Beach Downhill with Debbie, which is so fun if you like long, fast, nontechnical downhills.

lots of photo ops (Photo by Debbie)

Then it was couples biking day, which was fun, until PK’s bike broke.

PK Rocks! Downhill is still fun with a broken derailleur!

Then, Scott’s Lake Loop with a crew, which looks over Hope Valley and is not complete without a stop for pie at Hope Valley Cafe.

the pie-eating crew (photo by Juliana)

jumping for fall biking!

Nira cheering for Big Meadow beauty

Then one final out and back trip to Star Lake before more high elevation snow arrived.

Aspens Peaking at Cold Creek

next time I see this it will be frozen!

I really didn’t mountain bike as much as usual this year because of kayaking, but I never got burnt out on it, experienced it during some of the best trail conditions, and had fun all the way until the end.

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