Blue World Blog

Monday, February 2, 2009

Today, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow… So, as legend has it, Six More Weeks of Winter still on its way. We will keep our fingers crossed for that and hope the predicted change in weather towards the end of this week proves to drop some measurable snow.

Wow! Where did this past week go? Between keeping up with my daily Mountain Resort Report and my Mon/Wed/Fri/ Saturday evening Après Ski Show on K-MTN TV, as well as setting up to re-start my report on KTHO, the week just zoomed by. The Mountain Resort Report is now featured daily on KTHO AM 590, starting today at 7:35am, 8:35am and 11:35am for the afternoon skiers and riders.

I was able to get out on Tuesday for a few hours of slope time cruising the Machine Groomed packed powder corduroy on Heavenly’s Nevada side. I must say, mid week skiing & riding is a pleasure with no crowds and no lift lines and most resorts are offering added value deals to entice business. Heavenly is still offering a 20% off discount on lessons; Sierra is still offering their season pass for only $199 and Kirkwood has a variety of “Screamin’ Deals” posted on their website as their Mid-Winter Sale kicks off today thru February 13th.

Saturday was a personal day of taking care of all my domestic duties around the house but decided to fire up one of my sports cars and take a drive in the afternoon. I didn’t have the time to take a bike ride, as I should make time to get on the bike, but there were dozens of road bike riders along Foothill Road, climbing Kingsbury Grade and riding the loop in Diamond Valley in the Carson Valley. Speaking of bike rides… America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride – Lake Tahoe, is coming up on Sunday, June 7, 2009. Anyone wishing to ride this 18th annual event should register as the event is almost sold out. There are less than 150 spaces left. Go to bikethewest.com to register. If you snooze, then you can still register for Tour de Tahoe – Bike Big Blue, set for Sunday, September 13… Plenty of space at this time to register.

The great weekend weather also brought out the full gamut of vehicles from groups of Motorcycle Riders to Classic Cars and Convertibles cruising the valley roadways as well. Lots of pick-ups with Moto-X bikes loaded as well as mountain bikes load on car tops headed to the Pine Nuts for some fun on the dirt as well. The Carson Valley Golf Course was also busy with folks knocking the little white ball around, too. You would think it was spring already by witnessing this, but we have to remember, it’s only the beginning of February and the Ground Hog says Six More Weeks of Winter.

It was reported that Saturday had good crowds at Heavenly as well as both Sierra and Kirkwood and all skiers & riders had smiling faces (some with a little sun burn) as the beautiful weather and great skiing & riding conditions have held up this past week. Please don’t forget to bring the sunscreen and apply it to all exposed skin on those sunny days.

I got out on the slopes early on Sunday morning with my son to do a little on slope bonding before the big game. The conditions up on Heavenly’s mountain remain in great shape with fresh machine made snow, in select areas, as well as meticulously machine groomed corduroy. The snow was smooth and fast… The off piste is starting to firm-up with the warming day time temperatures but still very carvable. Good mid-winter chalky snow – skier/rider packed powder is still found in the North facing slopes and runs.

I hope your favorite team won the Big Game. It was an exciting game all the way to the end. Lots of skiers and riders had the same idea and got up on the slopes early to depart early as well to view the game. After skiing & riding, we stopped by the “World Famous” Fox & Hound to order a Pizza to go to take home to view the game. “World Famous” because a couple of years ago, during the 4th of July weekend, a neighborhood Bear got into a customers car and got the leftovers of one of their signatures Pizzas, and a picture of this made national and world news. Of course the Big Game was also Big for the Casino’s with brisk Sport Books activity for the Big Game. The Horizon and MontBleu Casino’s went all out and hosted parties in all their venues. Smokey Robinson is coming to Harrah’s South Shore Room this weekend, February 7; and Dana Carvey is coming to the MontBleu Theater on Valentine's Day, February 14.

Congratulations to Jamie Anderson, from Sierra-at-Tahoe on being selected the top Women’s Rider of the Year in the 10th Annual Trans world Snowboarding Magazine Riders’ Poll that was announce this past week from the S.I.A. Show held in Las Vegas.

Keep your fingers crossed for more fresh snow and don’t forget to book now for the upcoming President’s week. Lodging is still available.

Have a great week,

Curtis Fong
“The Guy From Tahoe”
bikeandskitahoe.com
bikethewest.com