Blue World Blog 3.23.09

March 23, 2009

What an action packed week it’s been since my last Blog. Spring-like weather returned to the slopes of Lake Tahoe up until this weekend…

I attended the annual Tahoe Douglas Rotary St. Patrick’s dinner and wine tasting fundraiser held at Harrah’s Tahoe convention center. It was well attended with folks wearing green and corned beef & cabbage was the main entrée, duh. There were many vintners serving their wines - including Tahoe Ridge Winery - and the local Mt. Tallac Brewing Company served their home brewed beer. It was a fun event and music was provided by JJ Music Company.

Saturday was action packed with a Winter Storm Warning was posted to be in effect that afternoon. After completing my daily morning routine of producing my ski report, I headed to Zephyr Cove, along with KMTN TV, to cover the “Polar Plunge”, a fundraiser for Special Olympics. I got there a little early and decided to enjoy breakfast in the historic Zephyr Cove Lodge where groups of Snowmobilers were gathering to head up to Spooner Summit to enjoy Snowmobiling on the crest of the Sierra. The individuals and teams of Plungers started arriving and checking in from 10am ‘til noon. I was amazed that around 300 participants dedicated their fundraising efforts and bodies to the cold waters of Lake Tahoe. Many were dressed in costumes and themes. Teams were from the South Lake Tahoe Fire Department lead by Fire Chief, Lorenzo Gigliotti; Greater Nevada Credit Union, Carson City Probation Department, California Highway Patrol, Nevada Highway Patrol, UC Davis Campus Police (dressed as the Aggie Football Team), Families, Friends, Special Olympians and many more including a combined team from several local Kiwanis Clubs, lead by Lt. Governor Mike Foster and featured George Alm dressed in his Tutu, a pink boa, cowboy hat and knee high white Go-Go Boots… Tom Wendell from KTHO AM590 was dress as a Classic Rocker and played Air Guitar (blow-up) while in the water… even Bubba Gump’s Costume Shrimp was on hand to cheer on the Plungers… Last year they were barely able to muster 40 participants and this year was a resounding success and way too much fun with 300 plungers raising $40,000 for Special Olympics.

After producing the Après Ski Show on KMTN TV, the crew went down to the MontBleu Resort Casino & Spa to videotape the Special Presentation of Carnival Cabaret, starring Gypsy, in the MontBleu Theater. This was the first time the full production show was featured in the big showroom as opposed to the intimate setting of the Golden Cabaret in the Horizon Casino Resort. Before the performance Michael & Michelle McKinney, owners of KMTN TV, and I dined at the newly renovated Café Del Soul, which is now set up like a Mediterranean Sidewalk Café and is a 24 hour restaurant. Not only breakfast served around the clock, but a new menu featuring some great Mediterranean dishes. We got to set up the camera in the light booth above the showroom and the showroom was set up in a more intimate setting with curtains behind the audience confining seating to the lower show room tiers. The show opened with Tom Davis, dressed as Elton John, driving Miss Daisy (Gypsy) in his ‘63 Cadillac Convertible. Gypsy was too much as he engaged the audience and introduced the variety of Super Stars with the theme of this being a reunion featuring performances from previous super stars that performed in the show room. Barbara Streisand, Cher, Bette Midler, Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli, Dolly Parton, Reba McIntire, Joan Rivers and more were featured. 300+ folks were thoroughly entertained.

That evening the storm kicked in and to the surprise of everyone, Sunday morning ski reports came in with tons of fresh snow. Even though I was only able to catch 3 hours of sleep, I hurried my report procedures to make it to the slopes at Heavenly by 9am. It was awesome… one of the best Powder days all year. Heavenly reported 14-20” of fresh snow and I started with two untracked runs down Dipper Knob. I moved over to Milky Way Bowl and continued to find three untracked lanes and yet a fourth run along the Kellebrew Canyon rope line. I was there when they opened the gates into Mott Canyon and got first tracks down Sunny Side and headed back up and got first tracks in the Pine Nuts. Soon the word was out and skiers and riders were enjoying cutting powder turns in Mott’s and I was blown away with the lift line at the bottom of the Chair… the most folks I’ve seen in there in a long time with big smiles and frosted mustaches and beards… I continued to ski up tracked powder in the trees on either side of Dipper and Comet and finished my day visiting my buddy, Heavenly’s long time Stagecoach Bartender, Stu Coffey.

Storm totals were reported at 16-20” at Heavenly; 19-33” at Sierra and 24-36” at Kirkwood where they are hosting their Experts Only College Spring Break Party from March 23 through 27. Great tunes, contests, prizes daily, $30 lift tickets with your Kirkwood College Card or better yet, you can purchase a College Spring Pass for $79 and ski/ride every day through April 26. They are continuing to offer their Spring Pass for only $99, good to ski and ride through April 26. Their 2009/10 Season Passes go on sale on March 28. Visit Kirkwood.com for all the details.

Sierra at Tahoe is also hosting college week with discounted lift ticket through Friday with valid college I.D. They have also introduced their 2009/10 Season Passes for sale that include free skiing/riding for the remainder of this season. They have a variety of passes available in conjunction with sister resort, Northstar at Tahoe. Visit SierraatTahoe.com for details or to purchase online.

Heavenly has kicked off their Spring Loaded 09 promotion with the finals of their Jackpot Rail Jam Series Saturday March 28, at the base of World Cup Run from 4 - 7pm. They will follow up with the Pond Skimming Championships of Tahoe on Sunday, March 29; Glen Plake’s Gunbarrel 25 on Saturday, April 4 and the Heavenly Ski Patrol’s Fundraiser, held on the roof of the Heavenly Village Parking Garage, on Sunday April 5. The Heavenly Season Pass is also on sale and is one of the best values allowing free skiing/riding for the remainder of this season through April 19, as well as all next year with a few black out dates. Check it all out at SkiHeavenly.com

Coming up this Friday is the Business Expo sponsored by the Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce, from 4-8pm at the Convention Center at MontBleu. Saturday evening March 28, is the 47th Annual Lake Valley Fireman’s Ball at MontBleu and the Kiwanis Club of Tahoe-Sierra’s Annual Ham Bingo at the South Lake Tahoe Recreation Center.

Have a Great Week!

Curtis Fong
“The Guy From Tahoe”
tgft@bikethewest.com

Blue World Blog 3.16.09

Monday March 16, 2009

Skiing and Riding conditions held up this past week with several days of glorious sunshine and light winds. I was able to get out on the mountain at Heavenly last Tuesday and it was a beautiful day and the great weather seemed to bring out all the long time locals to enjoy the slopes. I skied all over the Nevada side and everywhere I went conditions were good… Milky Way Bowl, Mott’s Canyon, Comet Trees and even down North Bowl. The snow was mid winter with chalky packed powder, especially on the north facing runs.

It turned out to be a social day recalling ski days of the past with local long-time skiers. Mitch from Mitchell’s Jewelers, Rich Botini from Pyramid Peak and Bill Killebrew, former owner of Heavenly, Mark Gant from Tahoe Sports Ltd, Jerry Raye and others were also enjoying a relaxing no pressure day on the slopes. Beth Gebhardt was in town this past week hanging out with all the old time bump skiers and Steve Peache was working his new High Def video camera and shooting video in the Comet Little Dipper bumps preparing a promotion piece to air on KMTN to promote the upcoming Glen Plake’s Gunbarrel 25 event at Heavenly scheduled for April 4.

Spring like weather continued thru out the week and Thursday, I found myself along with Michael McKinney meeting my buddy, Dan Giesin from the SF Chronicle and On the Snow, at Homewood Mountain Resort for a day of re-discovering their slopes. It has been many years since I have had a chance to ski Homewood. With Emerald Bay Road (Hwy 89) open, the journey around beautiful Emerald Bay and along the West Shore was scenic and only about 20 miles from the South Tahoe Y. McKinney brought the infamous Slope Cycle along and after a discussion with Homewood’s Ski Patrol, was allowed to take it up the Mountain. I must say that this Bike Board does draw a lot of attention with lots of folks watching in awe and many asking questions about it. Even their Ski Patrol took turns riding the Slope Cycle. The runs were surprisingly fun and scenic as well with beautiful views of the Lake, and from highway, 2/3rd of the Mountain is “Out of Sight”.

I continued to test my new VIO helmet cam and shot video of many of our runs and even mounted the cameral backwards and had Dan ski behind me so he was skiing towards the camera and not me shooting down from behind… the video came out great. Look for it soon.

Heavenly hosted it’s second in their series of Jackpot Rail Jams on Saturday evening on World Cup with another event coming up this Saturday, March 21 and the finals the following Saturday, March 28. Heavenly re-introduced their Heavenly Season Pass Sale this past weekend, rolling back pricing to the 2007/08 rates… with the offer to purchase now and ski / ride for the remainder of this season as well as all of next year. Check out the great season pass deals at SkiHeavenly.Com.

Sierra at Tahoe had several events this past weekend as well with their Highlander Event, a USASA Super Pipe competition and their “Flaunt it Like a Girl” Slopestyle and Rail Jam. They will be hosting their 3rd Annual “Buckle Up Big Air” event on Saturday, March 21, in Memory of Greg Smith and to help spread Seat Belt Safety Awareness. This also benefiting the Sierra Education Foundation. Sierra has also kicked off their 2009/10 Season Pass sale so check their website for the early-preseason prices at SierraAtTahoe.Com. It’s also College Week thru March 20 and again March 23-27 with $51 lift tickets with College I.D.

Kirkwood continues to offer “Screamin’ Deals” on their website as well and they are hosting the North American Free Skiing Champions this week with some of the best professional Free Skiers and Riders competing in the infamous “Cirque”. Competition kicks off March 19 and continues thru this weekend. They will host their “Experts Only Spring Break” College Week, March 23-27 with $35 Lift ticket with valid I.D. Check out their website at www.Kirkwood.Com.

This past Saturday evening, David Spade was performing at the MontBleu Theater and it was a great comedy show. Prior to the show, I decided to try dining at the Horizon’s Town Square Buffet, now open Saturday, Sunday & Monday. It was all good and you can’t beat the price, only $9.95 for adults and $5.95 for kids. David Spade was scheduled to be a guest on my Après Ski Show but went skiing at Heavenly all day and was too tired to join me in the Studio. His show was fun and looked to be pretty much sold out. After the show, I was fortunate to be invited to meet him back stage and I had to give him some S**@! about not making the TV show… He said he had too much fun skiing at Heavenly and needed to rest up before his performance. He was kind enough to take pictures with me and the other invited guests.

Don’t miss all the fun – Corned beef & Cabbage Feeds, Parties and Pub Crawls on St. Patrick’s Day. Tahoe Douglas Rotary Club is hosting their annual St. Pat’s Celebration at Harrah’s from 6pm-10pm; Montbleu’s Opal Ultra Lounge is hosting a party with Blue Turtle Seduction performing; Of course, Murphy’s Irish Pub is hosting a Party and helping to celebrate the 46th birthday of KTHO AM590. McP’s Irish Pub & the Tudor Pub are also hosting St. Paddy Day parties with live music as well.

Also don’t miss the Northern California Special Olympics “Polar Bear Plunge” coming up Saturday, March 21 at Zephyr Cove Marina at 10am.

Spring will officially arrive this weekend and there’s plenty of skiing & riding offered. There are no announced closing dates from any of the resorts, as of this week, and all resorts are expected to remain open through at least Easter Sunday, April 12.

Have a great week and be safe.
Curtis Fong
“The Guy From Tahoe”
tgft@bikethewest.com