Monday, January 5, 2009

Happy New Year Snow Sports Fans!

The Holiday crowds are now gone and we breathe a sigh of relief and thank all the visitors for choosing Lake Tahoe for their holiday snow riding.

Christmas Day saw many upper mountain lifts on hold as the weather and wind came through dumping up to two feet of snow on Christmas eve, and up to 145mph winds

over the ridge tops.

The following day, Friday, December 26, proved to be an epic day on the slopes with

Mostly sunny skies and tons of untouched Powder. I got up to Heavenly that morning and timed it just right as Heavenly’s Pro Ski Patrol was pulling Closed signs to Dipper Knob… 2 beautiful untouched runs followed. On my third ride up Dipper Lift, the Patrol was pulling the signs to Milky Way Bowl and 3 untouched runs followed. The route out

was not packed but no one seemed to care as it was well worth it.

By afternoon, the crowds and the lift lines increased. Parking was gone at Stage coach early that morning and folks had to park at Boulder and take the shuttles as Boulder Lodge was not open until the following Friday. The Shuttle bus system was also working out it’s routine while serving the Tramway / Aspen loop and folks had to wait for as many as two to three passes as buses would load up at Boulder and left no space for others who were waiting in front of their condo stops.

On Sunday, December 28, Good Friend and Ski Buddy, Dan Giesin and I headed to Kirkwood, by then, all the fresh stuff was skier/rider packed but we enjoyed run after run of great turns. Chair 11, with BuckBoard and Conestoga for warm ups. Then, on to Sentinel Bowl for some high angle rippers followed by a warm up at Timber Creek.

Back up with a couple of runs down Rocky Ridge and couple of great runs in the Rabbit Runs… nice soft packed powder moguls…

We took an early lunch break and visited Sully at Bub’s. They have recently changed the menu and was pleasantly surprised to see Sashimi on their menu… Needless to say I enjoyed this type of food for lunch. I do miss the great baked onion soup and bread rounds that use to be offered.

After lunch we took another run down Rocky Ridge as the snow was really good and

most obstacle were visible, and headed to the back side. Broken powder was everywhere

On that side of the mountain and after a couple runs up and down, we head back via Thunder Saddle where the snow was perfect and made enjoyed carving turns down those north facing runs.

On Monday, I was scheduled to ski Heavenly as they were opening Mott Canyon. Due to playing catch up and other personal tasks that need to get done and producing the Apres Ski Show that evening, I was not able to make it. Dan went up and had a great day on the

Slopes and I had him as my guest on the TV show.

Tuesday, December 30 found us at Sierra at Tahoe… Lots of folks there and early. I went ahead and paid for preferred parking, only $15 and well worth it and stood in line for at least an hour to pick up my Complimentary Booth Creek Back Stage Season pass. Once ticketed for the year, we took a few laps off Nob Hill and the Main Street Face then head to West Bowl. Lines were long but folks didn’t seem to mind as long lift lines are all part of the Lake Tahoe Holiday Skiing / Riding experience. Interestingly enough, if you had a Vertical Plus pass you entered thru their special gate with no lines. We met my son, Matthew at the Baja Grill for lunch and enjoyed people watching. The singles line was definitely the way to go as it moved quicker than the the regular Quad Lines.

Gold Medalist and Elite Team Rider for Sierra, Hannah Teter was there with a fund raiser that afternoon for World Vision and was featuring her Hannah’s Gold Vermont Maple Syrup.

It was that morning as well, that I formally resigned from KRLT radio as it has been a constant battle with them on providing adequate time to provide a meaningful radio

Ski report. Plus, they want to control the content to include only Resorts that are buying advertising. For 20 years, I have always taken pride in provided the most complete and comprehensive ski report, covering all resorts, both downhill and cross country in the Lake Tahoe area as well as the Central Sierra resorts. They insisted that I present the report and cut the time allotted in half and not to include information that I felt was important to relay to my listeners. I guess it hit me the wrong way and decided maybe it was time to move on. I also resigned my position as weekend DJ as well so you won’t

Be hearing me on that format.

On another note, the Apres Ski Show on KMTN TV has been going well and is challenging but fun to produce and host. It contains all the information that Lake Tahoe skiers and riders need to know. Tune in Live on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and

Saturdays (other days are replays of previous days shows). It’s live a 5pm and replayed at 7pm and several times overnight. Please check it out and let me know your thoughts

and what other information you would like to see or hear about.

Have a Great Week,

Curtis Fong

“The Guy From Tahoe”