winter

Movies were in a Quonset hut where movie goers had to bundle up to fight the cold. Lake Tahoe was full of one way roads and a 2 room school. The switchboard operator knew where all 50 winter residents were at all times. Cattle walking down Highway 50.

The history of the south shore came alive last week at the Camp Richardson Lodge during the Lake Tahoe Historical Society’s “Do You Remember?” series.

There are many trails one can choose to hike in South Lake Tahoe, but how many actually have waterfalls and a 160 year old history behind them?

Spring has arrived in the Sierras which means it's time to get out and explore the local waterfalls. Due to the low snowpack this winter the falls won't be around as long as normal. My daughter and I decided to get in an aftershool hike this week on the Hawley National Recreational Trail.

The temperatures are rising in South Lake Tahoe and residents and visitors are spending more time outdoors.

The U.S. Forest Service announced Monday that they will be opening recreation areas early. Last year's warm temperatures in April and May brought out people who wanted to enjoy the parks and beaches, only to find them still closed.

Here is a list of opening dates:

Inspiration Point, Logan Shoals, Chimney Beach, and Secret Harbor are opening on April 21.

Sawmill Pond and the Sandpit OHV areas open May 1.

Baldwin Beach and Nevada Beach and Campground open May 9.

Antique bottles will be the subject of a program presented by the Lake Tahoe Historical Society on Saturday, April 12th. Mark S. Morris, the author of "Mark's Bottles: 50 Years of Collecting" will give his presentation from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Museum located at 3058 Lake Tahoe Blvd. in South Lake Tahoe.

Seating is limited so reservations are required. Call 530-541-5458 and leave your name and phone number (the museum is only open on Saturdays during the winter and spring). Free for Historical Society members, $3 for non-members.

As we all know, the economy and our environment are fundamentally intertwined. If we ever doubted the connection, those doubts should have been erased through the impacts of the Great Recession on our local economy. We need revenue from tourism to sustain our economy, which in turn helps to fund environmental projects that protect the natural beauty, which draws millions of visitors every year. We cannot have a thriving economy without protecting the environment and we cannot have a beautiful natural environment without money to protect and properly sustain it.

The expectations of tourists to South Lake Tahoe are continuously evolving, and being able to anticipate, adapt and prepare for these will be highlighted at the 2014 Tourism Forum. The April 15th event is being sponsored by the TahoeChamber, Lake Tahoe Visitor's Authority and El Dorado County.

In order to succeed as the tourists to South Lake Tahoe start to deman new services, amenities and conveniences, businesses must adopt the necessary tools to survive or risk being left behind.

The League to Save Lake Tahoe is looking for cyclists to join their Climate Ride California team to cycle through wine country May 17-20, 2014. Riders will help raise awareness of climate change, alternative modes of transportation and the effort to Keep Tahoe Blue.

League staff member Seth Chanin will be captaining Team Keep Tahoe Blue.

Local girls, Michael and Whitney Gardner, have been named to the 2014 U.S. Freestyle Junior World Ski Championships team.

They will join 20 other Americans competing in Valmalenco, Italy starting on March 30.

Both girls have attended Whittell High School, Michael is currently a student and Whitney is a graduate. They ski for the Heavenly Valley Ski and Snowboard Foundation.

Here is a list of the Junior World Team, including 3 from Lake Tahoe and 1 from Reno:

Halfpipe Skiing
Men
Jacob Beebe, Bend, OR (Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation)

Golfers in South Lake Tahoe were out on the driving range at Lake Tahoe Golf Course this weekend, preparing for another season of golf. The driving range opened on Friday and the course will open on Friday, March 21.

Pictured here are, left to right, Chris Makowski, Sean Mitchell and Dave Zebo. Only in South Lake Tahoe can one enjoy winter, spring and summer sports on the same day. Makowski skied on Saturday morning and Mitchell went mountain biking prior to heading out to the driving range.

Clarity levels within the iconic blue waters of Lake Tahoe continued a decadelong trend of stabilization in 2013, according to University of California, Davis, scientists who study the lake.

Data released today by the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC)and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency reported the average annual clarity level for 2013 at 70.1 feet. While the reading represents a 5 foot decrease over the previous year, it is still well above the lowest value recorded in 1997 of 64.1 feet and above recent years' averages.

Heavenly Mountain Resort, Northstar California and Kirkwood Mountain Resort, opened up sales for their 2014-15 season passes.

Starting at $409 with as little as $49 down and the balance due in the fall, skiers and riders have until April 13 to secure the best available price for winter 2014-15 season passes and six buddy tickets.

Olympic gold medalist Jamie Anderson of South Lake Tahoe landed another major slopestyle victory at the Burton U.S. Open Friday. Anderson clinched the TTR World Snowboard Tour slopestyle title with her win at the snowy Vail Mountain venue. Canadian Spencer O’Brien took second and Isabel Derungs of Switzerland third in the women’s final. Canada’s Mark McMorris took the victory for the men with Norwegian Stale Sandbech taking second and Candian Max Parrot third.

South Lake Tahoe, the tight-knit ski community big on Olympic athletes will honor its three USA team members in a city-wide celebration, Saturday, March 15.

Jamie Anderson, Maddie Bowman, who won gold for snowboarding slopestyle and freeskiing halfpipe respectively, and Hannah Teter who placed fourth in snowboarding halfpipe, will be lauded at Sierra-at-Tahoe Resort.

South Lake Tahoe may just have a future Olympian in its midst. 18 year old Whittell High School graduate Ty Sprock is one of 16 elite U.S. athletes that will be competing in the 2014 FIS Alpine Junior World Championships in Slovakia February 26 through March 6.

Lake Tahoe is one of California’s greatest natural treasures. It is a beauty to behold, with forested mountains surrounding the deep blue shimmering surface. It is famous for many recreational activities- snowboarding, skiing, hiking, mountain biking, boating, fishing, and sunbathing. But the clear blue waters of Tahoe are in trouble. Invasive species, climate change, and sedimentation all threaten the unique ecosystems of the lake.

Talk about the March Madness: the inaugural “Gone Bonkers” Kids Ski and Snowboard Race, March 2, features a top-to-bottom race over Granlibakken Conference Center & Lodge ski area's natural terrain, complete with gates for kids 5 to 12.

It’s all part of North Lake Tahoe's 2014 SnowFest, a 10-day winter madness festival, Feb. 28- March 9.

Lake Tahoe's Julia Mancuso produced a true champion performance Monday, becoming the first American skier in history to win a medal in three straight Olympic Winter Games with her bronze in a tricky super combined event at the Rosa Khutor alpine center.

Mancuso skied into the lead in the downhill portion and then ripped up the slalom course that bumped nine skiers off course, finishing third behind gold winner German Maria Hoefl-Riesch and silver winner Austrian Nicole Hosp.

You can do it in summer and winter, rain, snow or sunshine. You can do it if you're young or old. You can do it during daylight or nighttime. You can even do it if you're not in top physical condition. You can do it at the Olympics or at your local ice arena. And to do it you need brooms and stones and you can even wear tennis shoes.

What is it you ask? Curling!

Thursday's measurement of the Sierra snowpack at Phillips, just west of South Lake Tahoe, shows dismal water content, even with the recent snowfall. While better than the results earlier this month, there is still far too little water in the still scant snowpack according to the Department of Water Resources.

Less than two weeks before heading to Sochi, Russia for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, Olympian Maddie Bowman from South Lake Tahoe won the Halfpipe Skiing Gold medal at the X Games in Aspen on Friday. Olympian Nate Holland from Squaw Valley took snowboardcross gold and David Wise from Reno won gold in the halfpipe skiing.

Ski Jumping

Since there is a lack of snow through the Sierra Nevada, visitors and locals in the Lake Tahoe basin are enjoying things that are normally reserved for the summer months.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2014 – A limited water supply is predicted west of the Continental Divide, according to the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) National Water and Climate Center (NWCC) in its first forecast of 2014. The NWCC also predicts normal water supply east of the Continental Divide and will continue to monitor, forecast and update water supplies for the next six months.

During the winter of 1960, athletes from around the world came to Lake Tahoe to participate in the Winter Olympic Games. The biathlon and cross country events were held in what is now Sugar Pine Point State Park. A celebration of the area's snow heritage begins Saturday with a series of events to showcase makes the region so special.