Tahoe Mountain Lab celebrates grand opening of Heavenly workspace

A day at the office at Tahoe Mountain Lab's new location next to the tram at Heavenly Mountain Resort is far from punching a time card and staring at the walls of a cubicle.

Instead, skis or snowboards are required, and when one takes their eyes off their work, they see snow covered slopes and fabulous lake views before heading out for a run or two, or three.

Founded in 2014 by Jamie and David Orr, the Tahoe Mountain Lab is South Lake Tahoe's only co-working space. When they outgrew their original Ski Run Blvd location, the Orrs teamed with partners Cristi and Bernard Keegan, renovated the old Tahoe Daily Tribune building into offices and shared desks for the newest trend in work space.

And now, the newest location at Heavenly is officially opened after a Grand Opening and Tahoe Chamber ribbon cutting ceremony was held there Monday, January 30.

Both locals and visitors can take their office to the slopes. Complete with lockers, high speed internet (100 MB per second), 15 workstations that provide both desks for standing and sitting, the mountain side Mountain Lab is open the same hours the tram is open so most can get in a full day's work should they so desire.

They will soon add two computers to the space, but for now everyone can bring in their laptop and hook up. A bar and restaurant just happens to share the same building as well.

"Its been a really fun experiment," said Dr. Jamie Orr. "Heavenly has been really great to work with."

She will be heading to Telluride later this week to take part in the Mountain Venture Summit which centers around sustainable entrepreneurship ecosystems in mountain towns. Much like the Tahoe Mountain Lab, other towns are discovering the world of work is changing and people can now work from anywhere. She will be on the keynote panel discussing "Building Community" while she and David also highlight the Tahoe Mountain Lab.

Working at the lab at Heavenly gives the visitor another reason to "stay and play another day." No more need to rush back to the office in the Bay Area to get a job done when it can be done on a mountain.

"We are able to show people what its like to live and work here," said Cristi Keegan. "There are new opportunities for local to meet visitors."

Zaine Magee, an engineer with AOL, recently moved to South Lake Tahoe from Oakland, one of the many new residents in the tech field finding a new home in the mountains. He stops by at the Mountain Lab in between runs and has learned how to combine work and play. "I love the bright light, the camaraderie and the new decor," Magee said of the new location with its picture windows allowing him to look at the slopes and blue skies. "There is less stress when skiing and pretending to work."

Lou Friedman, owner of BL Friedman Creative, has office space at the city location of Mountain Lab, but has been up at the mountain location a couple of times since they've opened and enjoys the ability to get outside, enjoy the snow and work at the same time.

The lab's space will only be open during winters, and will be transformed back into dressing rooms for summer weddings.

Space can be reserved at the Heavenly location by the hour with discounts for multiple hours. One hour is $20 and includes the locker use, and multiple hours are discounted. Their Harrison Avenue location has monthly as well as hourly plans.

For more information, visit www.tahoemountainlab.com.