By Susan Skorupa, Reno Gazette-Journal

One good thing came from the death by avalanche of miner William F. Weir near Poker Flat in the western Sierra Nevada on Dec. 17, 1852.

Other miners learned that knowing how to ski could help them survive in the mountains.

Skis and sleds, snowshoes and Olympic competition form the core of new books by Lake Tahoe writers David C. Antonucci and Mark McLaughlin.

McLaughlin’s “Longboards to Olympics: A Century of Tahoe Winter Sports” (Mic Mac Publishing, $24.95 paperback) tracks the history of winter sports in the Sierra from Weir’s ill-fated meeting with an avalanche through the innovations and advancements of winter-sport racing and commercial ventures and the Winter Olympic Games at Squaw Valley in 1960.

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Homewood Mountain Resort’s Dress-Up Days’ dare skiers and riders to show up on Saturdays throughout spring clad in costume. Those who do will receive $5 off a full-day adult lift ticket.

Homewood Dress-Up Day calendar:

Feb. 13 – Retro Day (Decades flashback – 60s, 70s and 80s

Feb. 27 – Old West Day (Cowboys vs. Indians)

March 13 – Hawaiian Day (Grass skirts, coconuts for the brave)

March 27 – Pajama Day (Big bathrobes, plaid flannel, even a muumuu will pass)

April 10 – Nautical Day (Think sailor hat, white pants, stripes)

Homewood provides free live music from 1-4pm on certain Dress-Up Days:

Feb. 13 – Kate Gaffney

March 27 – The Dirt Floor Band

April 10 – Downbeat

By USSA

This will be the second Olympic Winter Games, after the 1988 Games in Calgary, to be in Canada, but the country’s historic ties to the event go back much further.

Canada helped usher in the first Olympic Winter Games — at the Alpine resort of Chamonix, France, in 1924 — by joining with Central Europe to persuade the International Olympic Committee to add an International Winter Sports Week to the Games planned for that year.

For the Games in Vancouver (Feb. 12-28), the Olympic torch relay is expected to be the longest to take place in a single country. Thousands of Canadians will participate in carrying the torch from Victoria, BC, through every province and territory of the country. After reaching St. John’s, NL, in the east, the torch will then make its journey back to British Columbia.

More than 80 countries will participate and approximately 5,000 athletes and officials will be involved in the XXI Olympic Winter Games.

At least a million people are expected to travel to Vancouver, a city surrounded by water on three sides with a view of nearby mountains. The main venue for skiing will be Whistler, north of Vancouver.

The number of sports designated for Olympic Winter Games has grown over the years. In addition to those included since 1924 — figure skating, ice hockey, cross country skiing, bobsled, Nordic combined, ski jumping, and speed skating — athletes today compete in Alpine skiing, biathlon, luge, and curling, as well as in the newer disciplines of snowboarding, freestyle skiing, and short-track speed skating.

After making their Olympic debut in Torino, Italy, in 2006, snowboardcross and the team pursuit speed skating will be officially added to the 2010 program, which will also include the debut of skiercross, a race down a technically challenging course resembling a motocross track.

By Andrew Del Greco, News 4

While Northern Nevada is no doubt a desirable place to live, a new list was unveiled that ranked Reno in a rather unappealing category.

Reno’s done it again. The city has found itself on the top — or should we say the bottom — of another national list. This one comes from a study conducted by Men’s Health magazine.

They looked at 100 cities and concluded we are what they call one of the drunkest cities in America.

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By James Keller, Canadian Press

SQUAMISH, British Columbia — One of four First Nations communities that have been given an official role in the Winter Games welcomed the Olympic torch to their traditional territory on Thursday, blessing the “sacred” flame as it entered a region that has been waiting for this moment for nearly a decade.

Hundreds of residents of the Squamish First Nation packed a hall in Stawamus, just south of the town of Squamish, as the brightly burning flame was carried in to the beat of aboriginal drumming.

Skier's Square at Whistler Village will welcome the Olympic Flame on Feb. 5.

“Thank you for blessing this sacred fire that has been shared throughout the world,” Laverne Baker, a Squamish elder, told the crowd, during a traditional blessing ceremony.

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The Reno-Tahoe community will have an opportunity to view “TAPPED”, an award winning documentary on the issues surrounding bottled water vs. tap water.

Three local screenings are being sponsored by the Tahoe Water Suppliers Association this spring in the south and north Lake Tahoe areas.

“TAPPED” is currently only available for viewing at theaters or licensed public screenings. There is no admission charge for attending the “TAPPED” screenings; donations will be accepted for the hosting locations.

Scheduled screenings:

Feb. 25 at 6:30pm; free; Aspen Room in the library of the Lake Tahoe Community College, 1 College Drive, South Lake Tahoe.

March 31 at 6pm, free, UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center, Sierra Nevada College Campus, 291 Country Club Drive, Incline Village.

A third screening in the Tahoe City area is being arranged for May.

Is access to clean drinking water a basic human right or a commodity that should be bought and sold like any other article of commerce? Stephanie Soechtig’s award winning feature film, “TAPPED” is an unflinching examination of the business of the billion dollar bottled water industry.

From the producers of “Who Killed the Electric Car” and “I.O.U.U.S.A.” this documentary is a behind the scenes look at the unregulated and unseen works of an industry that aims to privatize and sell back one resource that ought never become a commodity, our water.

From the plastic production to the ocean where so many of these bottles end up, this inspiring documentary trails the path of the bottled water industry, and the communities that were unwitting chips on the table. A powerful portrait of the lives affected by the bottled water industry, this revelatory film features those caught in the intersection of big business and the public’s right to water. From the website: www.tappedthemovie.com

The February and March screenings are presented by the Tahoe Water Suppliers Association in partnership with the Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences and Lake Tahoe Community College.

For more information, call Madonna Dunbar at (775) 832.1212, email mod@ivgid.org, or go to www.tahoeh2o.org.

By Forrest Hartman, Reno Gazette-Journal

For the first time in its 38-year history, Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival will run a season without a play penned by William Shakespeare. That doesn’t mean, however, that the 2010 event will lack Bard-isms because he festival, running July 9 through Aug. 22, has built its year around the three-person comedy “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged).”

“Abridged” parodies all of Shakespeare’s works in notably condensed form, and the actors are encouraged to include at least some improvisation. It will run five days a week during the summer festival with the remaining dates — Mondays and Fridays — filled by concerts. The musical offerings will cover a variety of genres, ranging from classical to blues, and all shows will run in the organization’s popular outdoor theater at Sand Harbor State Park on the east shore of Lake Tahoe.

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Country music mega-star Tim McGraw brings his “Southern Voice Tour” to Lake Tahoe May 30. This will kick-off the 2010 Lake Tahoe Summer Concert Series at Harveys Outdoor Arena in Stateline.

Hot new country stars Lady Antebellum are also on the bill, along with opening act Love and Theft.

McGraw had 11 consecutive albums debut at No. 1 on the Billboard albums charts. Twenty-one singles hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country 100 chart. Three singles became the No. 1 country song of the year. He has won three Grammys, 14 Academy of Country Music awards, 11 Country Music Association awards, 10 American Music Awards and 3 People’s Choice Awards.

Tim McGraw

The multi-talented McGraw recently co-starred with Sandra Bullock in the Oscar nominated film, “The Blind Side,” and is currently filming his latest project, “Love Don’t Let Me Down,” in Nashville with actress Gwyneth Paltrow.

McGraw’s 12th studio album, “Southern Voice”, was released Oct. 20 and led by the single, “It’s a Business Doing Pleasure With You.”

Tickets will be available through Tickemaster soon.

The Douglas County Public Library in Minden presents “An Afternoon with Local Authors” on Feb. 6 from 2-4pm.

This free event will feature an appearance by South Lake Tahoe mystery author Todd Borg. Other authors participating include: Dianna Maria de Borges, Soozie Lewis, Tim Mueller, Stan Paher, Tom Perkins, and Julia Wells.

The authors will sell their books, meet readers and sign autographs.

Todd Borg

Borg is the author of the Owen McKenna mystery series set at Lake Tahoe and the surrounding area. His latest book “Tahoe Night” was released in August. Borg’s novels have won the Ben Franklin Award for Best Mystery of the Year and won Best Mystery and Best Thriller awards from the Bay Area Independent Publisher’s Association. His series of books have received many accolades and awards and have been praised in major newspapers and magazines.

De Borges is the daughter-in-law of the late Sam Borges, the founder of Borges Sleigh Rides at Lake Tahoe. She is a storyteller of local lore and legend. In her book she shares the family’s stories and adventures throughout their years as sleigh drivers and storytellers in the Sierra region.

Lewis has lived in Nevada since 1984 with her husband and family. Her book, “The Bloomingsons of the Nevada Sage” chronicles the lives of a fictional family that relocates to the Carson Valley in 1967. The great joys and heartbreaking difficulties of life, mixed with the beauty and dry rustic essence of a wilderness land, inspired her to create this story of hope, love and faith.

Mueller is a lifelong baseball fan whose love of the game and Nevada led to the book “Homeruns & Jackpots: Baseball in Nevada.” Mueller learned the nuances of America’s favorite pastime through years of watching games at Reno’s Moana Stadium. This led to the overwhelming discovery of the great impact Nevada had on baseball in America. Mueller takes the reader on a ride through history that meets up with players such as Lyle Overbay, Matt Williams, Ray Fosse and Bud Beasley. Mueller’s book will change the way people look at a baseball diamond. Mueller lives with his wife Sue, and two children in Carson City.

Paher wants the story of Nevada to be told. His first book, “Nevada’s Ghost Towns and Mining Camps” came out in 1966, and has been reprinted several times with additional photos and information. He continues to share his interest in Nevada history in his newest book, “Nevada Ghost Towns and Desert Atlas.” He is known as the largest collector of Nevada items including rare bonds, coins, documents, and photographs. He is the author of books about Lake Tahoe, Death Valley, and ghost towns and mining camps in Nevada, California, and Arizona. He lives in Reno and Las Vegas.

Wells’ book “Blessed Be” is her testimony and life story. She was born in San Pedro, in 1947. Wells moved to Nevada 40 years ago, spending time in the Reno/Sparks area before moving to Carson City where she met and married her husband. She studied interior design and as a hobby took creative writing classes. Wells has been active in her community through her employment and with a number of service organizations. She was inspired to write her book when her husband was diagnosed with cancer.

The Douglas County Public Library is located at 1625 Library Lane in Minden.

For more information, call (775) 782-9841 or visit douglas.lib.nv.us.

MotorHome

When winter snows blanket the Sierra, most campgrounds and RV parks shut down. But there are a handful of parks that stay open throughout the winter in an effort to accommodate cross country skiers, snowshoers, downhill skiers, snowboarders and snowmobile enthusiasts.

“We put our water lines down deep enough so they don’t freeze,” said Wally Walker, manager of the 44-site Eagle Ridge RV Park in Graeagle. The park, located at the 4,600-foot level near a remote winter recreation area in the northern Sierra, provides its guests with electricity, cable TV, sewer and campsite snow removal services as well as information on nearby winter recreation activities.

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