A three-event series designed for skiers and riders of varying ages, ability levels and interests, the Sugar Bowl Silver Belt Series, presents a new kind of challenge. The events include downhill, an uphill touring event, and a banked slalom.

Those who complete all three events will earn a silver belt buckle.

The Silver Belt Series will kick off Jan. 28 D Money’s Dozen and will be followed up by the Quad Crusher on Feb. 25. The series will conclude on March 12 with the Shred the Love banked slalom. Registration for each event will take place on-site at the resort the day of the event.

D Money’s Dozen requires participants of all ages to ski or ride the 12 favorite off-piste runs of Daron Rahlves, Sugar Bowl athlete and the most decorated male American Downhill and super G skier in history. (Note: A family-friendly/kids version of the challenge will also be available for those interested in staying on groomed trails.) Lift ticket or season pass required for participation in each event.

For more info, go online.

By Janet Phillips, Reno Gazette-Journal

Construction work starts this summer on the next-to-last stretch of the Tahoe Pyramid Bikeway through the Truckee Canyon west of Reno. Engineering work is underway to complete the last steep section in 2018.

When these last four miles are finished, bike riders from Reno will be able to ride to Truckee and on to Lake Tahoe, realizing a dream of many local adventurers and creating another tourist draw for the region.

The Truckee Meadows Water Authority opened to the public its utility maintenance road into the Truckee Canyon at Verdi in 2013. The trail runs along the canyon walls, through a forest and then by the Truckee River starting at the Fleish footbridge.

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By Austin Colbert, Aspen Times

Shaun White is back.

Though, in a way, snowboarding’s greatest star never left.

“Outside of X Games, which is slightly annoying in a sense, is that I won basically every major contest last season, except for X Games,” White told the Aspen Times in a phone interview from Calgary, Alberta, last week. “I didn’t really think too much of it.”

White needs little introduction. The two-time Olympic gold medalist (2006 and 2010) has a record 15 X Games gold medals to his name, and is the only athlete to have won gold in both the summer and winter competitions.

There was a time when White trained at Northstar in Truckee.

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Truckee River Winery’s 2017 Wine n’ Ice will take place March 8.

It is a benefit the Truckee River Watershed Foundation, a local nonprofit that “identifies, coordinates, funds and implements restoration, prevention and monitoring projects directly related to the health, beauty, and economy of the watershed.”

Ten competitors will be given the chance to sculpt a 300-pound block of ice into a sculpture. This year’s carving competition will be centered around a theme and each sculpture must be inspired by the Truckee River. The top three contestants will win an assortment of prizes. 

Participants must be 18 years or older and provide their own carving tools. Registration is online and ends Feb. 20.

By USSA

SOLITUDE, Utah– American snowboardcross athletes continued their successful run on home soil Sunday at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Solitude Mountain Resort. In Sunday’s team event, Rosie Mancari (Anchorage) and Lindsey Jacobellis (Stowe, Vt.) took the win for the ladies, while Alex Deibold (Boulder, Colo.) and Nate Holland (Squaw Valley) combined to take third place for the men.    

The snowy conditions that plagued Saturday’s event moved out of the area and the course stayed relatively clear of snow overnight, which made conditions much faster for Sunday’s team event.

Jacobellis and Mancari combined fast speeds and strategies to take the win for the U.S. “Last run was fighting the whole way down,” Jacobellis said after the race. “We were all really close and I was just trying to take away lines and options and slow down the girls so that Rosie did not have to fight through the pack.”

All the U.S. athletes were happy to be in the States, competing in a World Cup on home soil. “I can’t even really put words to (how it feels to win on home soil),” Mancari noted. “My mom is here watching for her first race ever so it’s really awesome. This is my first race in the U.S. that’s a World Cup, so the whole atmosphere and community is amazing. I see 100 people and they all want to give me hugs – it’s amazing.”

Mancari fought hard to hold off France’s Nelly Moenne Loccoz, who took second with teammate Chloe Trespeuch. Italy 1 team Raffaella Brutto and Michela Moioli rounded out the podium in third.

For the men, Deibold took the lead early on, but had a bobble down the course that left Holland fighting from behind. “I think our finish today could be pretty squarely put on my shoulders,” Deibold said of their third-place result. “Nate was definitely the fastest guy out there. I had the lead, I was trying to protect my line and I just unfortunately made a small bobble and it cost us.”

Holland did make a great effort to get the American team on the podium. “All the gates dropped, I was off the back, I just pinned it as hard as I could,” he said. “I know I’m pretty fast on this course and in these conditions I think I’m the fastest. I made a strong push, made up a lot of ground, but it wasn’t enough for the win today.”

Reigning world champion Luca Matteotti and his teammate Emanuel Perathoner of Italy took the win for the men, while Austrian team of Julian Lueftner and Lukas Pachner were second.

Also making the final brackets for the U.S. in team snowboardcross at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix: Colleen Healey (Incline Village) and Faye Gulini (Salt Lake City) were seventh; Hagan Kearney (Telluride, Colo.) and Robert Minghini (Snowshoe, W.Va.) were seventh; Katie Wilson (Mequon, Mich.) and Danielle Steinhoff (Colfax) were eighth.  

By Julie Brown, Powder

Of the 9.4 million skiers in the United States, 72 percent are white. More than half earn a salary higher than $100,000. For some context, only 20 percent of American households have a combined income of $100K, and 63 percent of the country is white.

Skiing is a homogenous, insular experience. For the sport to be healthy and robust, it should represent the country as a whole, which includes socioeconomic and racial diversity. To ensure future generations are able to enjoy it, we must reach new participants by lowering the barrier to entry and making the sport more affordable and accessible.

Born between 1982 and 2002, Millennials came of age when technology boomed and the economy tanked. To engage with this group, some resorts have merged skiing with other popular interests, such as technology and music, hosting festivals like SnowGlobe in South Lake Tahoe and MusicFest in Steamboat. The Millennial-powered sharing economy has arrived in ski towns to make access more convenient for an ownership-shy generation.

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The Carson Ranger District on the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest is putting on ranger-led snowshoe treks every Saturday through March 18.

This is a way to explore National Forest lands, while learning about the natural, cultural, and geologic history of the Lake Tahoe area.

The walk begins at 10am, last three hours, and cover approximately 2 miles of moderately strenuous terrain. It is an off-trail exploration through the meadow and forest and offers views of Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Walks may be canceled in the event of bad weather or dangerous road conditions such as when chains are required.

The guided snowshoe walks take place in Tahoe Meadows near the summit of Mt. Rose Highway, halfway between south Reno and Incline Village. 

There is no cost. Participants need to bring their own snowshoes.

Preregistration is required by Wednesday of the trek week. Larger groups are encouraged to call ahead to ensure adequate staffing. For more information, to sign up, or for weather related cancellation updates, call 775.722.3985 or email oldertrails@yahoo.com.  

The fourth winter Alpenglow Mountain Festival, is a celebration of human-powered mountain sports, events, clinics, equipment demonstrations, critically-acclaimed film and more, is Feb. 18-26.

Geared toward beginner and intermediate winter recreation enthusiasts, the Alpenglow Mountain Festival showcases some of the best activities Lake Tahoe has to offer – backcountry skiing and splitboarding, Nordic skiing, snowshoeing, natural history events and more.  

With over 50 individual events, the festival offers an immense range of activities that span daily ski and splitboard tours, avalanche education, critically-acclaimed film and natural history excursions for outdoor enthusiasts of all interests and ability levels. The majority of events are free, so space is limited and participants are encouraged to register online to secure spots.

The complete events schedule is online. Events are on the North Shore.

By USSA

KITZBUEHEL, Austria – On the world’s toughest downhill course, one small mistake is the difference between finishing on the podium and 10th place. Just ask Steve Nyman (Sundance, Utah), who finished 10th in Saturday’s Hahnenkamm Audi FIS Ski World Cup downhill where the top 10 were separated by just 0.84 seconds.

Italy’s Dominik Paris took the victory over two surprise Frenchmen, Valentin Giraud Moine in second and Johan Clarey in third. Nyman, who chose bib 1, soaked in the start festivities and was well on his way to a great run until the Hausberg section on the world’s most famous downhill course.

“It was really cool starting No. 1,” Nyman said. “They have the big gong going up there, the countdown, and everybody is psyched to see the first guy kick out of the gate. I definitely had some nerves, but I executed really well until the Hausberg. I landed off that round, and that’s a long side-hill traverse, and not carrying the speed across that cost me a lot of time.”

Nyman led four Americans into the top 30 Saturday, including Tommy Biesemeyer (Keene, N.Y.), who started bib 50 and posted a career-best 23rd place finish – scoring his first World Cup downhill points – on his first race down the Hahnenkamm.

“I’m happy to walk away with 23rd today,” Biesemeyer said. “It was my first time down Kitzbuehel. To get my first downhill points with a career-best downhill result here in Kitzbuehel is a day to remember.”

Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid, N.Y.) was 19th and Travis Ganong (Squaw Valley) was 29th. Jared Goldberg (Holladay, Utah) finished 40th and Bryce Bennett (Squaw Valley) finished in a three-way tie for 41st.

Austria’s Marcel Hirscher, who did not race Saturday, continues to lead the overall World Cup standings with 980 points. Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen is second with 692 points and France’s Alexis Pinturault is third with 655 points.

By USSA

GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany  – Lindsey Vonn (Vail) is back on top.

In only her second race since returning from a pair of injuries that sidelined her for almost a year, Vonn won Saturday’s Audi FIS Ski World Cup downhill on the Kandahar course for the third time in her career. Saturday’s win marked her 77th career World Cup victory, moving her closer to the all-time mark of 86 wins set by the legendary Swede Ingemar Stenmark.

“I’m so happy that it only took me two races to get back on the top step,” Vonn said. “Honestly, I wasn’t sure after Zauchensee how long it would take me. I proved to myself today that all the work that I put in is really coming through.”

Starting bib 17, Vonn posted the fastest times at four of the five intermediate splits ahead of second-place finisher Lara Gut of Switzerland and third-place finisher Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany, both of whom looked on with surprising disbelief in the finish at what Vonn had just accomplished.

“I’ve worked really hard to come back and I feel like sometimes I come back so quickly that everyone forgets how much time and energy, blood, sweat and tears it takes to come back without any training and just jump in there,” said Vonn, who was 13th in her first race back last weekend in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, Austria.

Vonn’s victory led four Americans into the top 20, including Breezy Johnson (Victor, Idaho) in 11th; Laurenne Ross (Bend, Ore.) and Stacey Cook (Mammoth Lakes) tied for 18th. Jackie Wiles (Aurora, Ore.), who grabbed her first career World Cup podium in third last weekend in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, finished 26th. Leanne Smith (North Conway, N.H.) was 37th.

Johnson was well on her way to a career-best World Cup result until the second-to-last racer to start, Ricarda Haaser of Austria, wearing bib 53 came down and posted her best World Cup downhill finish in 10th.

With her second-place finish, Gut took 80 points out of Mikaela Shiffrin’s (Eagle-Vail, Colo.) overall World Cup lead. Shiffrin leads the overall standings with 1,008 points. Gut is second with 773 points. Slovenia’s Ilka Stuhec finished seventh to maintain her overall World Cup downhill lead over Gut in second and Italy’s Sofia Goggia in third.