People in the Truckee area are reporting concerns about smoke plumes.

Officials say it is from prescribed burns in the Eldorado National Forest.

For more info, call 530.587.3558.

Stumpy Meadows Boat Ramp and Picnic Area, located east of Georgetown in the Eldorado National Forest, is open to the public.

This is one of the changes in the forest closure order for areas affected by the King Fire.

Due to the hazards of dead trees along roads within the burned area, most of the closure order is still in effect. Roadside hazards in the burned area are being evaluated as part of the environmental analysis for the King Fire Restoration Project which is expected to be completed by the end of March.

Most of the roads that define the boundary of the fire closure area are open, in addition to the Hellhole Trail, which defines a section of the closure boundary in the northeast part of the closure near the Tahoe National Forest. Also now removed from the fire closure order is the Ponderosa Cove Group Campground. The Ponderosa Cove Group Campground is managed by a concessionaire and will reopen later this year for the summer recreation season.

All unpaved, native surface roads and trails in the forest will remain closed to vehicle use under the seasonal road closure in accordance with the Eldorado National Forest Travel Management Plan.

An updated description and map of the King Fire Closure area is available online.

The Tahoe Mountain Milers Running Club is hosting the Fresh Tracks 5K Snowshoe Walk and Race on Feb. 22 at 10am at Historic Camp Richardson Resort.

The beneficiaries are the Eric Nageotte-Lowe Scholarship Fund for the Heavenly Freestyle Team and Girls On the Run-Sierra.

If there is now show, it will be run-walk.

Register before Feb. 14 and the cost is $20, which includes choice of swag, snowshoe rental, post-race refreshments, and continued day use of groomed Camp Richardson trails. Day of race registration is $30. For those who like to compete, unique handmade age-group awards are three deep.

Register online or get an entry form at Kahle Community Center, South Lake Tahoe Recreation Center, Reno Running Company and Eclipse Sports in Reno and CV Sports in Carson City.

For more info, call 775.588.2864 or email tahoecarol@charter.net.

Mother Nature is crippling the ski season.

Homewood Mountain Resort has closed because of the lack of snow. The resort said if conditions improve, it will reopen.

January was a record dry month for the Lake Tahoe Basin. Resorts with little or no snow making capabilities are struggling to cope.

A storm is headed to the basin Thursday night is supposed to bring rain through Sunday. While the moisture is needed, it could wreak havoc on the already thin layer of snow at higher elevations.

The storm is expected to bring heavy winds. The National Weather Service in Reno has issued a high wind watch from Thursday evening through Friday evening.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Jason Blevins, Denver Post

Upstart apparel company Voormi is making waves with Core Construction, perhaps the first major progress in waterproof, breathable fabrics since the advent of Gore-Tex 46 years ago.

Voormi announced the technology at the SnowSports Industries America Snow Show in Denver last week.

“We see this as a game-changer,” Voormi founder Dan English said.

Pagosa Springs-based Voormi stirred interest in 2013 when it unveiled its locally sourced, locally made wool layers. Blending Rocky Mountain wool with moisture-wicking synthetic fabrics, the company took on Goliaths such as Patagonia and The North Face.

But it wasn’t just Voormi’s designs that rocked the boat. Voormi trumpets itself as “the microbrew of apparel,” and its nimble network of local manufacturers are able to whip up clothing on short notice for retailers eager to tap the locavore trend. The apparel reflects the small-batch ethos that pervades the blossoming hand-crafted economy in the high country.

The company hinted in 2013 that something bigger was brewing — something that had been in the works since English founded Voormi in 2010.

Read the whole story

The PAC 8 Hockey Championships are Feb. 6-8 at the South Lake Tahoe Ice Arena.

The first round of the college series will have two games on Friday. The first will be No. 3 seed Oregon against No. 6 seed Cal at 5pm. Game two will be No. 4 Washington taking on No. 5 UCLA at 8pm.

In the semifinal round, No. 2 USC will play the winner of Oregon and Cal at 1pm Saturday. The other semifinal will be No. 1 Utah against the winner of the Washington-UCLA game at 4pm.

The winners of the two semifinals will meet in the championship game on Sunday at noon.

Tickets are available online.

Two members of Lake Tahoe Community College’s men’s soccer program are expected to sign today with NCAA schools.

Josh Jirbandye, Coyote defender and team captain, is headed to UNLV, while defender Ross Gray is going to Concordia University in Oregon.

Today is the national letter of intent day for soccer players. The two will make it official at a press conference at 2pm at LTCC’s gym.

“In my 18 years of coaching, I’ve never worked with a player like Josh,” LTCC men’s head coach Benjamin Wade said in a statement. “He’s the best, most gifted player I’ve ever coached. He’ll be a professional soccer player some day.”

The Coyote men’s soccer team finished the season ranked No. 10 in the state and No. 17 in the country. In their first year, they won the Golden Valley conference with a 13-4-6 record.

More signings are expected in the coming days.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By USSA

BEAVER CREEK — The 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships began Feb. 3 with the women’s super G in Beaver Creek. In front of her hometown fans, Lindsey Vonn (Vail) skied her way to a podium spot, taking the bronze medal. All four American starters finished in the top 15.

The morning’s forecast of windy conditions and snow flurries proved to be correct. The women’s super G was slated to begin at 11am at the usual super G start on Beaver Creek’s famed Birds of Prey course, but due to the weather, officials delayed the start time and moved the start gate down to the reserve start, making the course shorter than normal.

Once things got under way, the windy conditions proved to be challenging for the international field of 46 racers. Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley) was the first U.S. racer to drop into the course, starting 11th. Mancuso skied aggressively, per usual, but made a few mistakes that kept her from a medaling.

“The super G was a lot of fun,” said Mancuso. “I definitely had some mistakes on my run. It wasn’t a perfect run, but it was a top-10 run.”

Stacey Cook (Mammoth Mountain), who won Monday’s downhill training run, skied soon after Mancuso, and also had a challenging run.

“Super G has been a tough event for me this year. I haven’t yet found my groove,” said Cook. “I‘m happy with some of the turns that I made. Obviously, only medals count, but there were definitely some positives for me to take out of today.”

Wearing bib 18, Vonn dropped in to the cheers of her hometown fans. She was a bit stiff and hesitant on the top turns, which was reflected in her first split’s time — nearly half a second out of the lead.

However, as Vonn skied down the course she started to make up time towards the third split, creeping milliseconds under the leader’s pace. As she crossed the finish line, Vonn had a tenth of a second lead. She held first place for a short time as Slovenia’s Tina Maze immediately followed Vonn and quickly usurped Vonn by 0.12.

“I thought I skied really well. I’m happy with the way I skied and with the result. I just wish that the weather was a little bit better,” said Vonn. “I definitely had a pretty strong headwind right out of the starting gate and for the first couple of gates. I fought my way down. On the bottom part where there wasn’t any wind, I was pretty fast.”

In the end, Austria’s Anna Fenninger skied the fastest time of the day. Always a viable contender in super G, Fenninger skied a nearly flawless race down the shortened Raptor course. “Anna [Fenninger] skied very well and I’m very proud to be on the podium with those two,” said Vonn.

By David Purdum, ESPN

Nevada sportsbooks won $3.2 million off $115.9 million wagered on the Super Bowl, according to numbers released by Nevada Gaming Control on Monday. But it could have been so much more.

The New England Patriots winning in a higher-scoring game than expected was the worst-case scenario for the majority of sportsbooks, and they still posted a profit for the 24th time in the last 26 Super Bowls. The point spread closed at pick ’em at most books with the over/under total 47.5.

The Patriots defeated the Seattle Seahawks 28-24 Sunday, with Malcolm Butler’s last-minute interception on the goal line sealing New England’s victory and taking a giant chunk out of the books’ profits.

Read the whole story

Sierra-at-Tahoe professional snowboarder and Olympic gold medalist Jamie Anderson is sponsoring three South Lake Tahoe students for her annual Give Back With Love sponsorship.

This year’s recipients are Justice Ensign, 11, Jeremy Kornbeck, 14, and Jade Smith, 16. Through this event students  have the opportunity to experience what it is like to be a sponsored athlete for a season. As part of the sponsorship, each student receives a Sierra-at-Tahoe unlimited season pass, new Oakley outerwear, a GNU snowboard, Oakley goggles, boots and bindings, and a camera from GoPro.

Because of Anderson’s competition schedule and involvement with “Celebrity Apprentice” she won’t be able to be at the this Feb. 3 event. She will join them on the slopes another day.

The 24-year-old created the Jamie Anderson Give Back With Love sponsorship to give back to the community and provide less fortunate kids with the opportunity to snowboard.