Last year SUP pro athlete Anthony Vela hailed the Race the Lake of the Sky his top pick for the best standup paddle event of the year.

This year’s event kicks off June 28 with race clinics where world renowned hosts Candice Appleby (SurftechSup, FCSSUP, Ocean Minded) and Anthony Vela (Boardworks Surf, FCSSUP, Ocean Minded) will share a few keys to paddling success.

On June 29 there will be a 5-mile race, SUP cross events and a special event for kids.

That Sunday there will be a 14-mile distance race, relays and the best “sweet” move contest.

Music and food will be on shore at El Dorado Beach in South Lake Tahoe.

For more info about the June 28-30 event, go online.

By Kathryn Reed

Tennis is mostly a seasonal sport at Lake Tahoe because the lone indoor court is at Ridge Tahoe, which requires owning a time share there or being a guest to use that court at the top of Kingsbury Grade.

But the lack of indoor courts isn’t because of lack of interest. Depending on the time and location it can be hard to get a court in Tahoe. Part of this has to do with the number of and access to public courts. So many of the courts are in subdivisions – like Tahoe Keys in South Lake Tahoe and Tahoe Donner in Truckee.

Once upon a time the long-term facilities’ map for Lake Tahoe Community College called for covered courts. Lake Tahoe Unified School District has talked about covering courts, as has Douglas County Parks and Recreation Department.

Sheryl Herschman plays on a USTA team at Zephyr Cove. Photo Copyright 2013 Carolyn E. Wright

Funding is the main hold up.

As the South Lake Tahoe-El Dorado County Recreation Facilities Master Plan comes together, tennis will be part of the discussion. What that will look like remains to be seen, but there will be opportunities for the public to voice its opinion.

When expanding and improving facilities and offerings are talked about, the idea of bringing in tournaments and groups from outside the area are always at the top of the list for why to do something.

When MontBleu casino in Stateline was Caesars Tahoe eons ago, professional tennis was played there on occasion.

In summer 2008, Incline Village Tennis Center was the site of an exhibition match between Justin Gimelstob, who was once in the top 50, and Paul Goldstein, a Stanford graduate once ranked No. 40.

Zephyr Cove’s six courts, which are owned by Douglas County, are home to an annual tournament as well as four USTA teams this season. Tahoe Donner has USTA teams and tournaments, too.

Granlibakken in Tahoe City and Northstar in Truckee (the courts there are run by the homeowners association, not Vail Resorts) are private, but offer clinics to people not staying at the resorts.

Carel James, who divides her time between Florida and Lake Tahoe, said of Florida, “Many residential developments have tennis courts on the premises and will participate in league play, allowing other players from outside the development the opportunity to pay a fee to join their private courts. Being a part-time resident in Tahoe for the past eight years, I have seen a growing interest in tennis almost rivaling winter sports.”

Public courts in the basin

The Tahoe Paradise courts are open to the public. Two of the three are playable and were resurfaced in the last few years.

“The courts are available on a first come, first serve basis at no cost. Generally speaking the courts are unlocked. The only time they may be locked is if there is a wedding ceremony being held,” El Dorado County Supervisor Norma Santiago told Lake Tahoe News.

“The two courts are in great shape and usually empty. As far as I know, the only option for me to play in this town is on those two courts,” Brenda Stewart of South Lake Tahoe said of Tahoe Paradise. “(South Tahoe) Middle School is a terrifying/dangerous, crack-filled nightmare. I’m locked out of the Keys and I still can’t figure out how to play at the high school.”

The use of the six taxpayer-funded courts at South Tahoe High School is not easy to understand. Instead of going out for bid, the district has historically allowed the school’s tennis coach to use the courts for his personal use in the off-season.

Superintendent Jim Tarwater told Lake Tahoe News, “What we usually do is work out where the money goes. (Coach Justin Clark is not paying a set fee) because it’s too volatile. We identify each year what we want to replace. This year it was windscreens. The district will pay for repaving.”

Tarwater said he has looked at Clark’s books and the most he’s made in a summer is about $4,000.

“This is not a profit thing. That is not legal to do,” Tarwater said.

Clark told Lake Tahoe News, “If I break even every summer or pay myself a little, then I am happy. Also, I employ six kids for summer jobs and provide usually four scholarships to the tennis academy needy kids and about four work/play opportunities where the kids work and get free tennis. After all that, there is enough to pay me little.“

Without a formal process in which someone can make money off public facilities, this becomes a gift of public funds.

This email was sent to Tarwater by LTN, “With Justin using so much court time for his private Tahoe Tennis Academy that makes good money and the district not making a dime from it, how does the district justify a private business that didn’t have to go through and RFP process making money off public courts?”

There was no reply.

The academy has between 10 and 50 players in it each week, according to Clark.

This is the 2013 STHS court time-fee schedule that was provided by Clark. Clark wants people to reserve a court 48 hours in advance online. But the district hasn’t set up the online scheduling platform.

“The online public facilities use scheduling portion of the software has not yet been tested. We are still building the final fee schedules/pieces in the software and hope to test in a controlled environment this summer,” LTUSD CFO Deb Yates told Lake Tahoe News. “We most likely will roll the software out to the school sites first, then determine when it will be ready for the live public.”

If Clark or one of his designees is not at the courts, the public is shut out because the courts are locked.

Douglas County puts out a request for proposal for a licensed tennis professional to run the six courts at Zephyr Cove. Rob Wheatley is in the middle of a multi-year contract that calls for him to pay the county a flat fee each year.

Suzy Allione serves during a match at Zephyr Cove.  Photo Copyright 2013 Carolyn E. Wright

There was a time when the county took a percentage of gross receipts, but the time and paperwork involved made it not cost-effective.

Scott Morgan, who runs the county’s parks department, said the courts are now self-supporting. About $20,000 will be spent this summer to repair cracks.

If a player is not a member of the Zephyr Cove Tennis Club, then she is supposed to pay $5 each time she steps on the court. The highest seasonal membership fee is $70 for non-Nevada residents who aren’t kids or seniors. The county approves all the fees Wheatley charges.

When Wheatley is not there, the courts are open and free to anyone, according to Morgan.

“In his contract he has to do a free youth clinic to grow the game,” Morgan told Lake Tahoe News.

Other public courts around the Lake Tahoe area include:

• The Incline Village Tennis Center is part of the Incline Village General Improvement District. The 11 courts have a fee based on time of day and whether the player is an IVGID member. Reservations are encouraged. There are four pros on staff.

• Two at the top of the tram at Squaw Valley. They are free to play on with the purchase of a tram ticket.

• Two courts at Kilner Park near Sunnyside. No fee, no reservations needed. The Tahoe City Public Utility District runs them.

• Four courts at North Tahoe High School are also run by TCPUD.

The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit will continue a project to eradicate, control, and contain known and future infestations of invasive weeds using chemical treatment.

Work will occur June 24-28.

An environmental assessment released by the Forest Service in 2010 identified 493 known infestations located on National Forest System lands managed by the LTBMU.

Current project areas include 64 Acres Beach parking lot (Tahoe City), Angora burn area, Baldwin Beach meadow, near Big Meadow Trailhead (FS Road 1213), Brockway Summit, Slaughterhouse Meadow, west shore of Fallen Leaf Lake, Heavenly Creek Meadow, Heavenly Mountain Resort, Rabe Meadow, Pope Beach parking lot, Spooner Summit area, Tahoe City area, and the Tallac historic estates.

In addition, weed infestations on Forest Service urban lots will be treated in the vicinity of Ralph Drive, Terry Lane, Ski Run Boulevard, and Mt. Rainier Drive in South Lake Tahoe, Sugar Pine Drive in Incline Village, Marge Court in Zephyr Cove, and Pine Street on Kingsbury Grade.

Target invasive weeds are Tall Whitetop (Lepidium latifolium), Dalmatian Toadflax (Linaria dalmatica), Yellow toadflax (Linaria vulgaris), and Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense).

Treatments will use herbicides similar to the commercial product Roundup. Applicators will apply the product by hand.

Caution signs will be posted in treatment areas and will remain posted for at least 48 hours after treatment. Orange and black caution tape will mark the boundary around each treatment area. A blue marker dye will be used to easily identify locations that have been sprayed. Treatment areas are less than 2 acres across all sites.

Access to treatment sites will be restricted for several hours during and after the application.

For more information, contact Blake Engelhardt at (530) 543.2879.

Eldorado National Forest is opening 24 popular high-country off-highway-vehicle routes for public motorized vehicle use and another 18 that will be designated after repairs have been made.

The routes were closed in 2012 by court order until their impacts on water flow in meadows were analyzed.

A supplemental environmental impact statement and a record of decision were released last week. Both documents are available on the Eldorado National Forest website.

“The decision I made … affects two very important resources – healthy meadows and high country recreational opportunities,” Supervisor Kathy Hardy said in a statement. “We need both.”

The changes will be implemented once any administrative appeals to the decision are resolved and the designated routes are printed on the Eldorado National Forest Motor Vehicle Use Map.

Eldorado has already begun applying for grants from the California Department of Parks and Recreations OHV Division to help get some of the repairs started as soon as possible.

Many of the routes will need simple fixes and simple environmental documentation and some will be more complex requiring engineering designs and more detailed environmental analyses.

By Kathryn Reed

While everyone touts there only being one island in Lake Tahoe, four of us say not so fast.

What about that sandbar of sorts between Trout Creek and the mouth of the Upper Truckee River that is home to a flock of geese?

“It’s a natural part of Lake Tahoe’s sedimentation and fluvial geomorphology. Unless the area was part of a planned river restoration, islands like that might remain unaltered for many years before natural hydrologic action takes them out or moves them entirely,” Jeff Cowen with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency told Lake Tahoe News.

Geese Island

Lauri Kemper with Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board had this to say, “The ‘island’ is formed from the flows and sand/sediment coming out of the Upper Truckee River and Trout creek and is dynamic. [It] changes based on lake elevations and river flows and timing of snow melt, etc. It is not likely to ever become ‘permanent’, but if it persists, it may provide an environment for willows and other plants to begin growing there.”

While Kemper said I could name it Reed Island, she said to not start doing anything to the island.

“You can name temporal objects,” she explained.

The four of us out on a recent paddle opted to call it Geese Island based on the inhabitants.

We started the morning at Lakeland Village, where our friends had access to a kayak. Sue and I launched our canoe from there.

In addition to the island’s being new since we were last on this stretch of water along the edge of the South Shore, the entrance to Trout Creek is covered with sand. A year ago it was spectacular to paddle in there among all the blooming lilies. While we could have portaged our vessels, we opted to keep heading toward the Tahoe Keys.

Standup paddleboarders outnumbered other human powered craft – at least on our way out. By the time we headed to our home port there were whitecaps on the lake.

Sue steers clear of Brenda and Roni in the kayak. Photos/Kathryn Reed

Headed south we had Mount Tallac as our beacon. The water is so clear – even more than 100 yards from shore. And some places it’s shallow enough for people to be standing next to us.

Lakeview Commons really is something to see from the water. Regan Beach is as unimpressive from the water as it is on land.

It becomes a bit of an architectural tour going along Lakeview Avenue and into the Keys.

“I loved being on the lake and seeing things from a whole new perspective,” Roni said.

We didn’t know what to expect coming into the Tahoe Keys Marina in terms of whether we could tie up the kayak and canoe. No problem. We could have stayed for two hours.

As we leave the Fresh Ketch, a marina worker warns us the winds are supposed to be picking up soon and to be cautious. We thank him and heed his warning as we paddle a bit closer to shore on our way back.

It’s getting rough, but plenty of people are still playing on the water.

We get to Timber Cove pier and have the only unpleasant experience of the day. I shout “hey” to a Zodiac with “Camp Richardson” on the side to get the guys’ attention. They are headed to shore and we are headed to go under the pier.

Lakeview Commons

They nastily shout back, “It’s a boat channel.”

Perhaps if they would have been looking in front of them and paying attention to those on the water instead of the skimpily clad woman on the pier they were keeping pace with, they wouldn’t have been annoyed by being shouted to by two middle-aged women in a canoe with unattractive life jackets on. I can only imagine if we were tourists, what kind of impression the exchange would have left.

We paddle on.

Now it’s time for a stop at Riva Grill. No problem getting beyond the boat channel and putting our toys alongside those that are available for rent.

One short push and we make it back to Lakeland – ready for another day on the lake.

The U.S. Forest Service’s Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit is taking comments until July 19 regarding the possibility of removing the Incline Lake dam in Incline Village.

An open house is set for July 8 from 5-7pm at the Incline Village General Improvement District’s board room, 893 Southwood Blvd.

The Forest Service purchased the 777-acre parcel off the Mount Rose Highway in 2008 for its recreational, scenic and natural-resource values. It wasn’t until after it was bought that officials learned the dam wasn’t up to code. Because of that, the lake was drained.

Comments may be mailed to Matt Dickinson, Incline Lake Dam Project, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, 35 College Drive, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150.

With the start of the summer hiking season upon us, Tahoe’s peaks, wildflowers, and vistas are beginning to beckon.

The Tahoe Rim Trail Association is leading several free guided hikes this summer. They are for all abilities and ages (shorter hikes are most appropriate for kids).

You must register in advance. Online registration is now required for all TRTA programs and can be completed on the TRTA website.

Summer hikes:

· June 25: Tahoe Mt. Festival Full Moon Hike (TRTA members only)

· June 29-30: Segment Backpacking Overnight – Big Meadow to Echo Summit (TRTA members only)

· July 6: Page Meadows Birding Hike with TINS

· July 10: Wildflower Hike – Page Meadows/Ward Canyon (TRTA members only)

· July 14: Wildflower Hike – Meiss Meadow (TRTA members only)

· July 17: Wildflower Hike – Barker Pass (TRTA members only)

· July 20: Deuter and Tahoe Mountain Sports Pack Testing Trek

· Aug. 3: Birds, Views, and Falls Hike with TINS

· Aug. 14: Deuter and Tahoe Mountain Sports Pack Testing Trek

· Aug. 18: Van Sickle Bi-State Park Hike

· Aug. 20th: Peak of the Rim Full Moon Hike (TRTA members only)

· Aug. 24-25: Backpacking 101 – Gray Lake

· Sept. 7: Tahoe Meadows to Lake Tahoe/Diamond Peak Vista Point

· Sept. 19: Full Moon Hike (TRTA members only)

· Sept. 20: Peak of the Rim Full Moon Hike (TRTA members only)

· Sept. 21: Mark Twain Hike

For more detailed hike descriptions and information about what to bring to hikes, go online.

TAMBA is having a trail day on the Cold Creek Trail in South Lake Tahoe on Sunday.

Meet at the High Meadow dirt road parking area on June 16 at 9am (off Pioneer Trail near Sierra House School). It will be necessary to ride or hike because the gate will be closed. Bring your bike and helmet.

Bring long-sleeves, pants, gloves, and water. Snacks, tools, lunch, and post-work barbecue and beers will be provided.

Fourth of July revelers will have the opportunity to start celebrating the holiday a day early in North Lake Tahoe. The fireworks display in Kings Beach is July 3.

On July 3 from 2-10pm the North Tahoe Business Association will host a Beach Party open to all ages featuring disc jockey Chango, live music by local band One Track Mind, a dunk tank, beer garden, food vendors, and contests that include sand castle building, watermelon eating and patriotic costumes.

This celebration will take place outside of the North Tahoe Event Center and at the Kings Beach State Recreation Area.

The fireworks display is scheduled to begin at 9:30pm over Lake Tahoe.

Those attending the festivities are encouraged to walk, bike or use public transportation.

For more information and a schedule of activities, call (530) 546.9000.

By Kathryn Reed

STATELINE – Improvise, be creative and definitely be prepared. That was the overriding message delivered Wednesday night by Tamara Burns.

Burns is registered nurse with Barton Health who has had to use some of the advice she dispensed June 12 during a lecture at Kahle Community Center.

Tamara Burns explains ways to survive an expected emergency while playing outdoors. Photo/Kathryn Reed

The 10 essentials she says people should carry with them when playing outdoors include:

• Map

• Compass

• Sun protection

• Clothing/hat

• Headlamp/flashlight

• First aid supplies

• Fire starter/matches

• Emergency shelter

• Knife/tools/repair kit

• Food/water.

Burns said people tend to be prepared for bigger excursions compared to a routine bike ride or short hike. But accidents and emergencies can happen at any time.

She is a firm believer duct tape can save the day in almost any situation. Shoes or equipment can be repaired with it. Blisters can be covered with it.

Super Glue is another one of her essentials. Burns says to use it on blisters and cuts. It can be used to seal together a wound.

“The solution to pollution is dilution,” Burns said when it comes to cleaning a wound. Most people aren’t going to carry saline solution with them. So, creating a device that can “shoot” water into the dirty wound to flush it out is the best. This could include a plastic bag filled with water, then puncturing a small hole to squirt water through.

That small hole could be pricked with a safety pin – another tool Burns suggests taking. And take several.

They might be needed to piece together equipment that is falling apart. Or if a splint needs to be devised by wrapping the arm into the bottom of a shirt, pins could be use to immobilize the limb to secure the wrap job.

Hiking and ski poles can be transformed into splints. Stringing a jacket through them creates a litter to haul someone out. Sticks can also do the trick.

A fender on a bike tire can also work as a splint.

For chest wounds, Burns says use gauze on three sides to cover the area. Most likely it’s better to leave the foreign object for a professional to remove.

Don’t move a person with a cervical spine injury. If touching the back of the injured person’s neck hurts them, it’s a serious injury. Roll up a jacket and put it behind them for stability.

“Make sure they are breathing and calm,” Burns said.

Extra clothing can be used to soak up blood.

“You can bleed to death from two things – a fractured femur or fractured pelvis,” she said.

Zip ties and parachute string are other things she likes to have in her pack. Dental floss is another item. It has more uses than just teeth cleaning.

Putting dryer lint in a small waterproof container is all one needs to say they have a fire starter.

Burns recommends testing what you would do in an emergency with family and friends before the real thing happens. Make sure someone knows where you are going and don’t play alone.