Lake Tahoe Community College’s Nordic Center plans to open March 1.
The goal is to offer the best quality skiing experience.
Season pass sales will be available Feb. 8. The 2013 season pass prices are: $49 family passes, $39 couples pass, $29 individual pass, $5 day use fee, $10 LTCC or LTUSD enrolled student pass, and $100 business pass.
Passes will be sold at the Connect Education office at the college.
By USSA
SCHLADMING, Austria — Despite a significant mistake in the downhill portion of Friday’s FIS Alpine Ski World Championships super combined, super G bronze medalist Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley) clicked with her best slalom performance of the season to finish eighth.
Teammates Laurenne Ross (Bend, Ore.) was 11th and Stacey Cook 18th (Mammoth Mountain) behind German Maria Hoefl-Riesch, who captured gold for her first medal of the championships.
By Raju Chebium, Gannett
WASHINGTON — Unless Congress prevents $85 billion in across-the-board budget cuts before March 1, iconic national parks like Yellowstone, Yosemite, the Grand Canyon and the Great Smoky Mountains will take a financial hit.
A memo by National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis tells park officials nationwide to prepare to make $100 million of cuts if the budget sequester becomes a reality.
Like most agencies, the park service would have to cut 5.1 percent of its budget this year as part of the congressionally approved process to trim the national debt. The Defense Department faces spending reductions of about 7.3 percent.
California parks that face the ax include Yosemite ($1.43 million in potential cuts), the newly re-designated Pinnacles National Park ($172,000), Death Valley ($435,000) and Sequoia/Kings Canyon ($820,000).
“We expect that a cut of this magnitude … will result in reductions to visitor services, hours of operation, shortening of seasons and possibly closing the areas during periods when there is insufficient staff,” Jarvis wrote in the Jan. 25 memo.
The Coalition of National Park Service Retirees obtained the memo and related documents and released them.
The park service declined comment and referred reporters to the Office of Management and Budget. The OMB didn’t return an email.
The Park Service Retirees’ spokeswoman, Joan Anzelmo, said the documents spell out just what changes and service reductions millions of visitors can expect this summer when they visit a national park, monument or heritage area.
“We’re just trying to raise the alarm to let the citizens of our country understand what (the cuts) mean,” said Anzelmo, the former superintendent at the Colorado National Monument. “Right now, it’s been sort of theoretical. … What we’re doing is we’re trying to explain it with more specifics.”
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said last week that he’s working on an alternative to the automatic cuts but warned that Congress may not get it done before March 1. If Congress misses the deadline, the Obama administration can take steps to soften the blow for a few weeks.
Kiss the blue skies goodbye because winter is returning.
Wind, snow and cold are in the forecast beginning Thursday and continuing through Friday.
The cold front will bring winds gusts of 40 mph in the Lake Tahoe Basin and 75 mph on the ridges.
“Temperatures will plummet Friday into the weekend with highs around 10-15 degrees below normal,” the National Weather Service in Reno is forecasting.
Expect 3 to 6 inches of snow, with the most amount accumulating above 7,000 feet.
— Lake Tahoe News staff report
By USSA
SCHLADMING, Austria — Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley) put on a full speed attack through fog, soft snow and deep ruts to win super G bronze on the opening day Tuesday of the FIS Alpine Ski World Championships in Schladming. It was her fifth career World Championships medal and third in super G.
Audi FIS Alpine World Cup overall and super G leader Tina Maze of Slovenia captured gold with Lara Gut of Switzerland silver.
Lindsey Vonn (Vail) crashed about mid-way down the course, suffering a season-ending ACL tear.
“I think that might’ve been one of the most difficult races I’ve ever been in. It was a really long course and a lot of hurry up and wait. I didn’t know I’d be so tired at the end of the run,” Mancuso said.
Alex Hoedlmoeser, women’s head coach, said, “It was amazing how Julia attacked the course knowing that Lindsey had been hurt. She is an amazing professional. No matter what the conditions, she prepares herself for the race and today was a great example. It’s a real credit to her tenacity and ability to adjust to the challenge.”
Truckee residents may register their skis, snowboards and bikes with the police department. This way if they are stolen, officers will have a better chance at identifying the property.
People may register equipment online or at the department at 10183 Truckee Airport Road.
For more information, call (530) 550.2323.
The U.S. Forest Service will be submitting an annual application to the California Department of Parks and Recreation, Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division. This application will request funding for trail maintenance, restoration, development of facilities, law enforcement, and planning for off-highway vehicle access.
On Feb. 12, the Forest Service will be hosting an open house from 4-7pm so people and organizations can review the proposals. The event is at the Tahoe National Forest Headquarters, 631 Coyote St., Nevada City.
Questions, comments or letters can be directed to: Joe Chavez, Forest Trails Program Coordinator, Tahoe National Forest, 631 Coyote St., Nevada City, CA 95959; jchavez@fs.fed.us or (530) 478.6158.
Updated Feb. 5 2:10pm: According to U.S. Ski Team Medical Director Kyle Wilkens, Lindsey Vonn suffered a torn ACL and MCL in her right knee and a lateral tibial plateau fracture. She will be out for the remainder of this season, but is expected to return to racing for the 2013-14 Audi FIS World Cup season and the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi.
Update Feb. 5 8:05am: CNN reports: Lindsey Vonn suffered a “complex knee injury,” according to the hospital where she was taken. Her injuries are not life-threatening, a hospital spokesman said.
By Guardian
Vail’s Lindsey Vonn suffered a serious crash in the women’s super-G on the opening day of the alpine skiing world championships in Schladming on Tuesday.
The four-times overall World Cup champion, lost balance on her right leg while landing after a jump. Her ski came off immediately, and Vonn slid off course and hit a gate before coming to a standstill.
Vonn received medical treatment on the slope for 12 minutes before being taken to hospital in a helicopter.
The race had been delayed by fog, which forced organisers repeatedly to postpone the scheduled start. It eventually started three and a half hours later, just before a deadline which would have seen the event postponed for another day.
Vonn had trailed the race leader, Tina Maze of Slovenia, by 0.12 seconds shortly before the incident. The race continued after another 15-minute delay.
By Case Keefer, Las Vegas Sun
The crowds that turned out to bet on the Super Bowl yesterday in Las Vegas awed legendary oddsmaker Jimmy Vaccaro.
Vaccaro, who’s spent nearly 40 years in the betting industry and is a spokesman for William Hill sports books, had never seen a turnout quite like Sunday’s.
“It was a sight to behold,” Vaccaro said after the game. “I’d expect the state is probably going to set a record.”
Vaccaro’s prediction was proven true less than 24 hours after the Baltimore Ravens goal line stand propelled them to a 34-31 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl 47.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board announced bettors wagered $98,936,798 on the 2013 Super Bowl, the most in the history of the state. This year’s game easily surpassed the $93,067,358 bet on the 2006 Super Bowl when the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Seattle Seahawks 21-10.
Sports books held 7.3 percent of the total handle, calculating to a win of $7,206,460. That’s the most since the 2007 Super Bowl, when Nevada made $12,930,175 on the Indianapolis Colts 29-17 victory against the Chicago Bears.
As previously reported, it marked the 20th time in the last 22 years — and sixth year in a row — that casinos won on money on the Super Bowl.
By Dan Whitcomb, Reuters
Four ancient petroglyphs that were stolen from a historic site in Northern California last year have been recovered, but no suspects have been identified in the brazen theft, federal authorities said on Thursday.
The petroglyphs, which were carved into volcanic rock more than 3,500 years ago, were discovered missing in October from the site in the Volcanic Tablelands, east of Yosemite, near California’s border with Nevada.
They are said to represent a pristine example of Great Basin rock art that portrayed the daily hunter-gatherer activities that took place in the area at the time.
“Recovery of the petroglyphs was a priority from day one. I am pleased that they were returned,” Bernadette Lovato, manager for the bureau’s field office in Bishop, said in a statement.
“Now we need the public’s help to identify the vandals responsible for damaging the site,” Lovato said.
A Bureau of Land Management spokesman declined to release further details about the recovery of the petroglyphs, citing an ongoing investigation. The bureau said the suspects may have experience with masonry cutting and access to such tools.
The Volcanic Tablelands are described by the Bureau of Land Management as a vast volcanic landscape formed more than 700,000 years ago by materials spewing from the Long Valley caldera.
The high-desert site and its volcanic rock outcroppings are listed in the National Register of Historic Places, protected under the Archaeological Resources Protection Act and used by local Paiute Indians for ceremonies.
The Bureau of Land Management has offered a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the people responsible for the theft. First-time violators of the Archaeological Resources Protection Act can be imprisoned up to one year and fined $20,000, according to the bureau.