By Asher Feldman, Daily Trojan

In the midst of the athletic department’s yearlong celebration of USC’s Olympic successes, International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge spoke Wednesday at Town & Gown as part of Annenberg’s Sports and Social Change Speaker Series.

The discussion, hosted by Alan Abrahamson, a professor of journalism, covered a variety of topics, including the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, and focused on the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

“The 1984 Olympics left a tremendous legacy for this city,” Rogge said.

Because Italian Premier Mario Monti had ended Rome’s bid for the 2020 Summer Games because of financial concerns on Tuesday, the conversation turned quickly to the sustainability of the Olympic ideal and the impact of real-world incidents on the Games.

“Sport is not in a vacuum,” Rogge said. “Sport is part of society.”

Scott Blackmun, CEO of the United States Olympic Committee, also spoke at the event and highlighted the financial and logistical difficulty of hosting the Olympic Games on U.S. soil, stating the USOC was hesitant to submit a bid for the 2022 Winter Games.

Tahoe-Reno wants to host those Games, as does Denver and Park City. But with the U.S. Olympic Committee and the IOC still unable to reach a financial deal, the chance of the U.S. as a host city in 2022 is dimming.

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By Gus Thomson, Auburn Journal

A Squaw Valley daredevil looking for a new round of extreme viral video fame in the American River canyon has been shut down by authorities.

Citing concern over safety to aircraft passing through Giant Gap, near Alta, the Bureau of Land Management ordered Mike Wilson to reel in a 4,000-foot cable strung across the canyon over the North Fork American River.

David Christy, Bureau of Land Management spokesman, said the quarter-inch cable – with no markers on it and virtually invisible to helicopter or airplane pilots – was taken down Friday.

The bureau, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Forest Service are now looking at possible legal action against Wilson – a stunt skier who has expanded into spectacular, acrobatic rope-swing and BASE jumps for videos that have attracted hundreds of thousands of views online.

“We were concerned that a pilot could fly into it,” Christy said. “We didn’t know anything about it and called around to find out who could take it down, eventually finding out that it was Mike Wilson.”

Wilson did not return a phone call from the Journal Monday. One of his most mind-bending recent stunts involved performing a quadruple back flip on a 99-foot rope swing from a rock cliff at Lake Tahoe. Another involved back flipping off a rope swing suspended 60 feet above the Truckee River.

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Schools in the Lake Tahoe Basin are open, but some are starting later than normal because of the several inches of snow that fell overnight.

All Douglas County schools will start one hour later. This also means buses are running an hour later.

Storm clouds will be over Lake Tahoe for several day. Photo/LTN

All Washoe County schools are on a two-hour delay.

Lake Tahoe and Truckee unified school districts are on a normal schedule.

A winter weather advisory is in effect until 10 this morning for the Lake Tahoe Basin, Truckee, Reno, and Carson City areas. About 2 more inches are expected through Wednesday.

Chain controls are in effect for most California and Nevada highways in and around the basin. Find out specific road conditions by clicking on the state icons at the top of Lake Tahoe News’ home page.

The white stuff is expected to return again Saturday. This means the three-day Presidents Day weekend should cover the slopes for riders, sledders and snowmobilers.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By Matt Weiser, Sacramento Bee

After the driest December in 22 years, and a January that was merely damp, California weather watchers are hungry for any whiff of change in the air.

So when news seeped out that this winter’s cursed La Niña conditions may at last be weakening, some of those eager observers began to pine for a repeat of the legendary “Miracle March” scenario of 1991 that helped California break a long drought.

Normally the area where Trout Creek enters Lake Tahoe is covered in snow on Jan. 31 -- not in 2012. Photo/LTN

Not so fast, say the forecasters.

The pattern is definitely shifting, but so far there are few signs of really big storms on the horizon that could salvage the ski season and stave off drought.

“I don’t see it being a similar pattern,” said Jim Mathews, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Sacramento. “To hang your hat on a wet March, I think the odds are not in our favor.”

The weather service dug up some stats on the 10 driest November-through-January periods in Sacramento since the Gold Rush. This winter made the cut at No. 10.

Then it looked at how many of those winters, after January, concluded with above-normal rainfall. Only three did, including 1991.

Hence the long odds.

“We continue to do our snow dances, I can tell you that,” said Andy Chapman, chief marketing officer at the North Lake Tahoe Chamber of Commerce. “We do whatever we can to help the skies open up a little bit.”

Tahoe’s ski industry went without natural snowfall over the economically vital Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday stretch. Many ski resorts managed to open terrain using snow-making machines.

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Schools are open and most roads in the Lake Tahoe Basin have chain requirements.

Click on the state icons at the top of Lake Tahoe News’ home page to get information about the roads you will be traveling on.

Shovels had to be dusted off Monday morning in Lake Tahoe. Photo/LTN

About 4 inches of fluffy, white stuff fell in South Lake Tahoe overnight. The National Weather Service in Reno says the winter weather advisory remain in effect until 4 this afternoon.

The Reno-Carson City-Carson Valley area faces a hazardous weather outlook for Monday. Expect delays on Highway 395 because of snow.

“A series of low pressure systems will move south along the Sierra throughout the upcoming week. A system on Wednesday will bring the next chance of precipitation to the region, with another system moving in for the weekend,” the National Weather Service reports.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report

By USSA

PARK CITY — In only her second competition back from injury, Faye Gulini of Salt Lake City was U.S. Snowboarding’s top finisher Sunday at the Sprint U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix at Canyons Resort, taking second to win the women’s U.S. Championship.

Teammate Nate Holland of Squaw Valley was the top American male finisher on a day where continuous snowfall made for low visibility and slow course speeds on Canyons Resort’s Doc’s Run.

Austrain Markus Schairer won the men’s title while Canadian Dominique Maltais took the women’s.

Holland placed fourth overall for the men, after he took a fall near the start in the championship heat.

“I’m pumped to have the U.S. Championship title but I really wanted to put the exclamation point on it with a win. Right off the start features, I got run into and taken out,” Holland said. “There’s not much I could have done. I’m stoked for the title, but wish I would have gotten the win. Sitting one off the podium is a bittersweet spot.”

The first part of the Stateline Showdown, a three-part slopestyle competition series, will take place at Ante Up Terrain Park at Heavenly Mountain Resort on Feb. 18 from 9:30am-2pm.

The entry fee is $20.

The two other dates are March 10 and 24.

For more information, call (530) 542.5133.

By Kathryn Reed

It’s Saturday afternoon and the slopes of Heavenly Mountain Resort are noticeably lacking people – at least for this time of day in mid-February.

For those who are taking advantage of the groomers, coverage and conditions are good considering this has been the winter that Mother Nature forgot. Obstacles for the most part are adequately marked.

Chairlifts are full, but lift lines minimal at Heavenly on Feb. 11. Photos/Kathryn Reed

With people in the Bay Area being scared off by the lack of snow and not understanding the concept of snowmaking and the mechanics of grooming, it means people can be distributed throughout the mountain even though less than half of Heavenly’s terrain is open.

But Monday all of this could change if forecasters are correct.

The National Weather Service in Reno is calling for light to moderate snow tonight and into Monday. A winter weather advisory has been issued from midnight through 4 pm Monday.

Four to 8 inches of snow could drop at lake level, with up to a foot above 7,000 feet.

It might mean tree skiing will open up. This weekend it has a bit of a different meaning by the looks of Dipper Bowl off the Comet chairlift. Tiny trees are visible on what is normally a fun run.

More snow would keep the reservoir by East Peak full.

The Monday morning commute over Sierra passes is expected to be unpleasant with slick conditions, blowing snow and chain requirements.

Forecasters say there is a chance the white stuff will stick around into Wednesday. Temperatures are expected to be in the mid-30s in the Lake Tahoe Basin for the first half of the week, with overnight lows dropping to the teens on Monday and Tuesday.

By USSA

SOLDEU-GRANDVALIRA, Andorra — Three-time Audi FIS Alpine World Cup overall champion Lindsey Vonn of Vail was hit by gusts of swirling wind, yet powered to eighth in the Soldeu giant slalom on Sunday. Tessa Worely of France won to overtake the giant slalom points lead as Slovenia’s Tina Maze was second to cut Vonn’s still sizeable overall lead to 410 points with six weeks remaining in the season.

The women’s World Cup tour now moves to Sochi, Russia, for a downhill and super combined, which will serve as test events for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games.

Wind continued to plague the weekend blowing inconsistently throughout the race and lowering the second run start by 20 seconds

Wind canceled a rescheduled giant slalom that was to take place on Feb. 10.

Julia Mancuso of Squaw Valley was 16th and Mikaela Shiffrin of Eagle-Vail was 26th for the first World Cup giant slalom points of her career

By USSA

SNOWBASIN, Utah — Devin Logan of West Dover, Vt., won the women’s halfpipe on the Dew Tour in Snowbasin, Utah, while claiming the Dew Tour Cup. She was also named the tour’s Paul Mitchell Breakout Athlete of the Year for her consistent podiums throughout the Dew Tour.

Newly named to the U.S. Freeskiing Team, Maddie Bowman of South Lake Tahoe was third, continuing her consistent podium showings.

Next up the halfpipe athletes head to Mammoth Mountain for the Sprint U.S. Grand Prix taking place Feb. 29-March 3.