Close to a foot of snow fell on the South Shore overnight. It started heavy.
All this white stuff is likely to affect lift operations throughout Lake Tahoe.
Here is the ski report from Curtis Fong, the Guy from Tahoe.
Even though the National Ski Areas Association reports a decline in the number of ski injuries in the last decade, the same cannot be said for deaths. The 2010-11 ski season is starting off with some unusual deaths.
This story from the Vancouver Sun talks about a rider who died at Blackcomb when he fell into a creek.
Two people died Christmas Eve when a snowboarder collided with two skiers.
Tahoe area resorts have not reported any deaths this ski season. Photo/Kathryn Reed
Mount Hood Meadows in Oregon has had four deaths in 2010, which includes last ski season.
Two people have died at Cannon Mountain in December.
Mountain High ski resort in Southern California reported a snowboarder died on Monday.
The National Ski Areas Association reports 25 skier and 13 snowboarder deaths during the 2009-10 season out of 59.8 million skier-snowboarder days. Stats show of those 38 deaths, 30 were males.
Snowboarders typically are injured more often, while skiers have more deaths. The use of helmets has decreased the number of head injuries by 50 percent, according to NSAA.
Despite these statistics, snow sports are relatively safe compared to other activities. The National Safety Council reports in 2008, 900 U.S. residents died bicycle riding, and 3,600 drowned either swimming, playing in the water or falling in.
— Compiled by Kathryn Reed
By Chelsea Phua, Sacramento Bee
Placer County sheriff’s authorities are looking for a missing skier at a Lake Tahoe ski resort on Tuesday night as another winter storm is preparing to dump up to a foot of snow in parts of the Sierra Nevada.
Staff members at the Alpine Meadows Ski Resort – about 10 miles south of Truckee – reported the skier missing shortly after 4pm, a sheriff’s dispatcher said.
BORMIO, Italy — Squaw Valley’s Marco Sullivan crashed during downhill training in Bormio, Italy, on Tuesday. He was taken to a regional hospital in Sondalo for evaluation of a possible head injury.
According to U.S. Ski Team Medical Director Kyle Wilkens, Sullivan was conscious and alert. He will remain hospitalized for further observation.
— U.S. Ski Team
By Chris Proctor
SAN PEDRO — The South Tahoe High boys basketball team is in Southern California for the third annual Pirate Shoot-out.
This is the third year South Tahoe has participated in this tournament. The varsity team opened on Monday night against Hamilton High School of Los Angeles. The Vikings got behind early against a talented and fast-paced Hamilton team. The Vikings rallied to make it a game in the fourth quarter when junior guard Rylan Tepper sparked a come-back attempt when scored six points in a row off of Hamilton turnovers.
Unfortunately, the Vikings could not sustain the comeback effort and fell 62-48.
Peter Pielaet-Strayer led the Vikings with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Sophomore Kyante Wilson also had a strong game with eight points.
The Vikings played against Community Harvest of Sherman Oaks today at noon. The Vikings got out to a quick start with tenacious defense going up 12-0. Community Harvest countered with solid play from two players who scored 35 points between them.
The Vikings continued to pour on the pressure with their press and converted on the forced turnovers winning 67-46.
Pielaet-Strayer again led the Vikings with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Junior guard Miltaye Vasquez had a great game with 14 points, four rebounds and five assists. Sophomores John Cefalu and Wilson played solid defense and rounded out the top scorers with six and seven points, respectively.
The Vikings will play Mary Star High School of San Pedro on Wednesday at 3pm.
Chris Proctor coaches the STHS boys’ varsity basketball team.
By U.S. Ski Team
SEMMERING, Austria -– Three-time Olympic medalist Julia Mancuso of Squaw Valley nearly returned to the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup giant slalom podium Tuesday after skiing an incredibly clean second run to finish fifth. Lindsey Vonn and Sarah Schleper of Vail continued the strong day for Americans in seventh and 15th, respectively.
Tessa Worley of France matched American Ted Ligety on the women’s side winning her third consecutive GS this season with a wire-to-wire victory.
Germany went 2-3 with Maria Riesch regaining the overall lead from Vonn with second, while reigning World Cup GS champion Katrhin Hoezl was third. Megan McJames of Park City, the only other American starter, missed qualifying for a second run by just seven-hundreths.
“I’ve been skiing so good in training, so it’s nice to put a run together,” said Mancuso, who was just 0.39 off the podium. “First run I was getting knocked around a little and couldn’t get back in my rhythm, so it was nice to start a little earlier in the second run. I knew I had a lot of opportunity to move up because it was so tight between the first group.”
Mancuso, the 2006 Olympic GS champion, produced the second fastest second run to leap from the 18th position to fifth for her best GS finish since December 2007. Schleper followed suit and also made a move jumping from 20th in the first run to 15th, scoring World Cup points in her third GS race this season.
Despite letting the overall lead slip to Riesch, the race continued Vonn’s resurgence in giant slalom as she matched her finish from St. Moritz two weeks ago to post her third GS point scoring race this season.
“There were already tons of people out today and tomorrow’s going to be crazy,” said Mancuso. “We’re so close to Vienna and they really love ski racing around here. it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Official results, Audi FIS Alpine World Cup, Semmering, Austria, Giant Slalom
1. Tessa Worley, France, 2:09.66
2. Maria Riesch, Germany, 2:10.28
3. Katrhin Hoelzl, Germany, 2:10.44
4. Elisabeth, Goergl, Austria, 2:10.51
5. Julia Mancuso, Squaw Valley, CA, 2:10.83
–
7. Lindsey Vonn, Vail, CO, 2:11.06
15. Sarah Schleper, Vail, CO, 2.11.81
–
Did not qualify first run: Megan McJames, Park City, UT
White stuff is gently falling from the sky this morning on the South Shore. The volume is expected to pick up as the day goes on. It might be a powder afternoon.
Here is the ski report from Curtis Fong, the Guy from Tahoe.
A 24-hour winter storm warning has been issued by the National Weather Service in Reno starting at 4pm today.
Expect 1 to 2 feet of snow above 7,500 feet and 6-12 inches at lake level.
“There will be a period of rain or a mix of rain and snow below 6,500 feet Tuesday evening before precipitation changes to all snow early Wednesday morning,” the NWS said.
Besides more snow to shovel and ski on, the most dramatic change in the weather is likely to be the temperature. Beginning Wednesday the overnight lows will be single digits before rising to the teens Friday night.
Today’s high is expected to be in the 30s in the Lake Tahoe Basin, with the high in the 20s for the rest of the week.
– Lake Tahoe News staff report
By Peter Brumis
Watercraft inspection data and scientific reports continue to indicate that Lake Tahoe’s waters remain clear of invasive Quagga and Zebra mussels, which are considered major threats to Lake Tahoe and surrounding water bodies. Tahoe Resource Conservation District (Tahoe RCD) watercraft inspectors performed 8,000 inspections this boating season, and there were an additional 19,000 launches comprised of watercraft with intact Tahoe-issued inspection seals.
“We’re very happy with the watercraft inspection program thus far,” said Patrick Stone, TRPA’s senior wildlife and fisheries biologist and lead for early detection monitoring of invasive mussels. “Investigations conducted around Lake Tahoe, Fallen Leaf Lake, and Echo Lake confirmed that Quagga and Zebra mussels have not established in our lakes. These results are a credit to the inspection program.”
Fallen Leaf Lake has a decontamination facility.
Concern among local agencies remains high, as more Western water bodies have shown evidence of invasive mussels and other aquatic invaders. Water bodies in California and Nevada known to be infected with invasive mussels include San Justo Reservoir, Lake Mead, Lake Havasu, and the entire Colorado River system. As watercraft continue to arrive from high-risk waters, the importance of Lake Tahoe’s watercraft inspection program remains critical.
Federal appropriations through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2010 enabled the program to implement off-highway inspection stations. This created an opportunity to streamline inspection procedures and increase decontamination capacity.
2010 saw a dramatic increase in watercraft decontaminations, which doubled from approximately 600 in 2009 to 1,208 this year. Improved decontamination capacity at off-highway inspection locations allowed inspectors to be more thorough in treating high-risk watercraft. Additional improvements to inspection protocol allowed inspectors to increase prevention efforts by intercepting watercraft arriving from waters known to be infested with aquatic invasive mussels.
Eleven watercraft showing the presence of aquatic invasive species of concern were intercepted and decontaminated.
“It only takes one contaminated boat to introduce aquatic invasive species into Lake Tahoe,” said Tahoe RCD Biological Resources Program Manager Kim Boyd. “We need to remain vigilant and not let our guard down. We hope that by demonstrating the success of the watercraft inspection program for Lake Tahoe, the Tahoe RCD and its partners can create a model for prevention programs by sharing our resources and providing support. The TRPA, our key partner in invasive species prevention, continues to be instrumental in the success and evolution of this program.”
While the addition of convenient off-highway locations enabled boaters to receive their watercraft inspections and decontaminations when entering the Lake Tahoe Basin, marinas and boat launches continued to be the busiest locations for inspections in 2010. Cave Rock saw the most inspections, followed by the Tahoe Keys Marina, Lake Forest Boat Launch, Meyers Inspection Station, Alpine Meadows Inspection Station and Sand Harbor. Off-highway inspection stations accounted for approximately 31 percent of all inspections performed during the 2010 boating season.
This year’s prevention efforts also included a more rigorous non-motorized watercraft inspection process at ramp facilities, US Forest Service kiosks and Fallen Leaf Lake. Tahoe RCD inspectors surveyed over 1,900 paddlers to assess the risk of transporting aquatic invasive species from previously visited water bodies. Paddlers were also educated about self-inspecting and decontaminating canoes, kayaks and paddleboards.
Current information on the boat inspection program, including hours of operation for boat launches and snow closures, is available online or by calling 888.824.6267.
Peter Brumis is public outreach specialist for the Tahoe Resource Conservation District.
The Carson Valley agricultural and ranching community, along with the Carson Valley Visitors Authority, the Lahontan Audubon Society, the Nature Conservancy, the Western Nevada Resource Conservation & Development Office, the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension and other members of conservation community will once again present the unique birds of prey viewing and agricultural education experience, Eagles and Agriculture, Feb. 25-27.
Eagles & Ag, now in its ninth year, provides a once a year opportunity to experience the influx of bald eagles and other birds of prey that come to the Carson Valley each year during the winter calving season. This interaction between nature and agriculture attracts photographers, birders and nature-lovers of all kinds who come to closely observe bald and golden eagles, hawks, falcons, owls, and a variety of other bird and wildlife species.
While registration is limited to ensure a high quality experience, nearly 4,000 enthusiasts have attended previous year’s events and have given rave reviews. Participants are encouraged to sign up soon as space is limited for all Eagles and Agriculture events. The tours and workshops demonstrate how agricultural stewardship benefits wildlife and their habitat in Nevada.
All proceeds benefit local wildlife, conservation and agriculture projects. All tours and events are staged at or hosted by the Carson Valley Inn on Highway 395 in Minden.
Registration for the event is available online.