By Geralda Miller, Reno Gazette-Journal
Bicycling in Northern Nevada is a great way to get in shape and see the area’s varied terrain.
Easier on the joints than some aerobic activities, bike riding can burn calories, develop muscle and strengthen the core.
Bikes come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
Marian Jamison, who works at Peloton Bicycles in Reno, said you can get a good workout when riding a bike, depending on how fast you go.
Families who have tweens and teens who plan on playing sports soon, should mark their calendars for June 9 when free sports physicals are offered at Barton Family Medicine, 1090 Third St., South Lake Tahoe.
The free physicals for boys and girls begin at 3:30pm and are offered on a first come, first served basis.
Barton Family Medicine has been offering this free service for 20 years. This year they are partnering with Barton Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, Barton Foundation and Barton Public Relations to make this year’s event bigger, better and more thorough.
Students from South Tahoe High School, Whittell High, St. Theresa School and the South Tahoe Middle School are invited.
For more information, call Cindy Cosmi at (530) 543.5660.
By Kathryn Reed
By the time Fourth of July roles around, all campsites in the Lake Tahoe Basin that are in a California state park will be open.
It’s not the case now. At least one loop of each campground is open. But state budget cuts have forced superintendents at the various units to be creative with their resources – including personnel and recreational.
Tours of Vikingsholm run through Labor Day. Photos/Kathryn Reed
Pam Armas runs the Sierra District, which includes the basin and goes from Donner Lake to Mono Lake.
“We have not gotten any complaints and we expected to get some over Memorial Day,” Armas said of the closures. “It was so cold most people didn’t show up.”
She did get complaints in the winter when Sugar Pine was closed to snow campers.
Just last year Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was threatening to close some of the 279 state parks. Public outcry foiled that plan. In his May budget revise he is funding the state parks. But what the Legislature will propose is anyone’s guess.
Still, there will be noticeable differences this summer up and down the state at the parks. Fewer interpretive programs are a given.
“The bathrooms might not be as clean as normal years. There will be a delayed response if someone calls (for a ranger),” Armas said.
This is because she and other superintendents are not allowed to fill vacancies when they arise. People are doing multiple jobs.
Pam Armas
Furlough days will end next month, but Schwarzenegger is proposing a pay cut of 15 percent for most state employees. Armas realizes many people are hurting financially, but she is noticing morale diminishing among her staff as they keep being asked to do more for less.
“I think this will be a really hard summer for all of us,” Armas said of state parks workers.
Another obvious change the public will notice is the elimination of campfire programs and few, if any, junior ranger programs throughout the Sierra District.
“We don’t have enough rangers for public safety and campfire programs,” Armas said. “That is a big loss because people expect to see a campfire program. None are planned, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be able to do something as the summer goes along.”
She said all the parks are in the same boat when it comes to having to make choices about what to offer the public.
Vikingsholm and Ehrman mansions opened Memorial Day weekend and will stay open through Labor Day. Campgrounds will be open that long as well.
Vikingsholm is full of stories about old Tahoe.
Campground reservations in the Sierra District are tracking typical years, with expectations for them to be full once school is out the weather feels more like summer than winter in the mountains.
By Marek Warszawski, Fresno Bee
Last (month), Tim Cohee officially became the new owner/operator of China Peak (formerly Sierra Summit), purchasing the Huntington Lake ski resort for $3.8 million.
A ski industry veteran, Cohee spent the past 17 years as a senior executive at Kirkwood Mountain Resort near Lake Tahoe, including 13 as president and general manager. His résumé also includes stops at Snow Summit (the previous owner of Sierra Summit), Heavenly Valley and Sunday River in Maine.
Cohee recently sat down for a lengthy interview to detail his plans for China Peak.
By Freeskier Magazine
Freeskier has learned of an immeasurable loss to the skiing community. We have confirmed that Arne Backstrom, perennial freeskiing pro, 29, has passed after a big mountain fall. Although details are still unconfirmed, the accident is reported to have occurred on Pisco Mountain (5757m), in the Cordillera Blanca region of Peru, South America.
Details on the exact location and incident are unconfirmed and sketchy at this time. Family and friends are still being notified.
Our thoughts go out to the Backstrom family and to all of Arne’s friends.
As Freeskier confirms details we will post more information.
Publisher’s note as of June 4 at 2:30pm: The stakeholders and Tahoe Regional Planning Agency officials met today. Seaplanes will not be banned from Lake Tahoe.
By EAA
Long a premier destination for seaplanes in the Western United States, local governing bodies threaten to severely restrict seaplane access to Lake Tahoe, the largest alpine lake in the Western Hemisphere. A federally chartered regional planning agency has proposed a noise ordinance that would prohibit any seaplane operations within one mile of the shoreline in a bid to protect the serenity of the lake.
Bisected by the California-Nevada border, Lake Tahoe, often called “The Jewel of the Sierra,” is 6200 feet above sea level, 24 miles long, 12 miles wide and the second deepest lake in North America. Seaplanes have been operating there for at least 75 years since Lake Tahoe Airways started operating Sikorsky S-38 Amphibians on the lake in 1934. Since then, other longtime commercial seaplane airlines and operations have flourished on Lake Tahoe.
Governing the lake is the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) which is a federally chartered bi-state agency created to preserve and enhance the beauty of the Lake Tahoe Basin. Currently, the agency is updating its regional plan for the lake and the proposed noise ordinance would severely restrict private and commercial seaplane operations on the lake.
By U.S. Ski Team
A U.S. and French proposal to submit ski halfpipe to the International Olympic Committee for consideration as early as 2014 was approved without dissent as the International Ski Federation concluded its biennial FIS Congress Friday in Antalya, Turkey. The Congress also unanimously passed proposals from the USA and other nations to accept both snowboarding slopestyle and team snowboardcross into the FIS World Snowboard Championships.
A decision on new events for 2014 could be made by the IOC as early as 2011.
“As a member association, we’re proud of the reputation that FIS has developed as a progressive and dynamic international sports federation, particularly in terms of the events and sports it provides to the Olympic Games,” said U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association Vice President, Luke Bodensteiner in his presentation to the Congress. “By aggressively developing new and dynamic action sports into its program, FIS is leading from a position that is relevant to youth and the worldwide public. That provides value to our stakeholders and our partners.”
Ski halfpipe has been included in FIS World Championships since 2005 and is already on the program for the 2012 Youth Olympics in Innsbruck.
“Ski halfpipe is strongly supported by the ski industry as an opportunity to develop additional, relevant connection points for FIS competitions,” said Bodensteiner. “And it’s an opportunity to derive value from sponsors and television who crave innovative events with strong youth appeal.”
There was also unanimous support for snowboarding slopestyle and team snowboardcross with acceptance into the FIS World Championships by a host of proposals from the USA, Canada and New Zealand.
“Snowboard slopestyle is a great opportunity for both the large and many small areas around the world to activate around terrain parks which are prevalent, easy to develop and easily capable of hosting training and competition,” said Bodensteiner.
While Olympic consideration was not a part of the formal proposal, advocates encouraged the FIS to also look forward and consider it as a potential future event. “It’s a great opportunity for the FIS to seize the moment and subsequently recommend this sport for inclusion in the Olympic Winter Games beginning in 2014,” added Bodensteiner in his Congress presentation.
Team snowboardcross is a format that has already been tested successfully on the World Cup and proven to be well received by the public and athletes.
“With successful team events in nordic and now in alpine skiing, there’s tremendous opportunity to add a team event into snowboarding,” said Bodensteiner. “A nation’s event will bring a fantastic new element to the typically individual competitions of snowboarding.”
The FIS is already submitting both an alpine team event and women’s ski jumping again to the IOC for 2014 consideration, both approved in past meetings.
By Roman Stubbs, Reno Gazette-Journal
Terry Sullivan will compete in his third consecutive Reno-Tahoe Odyssey this weekend.
But unlike in his first two races, the Reno native will run from another country. Some might say another world.
He’ll run his portions of the race in Afghanistan, outside a NATO base in Kabul, chasing the feeling of home.
“I’ll definitely be thinking about the locations that I would have run if I were home,” Colonel Terry Sullivan said via e-mail, taking a break from long hours with the Nevada Army National Guard. “It’s a pretty austere environment here with lots of work and very little ‘down’ time. To have a chance to be part of something as special as the RTO reminds me of why I volunteered to come here.”
The South Lake Tahoe Ice Arena is offering a curling orientation and clinic June 12 from 1-3pm.
Curling is a great sport similar to shuffleboard played on ice. Although it is often played with significant strategy and skill, it can be enjoyed by all ages after a short lesson. The intent is to develop enough players to offer a league beginning this fall.
Prepare yourself by logging on to www.curlingbasics.com to learn the fundamentals of the game. Cost is$12 and enrollment is limited, so sign up by stopping by the Arena at 1176 Rufus Allen Blvd., or calling (530) 542.6262.
The annual Sawmill Pond Kids’ Fishing Derby is June 5 from 8am to noon.
All kids under 14 are welcome to participate in the free derby. If you don’t have a fishing pole, the guides from Tahoe Fly Fishing Outfitters will have some loaners.
No lures can be used during the derby. In addition to the fishing derby, the Optimist Club will provide barbecue hot dogs and refreshments.
Note to Parents: If you’d like to donate prizes or volunteer to help, contact Mac-the-Naw at (775) 267.9722 or Victor Babbitt at the Tahoe Fly fishing Outfitters at (530) 541.8208.
Sawmill Pond is at the corner of Sawmill Road and Lake Tahoe Boulevard in South Lake Tahoe.