Freshies is the word for the day. Here is the ski report from Curtis Fong, the Guy from Tahoe.

A winter weather advisory goes into affect at 1pm today. Here is the ski report from Curtis Fong, the Guy from Tahoe.

A Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) for the Tahoe National Forest Travel Management process will be available for review and comment beginning today through April 12. This SDEIS builds on and updates the previous Draft EIS released for public comment in 2008.

Based on public comment which questioned the status of some of the roads and trails in the 2008 DEIS, the Forest Service reviewed older project decision documents for the past 15 years and the Rights-of-Way Atlas to verify road and trail status information. This review corrected some errors found in the various data bases including the number of miles of roads and trails in the existing National Forest Transportation System (NFTS) for the Forest. Because of this new data the Forest Service decided to issue a Supplemental DEIS so the public could review it as well as some additional changes made to the preferred alternative based on public suggestions.

Three open houses will be conducted to explain the data changes and how that affects the alternatives. These open houses will be drop-in style meetings with the opportunity to view displays and maps and talk individually to members of the interdisciplinary team. The open houses are scheduled from 3:30-7:30 pm at the following locations:

March 2 – Sierraville Ranger Station, Sierraville – in the conference room

March 4 – The Ridge Golf Club – 2020 Golf Course Road, Auburn

March 10 – Tahoe National Forest Headquarters – 631 Coyote St., Nevada City – use upper parking lot.

The SDEIS will address the following decisions:

• The prohibition of cross country travel off designated NFTS roads, trails and open areas

• The addition of unauthorized motorized routes to the National Forest Transportation System

• The establishment of motorized “Open Areas”

• Changes to the National Forest Transportation System of roads and trails

• Changes to the class of vehicle allowed on NFTS roads and/or trails

• Seasons of use to minimize wet weather erosion and water quality concerns

• Reopening of Maintenance Level 1 roads (those that had been closed) for public use.

Public comments need to be postmarked by April 12. Comments can be sent to the: Tahoe National Forest, Travel Management Team, 631 Coyote St., Nevada City, CA 95959 or via email to tnf_rte_desig@fs.fed.us .

For more information, the full DEIS is available here. For additional information, all (530) 265.4531.

By Dale Robertson, Houston Chronicle

WHISTLER, British Columbia — Saddened by events far beyond these slopes, Julia Mancuso won the battle but lost the war today. Although she posted the fastest time of the weather-postponed second giant slalom run among all the leading contenders, she had started from too deep of a hole to ultimately salvage a medal in the event she won four years ago in Italy.

Mancuso went down Whistler Mountain with a 1.3-second deficit to Austria’s Elisabeth Goergl and, in the end, finished 0.55 seconds slower than Viktoria Rebensburg, who came from sixth place to win Germany’s second gold medal in Alpine skiing.

Read the whole story

Plenty of snow and blue sky today, with more white stuff on the way Friday afternoon into Saturday. Here is the ski report from Curtis Fong, the Guy from Tahoe.

Wind could be the issue on this powder day. Here is the ski report from Curtis Fong, the Guy from Tahoe.

By Thomas Peele, Contra Costa Times

Boaters who ignore or don’t know basic safety rules cause 88 percent of reported recreational boating accidents in Northern California’s waters, a Times analysis of U.S. Coast Guard data shows.

The unforgiving nature of narrow, curving rivers and sloughs, faster and faster boats, reckless behavior and the lack of mandatory boater education in California combine to make the state’s inland waterways more dangerous to people in small boats than even the vast Pacific Ocean.

As tens of thousands of boaters flock this month to rivers, remote mountain lakes and reservoirs, and the notoriously dangerous San Joaquin Delta, the data shows that people are often injured or killed in boating accidents that could be prevented with common sense.

“When you have horsepower, particularly on personal watercraft and ski boats, people smell those gas fumes and they lose about 100 IQ points,” said Cary Smith, president of the California Boating Safety Officers Association.

Between 1995 and 2004 there were 4,754 reported recreational boating accidents in Northern California and the two Nevada counties on the eastern side of Lake Tahoe, according to data analyzed by the Times. Those accidents claimed 364 lives and injured 3,033 people.

Read the whole story

By USSA

WHISTLER, British Columbia – Wednesday morning marks a change of gears for U.S. women as 2010 Olympic medalists Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) and Julia Mancuso (Olympic Valley, CA) gear up for giant slalom at Whistler Creekside along with Sarah Schleper (Vail, CO) and Megan McJames (Park City, UT).

Mancuso is the defending Olympic champion in giant slalom and will be sporting a specially made speed suit to honor her 2006 gold. For Vonn, it will be an opportunity to chase her first big race podium in the discipline. She has finished as high as fourth on the World Cup, but has yet to climb into the top three.

The start will mark the fourth Olympic Games for Schleper, who missed two successive seasons following the 2006 Olympic Winter Games – the first to a torn ACL and the second to the birth of her son Lasse, who turned 2 last month.

It is the first Olympic race for McJames, who trained in Jackson Hole, Wyo., with the women’s technical program before arriving in Vancouver.

First run is set for 10am with a second run to follow at 1:15pm.

A winter storm warning goes into affect this afternoon. Here is the ski report from Curtis Fong, the Guy from Tahoe.

On March 4 at 6pm Jenny Hatch, program manager of the Northern Sierra Regional Cal/Trout Organization, will provide an in-depth look at the condition of native trout throughout the region.

Then Victor Babbitt of Tahoe Fly Fishing will give a fly tying demonstration and ask for public participation.

This event is free at Explore Tahoe in the Heavenly Village in South Lake Tahoe.

For more information, call (530) 542.4637.