By Bill Pennington, New York Times

WHISTLER, British Columbia — Rivals since they were 12, Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso have long been the yin and yang of American ski racing. They are Olympic teammates now for the third time, and little has changed since they were preteens.

Lindsey Vonn has 18 World Cup wins in the last two seasons and has become the most decorated American female racer in World Cup history.

Vonn is trying to win multiple gold medals to validate her last two years of international domination. Mancuso, a surprise gold medalist at the 2006 Turin Games, has been nearly an afterthought after two consecutive years of subpar results.

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A storm is expected to move into the Lake Tahoe region later today. For now, it’s partly cloudy. Here is the ski report from Curtis Fong, the Guy from Tahoe.

By Kathryn Reed

TRUCKEE — Staring at a map that looks more vast than the layout of the downhill resort, I feel overwhelmed. I just want a little snowshoe.

No worries.

Short or long, green-blue-black — that’s all possible at Northstar-at-Tahoe.

Jann Reed and Sue Wood at Northstar. Photos/Kathryn Reed

It was easy to accommodate the three of us. My sister, Jann, doesn’t downhill because of bad knees. Sue and I don’t downhill on the Sunday of a long holiday weekend.

With my pass I was able to skip paying the $25 fee to access the maze of trails. The resort grooms 40 kilometers for cross country tracks.

We stayed on a snowshoe-only route. However, the Sawmill Flats trail we zigged along did cross a downhill run.

Meandering through thick conifers covered in lichen had the three of us forgetting we were at a major Lake Tahoe ski resort on Presidents’ Weekend. Virgin snow covered the land beyond the single-track trail we followed.

Mounds of snow along the trail.

Maps along the way are easy to read as is the paper one we each have.

It would be possible to be out in the woods for days, but we figured a couple hours would suffice before heading to lunch at the Ritz-Carlton.

Northstar’s trails are accessed via the Big Springs Express Gondola. A short snowshoe from this mid-mountain drop-off point gets you to the snowshoe-cross country center. There, rentals and lessons can be purchased.

Chairs and a fire pit beckon weary athletes. A view of the downhill area seems like a different world from the peaceful, serene wilderness we just came from.

Easy to know where to go.

A moonlight snowshoe tour is coming up Feb. 25-26, as well as March 26-27. Telemark clinics are slated for March 7 and April 4.

For more information about Northstar’s snowshoe-cross country center, click here.

By USA Today

South Lake Tahoe’s Hannah Teter surrendered first place, but the U.S. still managed two Olympic medals in the women’s halfpipe on Thursday.

Teter, who led after the first run in the finals, scored a high of 42.4, good for second place behind Australia’s Torah Bright, with a 45.0

Hannah Teter

American Kelly Clark took the bronze with a score of 42.2.

U.S. hopes of sweeping the medals were dashed with poor performance by Elena Height of South Lake Tahoe and Gretchen Bleiler, who both fell on their two runs.

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By Matthew Piper, USSA

WHISTLER, British Columbia — Julia Mancuso (Olympic Valley, CA) charted a courageous line through Thursday afternoon’s slalom run to earn her second silver in two events and tie Bode Miller (Franconia, NH) for the most Olympic medals ever by a U.S. skier at three.

“When I realized that I got another medal, it’s that moment that you wait for as an athlete,” Mancuso said. “It’s the moment that you realize that I’ve been working so hard for this moment, and to know that really, anything’s possible. I didn’t expect that from myself, I just believed and went for it.”

Germany’s Maria Riesch won super combined’s top honor after downhill gold medalist and first-run leader Lindsey Vonn (Vail CO) hooked her tip around a gate and crashed late in her slalom run.

Julia Mancuso

Mancuso, who also won downhill silver Wednesday and giant slalom gold in Torino, now ranks tied for sixth all time among U.S. women in Winter Olympic medals – still just 25 years old. Yet her age and recent performances belie two years of struggles on the World Cup circuit because of a back injury and changes in equipment regulations that mandated bigger, heavier skis for the petite Mancuso.

“She’s a big event girl, she always has been,” said U.S. Women’s Head Coach Jim Tracy. “Yeah, she struggled last year, but I think in some respects it was not the worst thing in the world, because it certainly refocused her on what she wanted to do and when she wanted to accomplish those things.”

Third after downhill, Mancuso went hard for the slalom leg, barely maintaining control around the gates and thrilling the Whistler crowd as she snuck into first past Austria’s Kathrin Zettel.

“I don’t know where this slalom was hiding, but she certainly brought it out on the day that she needed to,” Tracy said.

“I was nervous in the start, but I was also really excited,” Mancuso said. “I knew that it was all-or-nothing, so I went out there and I gave it my all. I crossed the finish line after having a mistake and saw that I was in first. It really was just joy and amazement.”

Riesch reversed her eighth-place downhill fortunes with a stylish, smooth slalom that unseated Mancuso, and Vonn fell behind her close friend at the last interval by .18 seconds before hitting a gate and losing her ski. A course worker handed it back, and she made her way down to the finish to deliver a congratulatory hug to Riesch.

“She has her gold medal from yesterday,” Reisch said after winning Germany’s first alpine gold since 1988. “Today, it was a bad day for her, yesterday it was a bad day for me, and that’s how sports is. I think she has another good chance in the super G.”

Case in point, Sweden’s Anja Paerson recovered from a brutal impact off the final jump in Wednesday’s downhill to take super combined bronze.

“I was just fighting hard,” Vonn said. “It happens in slalom. I was hoping that it wasn’t going to happen today, but I gave it my best.”

Vonn said she will continue treatment for a bruised shin, although Tracy said she has the mental strength to push through it and perform well in the remaining three Olympic races.

“I think the pain, for these events, she can put it out of her mind,” Tracy said. “It’ll bother her after the event’s over, but I think she’s so focused that the pain probably isn’t there too much.”

Kaylin Richardson (Edina, MN) was the next highest U.S. finisher in 17th, while Leanne Smith (Conway, NH) finished 21st after tearing her ACL in Cortina just over a year ago.

“We only got one training run, which was sort of a half training run, and I managed to miss three gates,” Richardson said after the downhill. “It was my first time ever on that course, so it ran differently than I thought so going into this race. I knew that I needed to take some risks, but at the same time, I really wanted to make all the gates.”

Next up for the U.S. women: a day of rest, then the super G on Saturday.

“Confidence breeds confidence,” Tracy said. “We’ve got two of them right now that have a lot of confidence going.”

2010 Olympics Women’s Super Combined

Gold — Maria Riesch, Germany, 2:09.14

Silver — Julia Mancuso, Olympic Valley, CA, 2:10.08

Bronze — Anja Paerson, Sweden, 2:10.19

4. Kathrin Zettel, Austria, 2:10.50

5. Tina Maze, Slovenia, 2:10.53

–

17. Kaylin Richardson, Edina, MN, 2:13.40

21. Leanne Smith, Conway, NH, 2:13.97

DNF —  Lindsey Vonn, Vail, CO

It’s a groomer kind of day in Lake Tahoe. Here is the ski report from Curtis Fong, the Guy from Tahoe.

By Kathryn Reed

With the centennial of naval aviation in 2011, preparations are under way to commemorate this event. South Lake Tahoe may be part of those of festivities.

The Navy asked Lake of the Sky Air Show officials to apply to be one of the 25 sites to host a celebration next year. Word should come in March if South Lake Tahoe has been selected.

Planes of all kinds come to the annual Lake of the Sky Air Show. Photo/Kathryn Reed

Rick Jenkins, who heads the volunteer committee that puts on the annual air show, said this would be huge for the South Shore. Admirals, a Navy squadron and more would be part of the spectacle. The monetary benefits could be substantial as well as the media exposure.

For now, though, the committee is focused on Aug. 28. That is the date of this year’s 21st annual Lake in the Sky Air Show.

Even though it is months away, every month the committee meets at Lake Tahoe Airport in order to pull off the event that can attract 10,000 people. Volunteers get two months off between wrapping up the last show and beginning work on the next one.

On Wednesday night the 14 people gathered at the table tackled a three-page agenda.

“They are concerned about security. They have never landed anywhere other than a military base,” Jenkins said of the EA-18 Growler. This electric plane has been part of the military fleet since August.

Discussions centered on what type of 24-hour security could be made available.

Talks are ongoing about having a C-5 transport aircraft do a flyover. There’s one at Travis Air Force Base.

The MV-22 Osprey, which flies like a plane and lands like a helicopter, may come to the show. A squadron is based in Miramar.

War birds are being secured, like an OV-10.

Last year more than $300 million in aircraft came to the one-day Tahoe air show.

On the tarmac each year are planes of all sizes. Some are one-seaters, other can haul several tanks or other military vehicles. Some are privately owned, some the taxpayers of the United States have paid for.

As Jenkins describes it, “We put on a $100,000 show for $20,000.”

At the most recent planning session, it was discussed that local law enforcement will be returning. New this year is the possibility of the Douglas County bomb squad using its high-pressure air tool to blow things up.

“Absent an emergency, these guys love to bring their toys out,” Lt. Les Lovell of the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department said of all law enforcement. Lovell is a member of the committee.

K-9 demonstrations are also part of the fun. So are a pancake breakfast, 5K run and motorcycle display.

Coming up with a sky diving demonstration is still being worked on.

As with most events, much of the minutia that must be attended to happens at meetings like the one Wednesday night. It means discussing portable toilets, assigning someone to talk to Caltrans about verbiage on reader boards, attracting sponsors, discussing entertainment beyond the aircraft and the three acrobatic pilots, where handicapped parking should be, and that it will cost $5 to walk-in to the all day show or $15 per car.

For more information about the air show, click here.

By USSA

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -– Complications from a recent appendectomy will keep freestyle aerialist Dylan Ferguson (Amesbury, MA) from joining his Olympic teammates in Vancouver. The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association Wednesday announced that aerialist Scotty Bahrke (Tahoe City, CA) will replace Ferguson. Bahrke is the brother of Shannon, who won bronze in Saturday’s women’s moguls.

“This is a great disappointment for Dylan, who had some of the Team’s strongest results in the selection process,” said USSA Vice President, Athletics Luke Bodensteiner. “At the same time, we’re happy to have an athlete of Scotty Bahrke’s caliber to replace him.”

Bahrke, 24, has six top-10 finishes including a sixth on the Olympic hill a year ago. His best result came in the huge Moscow World Cup in 2008, where he was fifth.

“I am obviously bummed that I will not be able to compete and have my Olympic dream come true,” said Ferguson from Park City, UT. “But if I am not able to compete, then I wouldn’t have anyone else besides my best friend Scotty compete in my place. I know his jumps will be awesome and I am supporting him one million percent as well as the rest of the team.”

Ferguson had appendicitis surgery on Feb. 3 and was expected to be cleared to travel with the team to Vancouver. But a subsequent infection prevented him from competing.

Bahrke was approved by the IOC as a replacement for Ferguson on Wednesday. He is already in Vancouver and is expected to begin training today or Thursday.

By Toledo Blade

WHISTLER, British Columbia — Lindsey Vonn lived up to expectations and won the Olympic downhill Wednesday, and childhood rival and American teammate Julia Mancuso took a surprise silver medal.

In a race characterized by several crashes — including one to Swedish standout Anja Paerson — Vonn’s bruised right shin proved not to be a hindrance as she sped down

Julia Mancuso

Franz’s Downhill in 1 minute, 44.19 seconds.

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It feels more like spring than winter in Lake Tahoe. Bring out the sunscreen. Here is the ski report from Curtis Fong, the Guy from Tahoe.