SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — Fall is coming to the mountains, and SunSnow Event Company is bringing back the Meyers Mountain Fall Festival for its third year on Saturday, October 10 and Sunday, October 11, 2026, from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. each day at Tahoe Paradise Park.
The two-day celebration will feature live music, local food and artisan vendors, seasonal activities, pumpkins from Corley Ranch, a beer and wine garden, family-friendly entertainment and plenty of opportunities to enjoy the sights, flavors and traditions of fall.
The idea for the festival was born from a simple desire: to bring a little bit of Apple Hill to South Lake Tahoe.
“We love the tradition of heading down the hill to Apple Hill every fall, but we wanted to create something closer to home where our Tahoe community could experience that same feeling,” said Kree Abravanel, founder and Market General Manager of SunSnow Event Company. “We wanted to bring that quintessential fall atmosphere— the pumpkins, the food, the local makers, the music and a place for families and friends to spend the day together—right here to South Lake Tahoe.”
A Weekend Celebrating Fall in the Mountains
The Meyers Mountain Fall Festival is designed to capture the spirit of a classic fall harvest celebration while showcasing the small businesses, artists, musicians and community organizations that make the Tahoe region special.
Festivalgoers can browse a variety of artisan and specialty vendors, farm-fresh produce, enjoy food and seasonal treats, pick out pumpkins from Corley Ranch, and take part in family-friendly activities throughout the weekend.
The festival will also feature a beer and wine garden, with beer from South Lake Brew Co. and Crystal Basin Cellars pouring wine and offering bottles for purchase to take home.
For families, the weekend will include a dedicated kids’ craft area, bounce houses, inflatable axe throwing, corral games, the festival’s popular pie-eating contest (Saturday), and the return of the Halloween costume contest (Sunday).
Live Music Both Days
Music will be a major part of the weekend, with four Tahoe-area acts performing across Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday, October 10
11:30am – 2pm: Ash Relics and Friends
2:30pm – 5:30pm: Broken Compass Bluegrass
Sunday, October 11
11:30am – 2pm: Bison
2:30pm – 5:30pm: Mescalito
With live music running throughout the afternoon, attendees can grab a drink, enjoy some food and settle in for a laid-back fall afternoon at Tahoe Paradise Park.
Building a Tahoe Fall Tradition
The Meyers Mountain Fall Festival is produced by SunSnow Event Company, a South Lake Tahoe-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to creating affordable community events that support local farmers, artisans, musicians, small businesses and community organizations.
SunSnow also produces the Meyers Mountain Market, Ski Run Farmers Market and Music in the Park, bringing thousands of people together throughout the year to shop, eat, listen to music and support local businesses.
“We’re really excited to see this event becoming its own Tahoe fall tradition,” said Abravanel. “There are so many wonderful things about fall in this region, and we want the festival to be a place where people can slow down, enjoy the season and celebrate the community around them.”
Early-Bird Tickets Available Now
General admission tickets are currently available online, with $3 off admission through midnight on September 21st using promo code EARLYBIRD26.
Tickets provide access to the festival grounds, live music, family activities and entertainment. Food, drinks and pumpkins are available for purchase separately.
INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. – The Tahoe Fund announced that it has received a $750,000 grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to lead a science-driven effort to increase wildfire resilience for communities and forest ecosystems in the Tahoe Sierra Region.
“The Moore Foundation is leading the charge in philanthropic wildfire work on a global scale,” said Amy Berry, Tahoe Fund CEO. “It’s an honor to be part of their Wildfire Resilience Initiative. With their support, we will be able to expand our impact in the Tahoe/Sierra region and better prepare our communities for potential fire.”
The partnership includes funding to support work on forested landscapes and within communities, including the Fire Smart Community Pilots now underway in six neighborhoods in the Tahoe Region, and plans for forest stewardship on Tahoe’s West Shore. By bringing together new technologies, local fire districts, residents, and researchers, these pilots are creating a whole new approach to preparing communities for wildfire and demonstrating how comprehensive stewardship actions can support forest health, community preparedness, and wildfire resilience.
“The Tahoe Fund is co-developing these Fire Smart Community Pilots with fire agencies, land managers, and property owners,” said Genny Biggs, program director, Wildfire Resilience Initiative, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. “They test the parcel- and community-level ‘mitigations that matter,’ to prioritize and implement place-based interventions that measurably reduce vulnerability to extreme wildfire events—and, ultimately, to scale durable public-private partnerships that turn wildfire risk into resilience.”
This grant is part of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation’s Wildfire Resilience Initiative, enabling beneficial fire and reducing vulnerability to extreme wildfire, to safeguard healthy fire-adapted ecosystems and resilient fire-prone communities. To learn more, visit https://www.moore.org/wildfire.
STATELINE, Nev. – A Douglas County School Board Trustee accused of embezzlement was given a conference date during her appearance in Tahoe Township Justice Court on Tuesday, September 15.
Erinn Miller, accused by two parents of embezzling $125,000, appeared before Judge Richard Glasson without representation. After reviewing her information, the judge told Miller she would be assigned a public defender. She’ll reappear on October 6 at 1 p.m. for a Mandatory Status Conference.
Miller asked that her ankle monitor be removed in the meantime but the court said she needed to submit a request in writing before it would be considered.
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — The Lake Tahoe Unified School District Board of Education met on September 10, 2026, with updates highlighting student achievement, school priorities, wellness efforts, District finances, and community partnerships.
Bijou and Meyers Share School Priorities and Academic Progress
Bijou Community School Principal Rosie DePierri and Meyers Elementary School Principal Heather Hart updated the Board on their schools’ 2026–27 School Plans for Student Achievement (SPSA).
Bijou’s focus areas include strong Tier 1 instruction, literacy and phonics, intervention, English Language Development, FOSS Science, Thinking Maps, new mathematics resources, student support, attendance, family engagement, and continued Community Schools work.
Meyers is focusing on strong connections, academic excellence, family engagement, and continued professional learning for staff. Hart also highlighted continued academic growth in English Language Arts, mathematics, and science.
Board Approves Updated Wellness Policy
Food Services Director Tammy Miller presented recommendations from the District Wellness Committee. The update includes exploring recess before lunch at elementary schools, giving students a full 20 minutes to eat lunch, and establishing consistent handwashing or hand-hygiene practices. The Board unanimously approved the updated Wellness Policy.
Employee Association Reports
South Tahoe Educators’ Association (STEA) President Nicole Mora thanked the Board and District for the opportunity to meet regarding salary negotiations. She said the District presented proposals related to the salary schedule, which STEA believes should be addressed through regular negotiations. STEA reiterated its request for a 4.31% COLA for STEA members and asked the District to reconsider how it prioritizes new state funding.
Dr. Cutler thanked STEA representatives for meeting with the District. He acknowledged that the parties had not reached an agreement and that the Public Employment Relations Board had declared an impasse. Mediation is scheduled for October 12, 2026. Dr. Cutler stated that the lack of an agreement does not mean the District does not care about its employees and that the District will continue to look at opportunities based on Board direction and the District’s budget.
Board Approved the 2025–26 Unaudited Actuals
Chief Business Official Kelly Buttery provided the Board with a year-end look at the District’s finances for 2025–26. The District’s revenue was $61.9 million, and expenditures were $66.4 million. Because expenses exceeded revenue, the District used previous-year funds; this is called deficit spending. This makes careful management of ongoing expenses and maintaining an adequate reserve especially important.
Kelly Buttery Provided / LTUSD
The District ended the year with an ending fund balance of $7.3 million. Most of the ending fund balance is restricted, meaning it can be spent only on specific programs or purposes. Unrestricted funds provide the District with more flexibility to pay for ongoing operations and unexpected costs.
Buttery also reported that 86.2% of the District’s unrestricted General Fund expenditures went toward employee salaries and benefits. When restricted and unrestricted funds are combined, salaries and benefits accounted for 80.1% of all General Fund spending.
Trustee Mansfield expressed concern about the percentage of unrestricted funds being spent on salaries and benefits and emphasized the importance of protecting the District’s reserves and maintaining long-term financial stability.
District Highlights Marcella Foundation Partnership
During his Superintendent’s Report, Dr. Todd Cutler shared highlights from the Marcella Foundation Atrium Construction Kickoff and the future Makerspace and Career Technical Education opportunities for LTUSD students. Dr. Cutler emphasized how much the District values its partnership with the Marcella Foundation and its continued support of LTUSD students.
STATELINE, Nev. – South Lake Tahoe Mayor Cody Bass has been sentenced to 10 days, starting immediately, in Douglas County Jail and 35 suspended days in jail, during a sentencing hearing on Tuesday morning.
The jail sentence was in regard to a harassment conviction for an incident that occurred at the Tahoe AleWorx in Stateline in September 2025.
Bass’ representative Adam Spicer asked that the jail sentence start after Bass’ term in office is up in three months but Judge Richard Glasson sentenced him to begin serving his time immediately.
The 35 suspended days are in place for the next two years. Bass must avoid any businesses from the Courthouse located off Kahle Drive to the California state line. He must also stay sober, including alcohol and marijuana and will be subjected to testing.
From fighting food insecurity and improving childhood literacy to creating new opportunities for Tahoe’s next generation of entrepreneurs, the Marcella Foundation is tackling some big community needs with an ambitious local approach.
On this episode of Tahoe TAP, hosts Mike Peron and Rob Galloway sit down with Melissa Uppendahl, founding Executive Director of the Marcella Foundation, to talk about the organization’s growing impact across the region and the projects it has on the horizon.
Since helping launch the Foundation, Uppendahl has been instrumental in developing programs centered on food security, literacy, mentorship and youth opportunity. That includes FeedTahoe, which works to address hunger in the community; the countywide expansion of the Imagination Library, providing books to young children; and the Fannan Fellowship, designed to support and inspire emerging leaders and entrepreneurs.
Now, another major project is taking shape: [http://.https//atriummarcellafoundation.org]The Atrium, an innovative makerspace being developed to give community members a place to create, collaborate, learn new skills and turn ideas into reality.
Uppendahl’s path to nonprofit leadership includes founding Lift Literature and working in the financial management of environmental restoration projects throughout the Lake Tahoe Basin. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from St. Mary’s College and a Master of Public Administration from CSU Chico.
A mother of three boys, Uppendahl has built her work around a belief in big ideas — and, more importantly, creating the partnerships and infrastructure needed to make them happen.
In this episode, Tahoe TAP explores the Marcella Foundation’s expanding role in the community, the challenges of addressing hunger and literacy at the local level, and the vision behind The Atrium as it prepares to become a new hub for creativity, education and entrepreneurship.
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Erika Gonzalez, who has served on the police advisory commission and planning commission, says as a third-generation South Lake Tahoe resident, she wants to represent “the people who actually live and work here.” Her key platform points center around housing, economy, trust and civic participation.
Gonzalez said that even though she’s third-generation, her family came to Tahoe differently than most. Rather than skiing and snowboarding, her family has worked in hospitality—something that she highlights in her campaign. “Conversations around Tahoe sometimes ignore foundational community members who are swing shift people, hospitality, people who work. People like my family are who allow people to party and city council hasn’t had someone with that background.”
She also highlighted that if she won, she would be the first Latina to serve on council, and the first person of Latino descent serving in the 61 years that South Lake Tahoe has been a city.
“Growing up here, I have insight from how much it’s changed. And coming back, I have the skill and experience to engage with how the town is run,” said Gonzalez. Her regular job is as an anti-human trafficking attorney, which she says has helped her understand root causes of issues such as labor and housing. “I’m interested in representing people who are not represented and don’t have a seat at the table.”
That role also has informed how she thinks about transparency. “In representing crime victims, we are taught to be as different from a perpetrator as possible. Perpetrators hide information, which enables fear and mistrust,” she explained. “That has become my north star to give full information, to make it digestible and ensure there is understanding. When there is transparency, people can make informed decisions on engaging with systems.”
While she believes that running for office should be accessible to everyday people, she also recognizes that not everyone has 9 to 5 hours or the understanding of how to participate. She hopes to build more trust to improve civic engagement.
Given her time working on the planning commission and Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s (TRPA) Living Working Group, Gonzalez is interested in examining the vacation home rental economy as well as using regulations to match workforce housing.
She says she cares about the lake and environment, and also wants to have frank conversations that people do need to live here. “When we’re balancing interests, we want to protect the lake and its clarity, but sometimes those conversations do not address that people who work here need a place to live.”
Gonzalez is also interested in continuing the work to diversify the economy, which they see in the strategic plan. She wants businesses that aren’t strictly seasonally dependent, and noted the lack of jobs such as interpreters or paralegals—something she didn’t find when pursuing law, and recognizes the difficulty of finding work in Tahoe post-education.
She also said, “Our community is directly impacted by immigration—South Lake Tahoe’s economy functions with our immigrant population. It’s my interest and true belief to look out for all the residents in this community to protect and represent everyone as they are now.”
Having engaged with local government through the commissions, she said that the work is “fun, but not easy” and felt that she could step up to the role. Similar to what she said when applying for the open seat last year, she said, “I have no aspirations to move up the political ladder—I want to give back to my community and have someone who can represent the Latino community. Tahoe prepared me for Berkeley and for law school, and now I’m ready to use my skillset here.”
“I hope even if I don’t win, I can inspire more Tahoe kids, the younger generation, Latino kids… if there’s anything of my legacy, I want to encourage people to make time for this,” said Gonzalez.
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Heather Horgan was appointed to city council to fill the empty seat last year and told the Tribune earlier this year that she was interested in running. Horgan said, “Had I not been on city council, I would not be running, but my decision remains for the same reason as before. I have spent so much time talking with people, going into businesses, meeting with all these different agencies and bodies… I want to continue to do it because I’ve only just dipped my toe into the role.”
Horgan currently serves on a number of roles through her position on city council, including at different JPAs. She says that the role has helped her to use her background in environmental sciences, search and rescue, nursing and community care.
“Everything at the local level happens at a slow, intentional pace… but that means one year amounts to just introducing yourself,” said Horgan.
She acknowledges that the turnover of city staff and concerns around transparency from the public have come from negative news cycles and concerns over the city’s stability. However, Horgan said she is committed to transparency. “I will continue to give direction for the city to continue and expand its efforts for transparency.” She is interested in re-engineering how information is shared, especially on topics like second readings of important items or road paving activities.
Horgan said she also approaches city meetings with care. “I take the responsibility to prepare before meetings very seriously. And I don’t ignore any emails that come to me because I take the community’s trust to hold their best interests seriously too… there is no city council member who is out in the community like I am.”
A major guiding force for Horgan has been the city’s strategic plan, which she feels should be highlighted more often, especially in relation to items that city council is discussing during meetings. “I want to be part of developing the strategic plan in the future. For me, protecting the natural environment as well as recreation and access for all through information, language access and the Americans with Disabilities Act are very important to me because of my background in environment and nursing.”
Housing and economy have been some of the more pressing matters for Horgan’s tenure in office, since she was the tie-breaking vote on vacation home rentals. “I was naive about how, for some people, that is how I would be defined. I did foresee that there were long-term rentals that would be taken out of stock. But I heard from the community that people are worried about work and VHRs bring jobs.” While she believes that housing stock is important, she also felt strongly about the economic benefit of VHRs.
“Until we develop a second economy, people need the visitor economy. I’m a labor girl and I recognize that people need to work,” said Horgan. “Overall, I think it’d be good to flatten the fluctuations of our economy, perhaps by hosting cultural events or outdoorsy things.”
“I wholly believe at my core that this is a non-partisan governmental body,” said Horgan. “The beauty of a five-person council is that hopefully, everyone will bring different knowledge and engagement. But we should not come with our own agenda—it should always come from the constituents.”
Horgan, unlike many other candidates, does not have a website. But, she says one of her strengths is hitting the pavement. “I don’t want to do signs because I think there’s an environmental impact with that and mailers. But I’ll be out there. I might even stick a ‘Kick Me’ style sign on my back that just says ‘I’m running for council, as me about it.'”
While Horgan could have run on her position in council, she chose to list herself as a registered nurse. “I think that’s a more authentic representation of who I am. I feel a personal responsibility for the health and safety of people here, and even if I’m not on city council, I’m going to be engaged in some other way.”
“Once you see behind the curtain, you can’t unsee it,” said Horgan. “Now that I know that in government, there is someone responsible for decisions that impact us, I can’t look away.”
TAHOE CITY, Calif. – Regional leaders are returning to their fields with new knowledge and tools after the California Natural Resource Agency’s Nature-Based Solutions Summit at Granlibakken Tahoe on Thursday, Sept. 10, which covered the state’s latest strategy for combating climate change.
The Tahoe-based summit is one of many Nature-Based Solutions Summits happening across the state, each focused on different landscape types. This summit focused on forests and mountain meadows.
In attendance were federal, state and local government representatives; non-profits and organizations; and private companies that conduct or are involved in on-the-ground work such as fire mitigation, land restoration and conservation, including the North Tahoe Fire Protection District and Tahoe Resource Conservation District.
What are nature-based solutions?
Nature-based solutions come from the concept of mitigating climate change through restoring natural systems and landscapes.
The idea is to transform state landscapes that are currently a source of carbon emissions, wildfire being one example, into landscapes that actually do the opposite and pull carbon from the atmosphere to help mitigate climate change and benefit surrounding environments.
The language used at the summit to describe this transformation is turning landscapes from “carbon sources” to “carbon sinks.”
Opening remarks from Wade Crowfoot, secretary for Natural Resources at the California Natural Resources Agency, set the tone for the day by explaining nature-based solutions, their role and impact, and the state’s targeted goals.
Crowfoot explained that rather than how conversation has traditionally operated in a silo, this approach seeks to bring solutions and benefits across many different sectors, such as public health and economic development.
He overviewed how these initiatives stem from the state’s mandated carbon emission reduction policies and goals. Nature-based solutions, like restoration and reforestation, have already been implemented for years, but one purpose of these summits is to raise awareness of the state’s nature-based solutions targets and efforts to scale up this work.
Crowfoot shared these targets, which include milestones in 2030, 2038 and 2045 in acres per year in reforestation, conservation, restoration, high-severity wildfire reduction and other science-backed targets on the way to California’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality no later than 2045.
A video from the Sierra Nevada Conservation further elaborated on different nature-based solutions strategies and how treatments differ by landscape type, showing real-world examples across three common California landscape types—conifer forests, oak woodlands, and mountain meadows.
One example was close to home and highlighted the Máyala Wáta Restoration Project, which restored a meadow habitat on the west shore. Washoe Tribe environmental manager Cale Pete explained that, in addition to restoring the meadows, it also re-established the Tribe’s presence in a location at the heart of their culture. Benjamin Fillmore, Environmental Technician for the Washoe Tribe’s Environmental Protection Department, said in the Washoe language and then translated in the video, “With our hands, we’ll make our land right again.”
Power in nature
Deputy Secretary for Climate Change at the California Natural Resources Agency, Amanda Hansen, moderated the summit’s first panel, titled Power in Nature. The panel focused on the benefits that come from restoring the health and resilience of forests and mountain meadows.
The Power in Nature panel at the Nature-Based Solutions Summit at Granlibakken Tahoe on Sept. 10.Katelyn Welsh / Sierra Sun
Cody Reed, senior meadow ecologist at Point Blue Conservation Science, explained mountain meadows’ diverse roles and value, from supporting biodiversity and improving water quality and flood attenuation to sequestering and storing carbon as a long-term nature-based solution.
Reed said many factors cause meadow degradation and loss, including development, grazing, and logging, which affect water quality, meadow plants, and the animals that rely on them. In terms of climate impacts, when meadows degrade, they also become sources of carbon, Reed explained, rather than sinks. Although meadow restoration may be expensive, Reed discussed its value and benefits, including how restored meadows sequester carbon for years and provide wildfire resilience, since what often survives a wildfire lies within these areas.
Another panelist, Marshall Burke, professor of global environmental policy at Stanford University’s Doerr School of Sustainability, explained that research has found massive societal benefits when landscapes are cared for. Using wildfire smoke as an example, he said the benefits are significant and exceed costs of even large-scale ecosystem restoration by a factor of 10. However, one challenge is the delayed gratification that comes from the time it takes to see results. Continuing with the wildfire smoke example, Burke explained that the state would have to prescribe-burn 500,000 acres a year for 10 years to see a 25% reduction in wildfire smoke.
“We can tell the scientific story of when the benefits show up,” he said, “but how best to communicate that to the public and help people understand that this is something we’re all in together, and it’s going to take some work to get there.”
Panelist John Wentworth, CEO of Mammoth Lakes Trails and Public Access Association, discussed how people’s perception of the natural environment compels them to travel and plays a role in driving economic activity. He also pointed to the influx of travelers and the opportunity to educate them. He shared photos of burn piles in the Mammoth Lake area around popular recreation locations, showing how they visually create the perception that something is being done to address wildfires and that visitors feel safer seeing them. “It’s meaningful,” he said. “It’s tangible.”
Innovating finance for these solutions
Finance was a major topic throughout the summit. To that end, the summit hosted a panel on innovative finance for nature-based solutions.
The summit also hosted an interactive tabling event with the State of California Wildlife Conservation Board, Sierra Nevada Conservancy, CAL FIRE, California Tahoe Conservancy and the California Department of Conservation engaging with attendees on state funding opportunities, especially after the passage of the 2024 $10 billion Prop 4 Climate Bond.
A grant funding tree at the Sierra Nevada Conservancy table, which asked participants to write what they wish for from a grant program.Katelyn Welsh / Sierra Sun
Emily Blackmer, director of government and community affairs at the Sierra Business Council, moderated the finance panel.
Zach Knight, CEO and Co-Founder of Blue Forest, which finances conservation projects, explained that when it comes to investing in nature-based solution projects, investors are looking to do good with their money and seek positive outcomes, even if the rate of return on their money is below other market rates of return.
“If they’re gonna give us their money,” he said, “and they’re gonna take a lower rate of return, they need to understand what the outcomes are, whether they care about water, fire risk reduction, carbon in the atmosphere, sedimentation transport. You’d be surprised what funders care about. They care about a lot of things.”
Stacy Caldwell, CEO of the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation, discussed how throwing money at a problem doesn’t work without readiness on the ground.
“It’s kind of like pouring water on a desert floor. If the soil isn’t ready, you don’t absorb it into the things that you want to grow there, right?”
Calwell said that, when it comes to philanthropic giving, donors want to see impacts in their lifetime on specific things, and that it can be a challenge meeting that desire with current institutional philanthropic structures.
She also said that her team at TTCF is challenging themselves to stop thinking about the work in silos, for example, not talking about housing without talking about the workforce, and seeing the interconnectedness of topics and the importance of both public and private funders coming together collectively.
Dave Jones, former California Insurance Commissioner and the current director of the Climate Risk Initiative at the Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, UC Berkeley, discussed the Tahoe Donner community’s acquisition of insurance and how he worked to get the insurance sector to take into account risk reduction and ultimately make insurance more available for high-risk areas, and potential savings. Those savings can then be channeled back into nature-based solutions.
With Tahoe Donner, he said he persuaded an insurer to write a policy at a 34% premium reduction for the Tahoe Donner community, which had been actively managing acreage using thinning and prescribed fire for over a decade.
“So the big win was that the insurance company would not have written that insurance policy in a geography where the other insurers are pulling out,” he said, “but for the fact that there’s forest management occurring there, and we were able to demonstrate that their models could account for it, and they could then comfortably write an insurance policy and price it.”
He also emphasized the importance of practitioners in the audience sharing their work with local, state, and federal data collectors so insurers can use and incorporate it.
Jen Nevills, program manager for Bay-Delta Initiatives at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, discussed building a business case for investment in upper watersheds. Nevills discussed how traditionally water districts approached water challenges with infrastructure and technology, but how climate changes, including snowpack losses, precipitation and runoff pattern changes, and droughts, have incentivized looking at other solutions, like nature-based solutions of investing in watersheds.
Nature-based solutions idea lab
A networking activity rounded out the summit, with participants discussing successful elements they’ve seen in forest and mountain meadow restoration projects in a summit-ending nature-based solutions idea lab.
After breaking off into small groups, the summit came back together to discuss findings.
The idea lab identified funding and financing, partnership and coordination as top elements for successful projects, followed by policy, permitting and solutions, as well as political support.
Participants also reported partnerships, collaborations, and funding opportunities as key takeaways from the summit itself.
Many reported they are looking for more consistent, sustained funding to move their work on nature-based solutions forward.
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – A developer is seeking to significantly raise the height of a proposed 11-unit condominium development on the former Nel’s Hardware lot.
The City of South Lake Tahoe’s planning commission approved the original design for the property — which is at 1050 Fremont Ave — last year and will review the height revision at Thursday’s meeting. The building’s approved height would jump from roughly 26 feet to just over 40 feet, which is newly allowed under the Mid-Town Area Plan city council approved last week.
City staff recommend the planning commission approve the height revision, the city’s planning manager John Hitchcock said.
“Housing of all types are needed, and this project will fulfill that need,” Hitchcock said.
Andrea Gonzalez, an associate planner for Exline & Company, the firm representing the property owner, said the goal of the height increase is to provide better visibility and more closely align with fire sprinkler code.
The design includes six three-story buildings, with 10 of the units being duplexes and one standing alone. Each unit would have four bedrooms, four and a half bathrooms, in-unit washer and dryer, personal balconies and two covered parking spaces.
Condominiums were chosen for the project to match the mixed-use neighborhood and because multi-unit housing was a “good feel for the street,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said the units will sell for market price; she said she does not have an estimate of what that may be at this time.
Proposed project layout for 1050 Fremont Ave.ROBISON ENGINEERING COMPANY, INC
One neighboring property owner opposed the height increase in a public comment to the commission. She wrote that the shadow of the building would block sunlight from her property, which will create health and safety hazards for her tenants during winter, among other concerns.
Gonzalez said the development will include a height transition with the single-family unit constructed to buffer the height between surrounding buildings and the multi-family units. This transition is intended to align with the TRPA’s code and policies and be a “thoughtful” approach to raising the height.
Obstacles moving forward
If the revisions are approved on Thursday, the developer could still face a few more challenges moving forward.
The Mid-Town Area Plan is approved at the city level, but it must also gain approval from the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. TRPA is slated to review the area plan in November, Hitchcock said, and the Fremont Avenue development would be subject to any changes TRPA makes to the plan, including height restrictions.
Gonzalez said the developer expects the TRPA to officially adopt the area plan by December, in which case construction could begin in spring of 2027. But the development hinges on the TRPA’s approval, she said.
Hitchcock said the project also needs a revised TRPA design permit, similar to how it needs the city’s planning commission to revise its existing design permit.
After TRPA approval, the developer must get a building permit before breaking ground, which could take a few months, he added.
The impact of the Mid-Town Area Plan
At its Sept. 8 meeting, South Lake Tahoe City Council adopted the Mid-Town Area Plan that raised the building height limit in the area and changed the zoning, so the developer no longer needs a special use permit to build multi-family housing on the property. The developer previously secured a special use permit but will no longer need it.
The commission originally planned to hear the revision at its Aug. 20 meeting, but it was delayed to this Thursday, Sept. 17 with the consent of the developer. The hearing was delayed in part to allow city council to approve the area plan so the more lenient height restrictions would be in place but also to allow for commissioners to review public comment.
The area plan also requires this development to include 1,100 square feet of community space on the premises that is accessible to all tenants and compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
CEQA exemption
The project is an infill development, which exempts it from the California Environmental Quality Act. The commission already passed a resolution about this exemption with the original design permit in August 2025, but at Thursday’s meeting, the commission must reiterate the exemption for the revised design.
STATELINE, Nev. – The Nevada Mining Association (NVMA) brought together more than 800 industry members and leaders in Lake Tahoe this week for its 2026 Annual Convention. This year’s theme, “Rooted in Nevada,” framed a program focused on the industry’s long history in the Silver State and the opportunities ahead.
For more than 40 years, the NVMA has hosted its annual convention along the shores of Lake Tahoe, connecting mine operators, suppliers, contractors and leaders from across the Silver State and beyond. This year’s gathering came as Nevada continues to stand out globally, ranking first in the Fraser Institute’s 2025 Annual Survey of Mining Companies for investment attractiveness and playing an increasingly important role in the national conversation around critical minerals and domestic mineral production.
“Mining’s roots run deep in Nevada, and you can see that strength in the people who continue to move it forward,” said Amanda Hilton, President of NVMA. “Nevada has generations of expertise behind it and tremendous opportunity in front of it. As new projects advance and demand grows for the minerals our country depends on, we have a chance to build on that foundation and keep Nevada leading for generations to come.”
The convention welcomed Governor Joe Lombardo and retiring U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei, bringing state and federal perspectives to conversations around Nevada’s economy and the future of mining. Attendees also heard from Jon Ralston, CEO of The Nevada Independent, who joined President Hilton for a conversation on Nevada’s 2026 General Election and political landscape as the state approaches its 84th Legislative Session in 2027.
More than 800 people gathered at the annual Nevada Mining Association convention.Provided / Nevada Mining Association
During the State of the Nevada Mining Industry luncheon, Jeremy Aguero, Principal Analyst with Applied Analysis, presented updated data on mining’s economic footprint and outlook. The 2026 report found that in 2025, mining supported more than 30,600 jobs across Nevada, with an average annual wage of $127,200, climbing more than 21% since 2005 and maintaining some of the state’s highest average private-sector wages. Mining also paid a record $686 million in taxes in 2025, driven in large part by industry-specific taxes such as the Net Proceeds of Minerals Tax and Gold and Silver Excise Tax, both earmarked for education.
The convention’s General Manager Panel continued the day’s conversations, featuring leaders from Florida Canyon Mine, McEwen Mining and AngloGold Ashanti North America, who discussed the opportunities and challenges shaping mining operations across Nevada and what lies ahead.
Other events that took place included a session on the evolving regulatory and policy environment impacting Nevada’s mining industry; a fundraiser for The Discovery, Northern Nevada’s hands-on science and technology museum; and a golf tournament at Incline Village Golf Course.
The convention concluded by celebrating the people and operations setting the standard for safety. NVMA recognized 45 of Nevada’s leaders in safety through the 2026 Individual Safety Awards, along with 27 mine operations and six contractors through the 2026 Mine Operator and Contractor Safety Awards for outstanding safety performance. The Nevada Division of Minerals also presented its annual Excellence in Mine Reclamation Awards, recognizing SSR Marigold Mine and Nevada Gold Mines Rain Mine North Waste Rock Disposal Facility for exemplary work in responsible reclamation and post-mine land use.
“The people and operations we recognized this year set the standard for how this work should be done, from protecting their teams to caring for the land they mine,” Hilton said. “That kind of leadership represents the very best of mining, and it’s a big part of why Nevada continues to stand out in this industry.”
To learn more about NVMA’s century of work supporting an industry central to the Silver State’s economy and identity, visit nevadamining.org.
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Tahoe Beach Club sponsored Bread & Broth’s Monday Meal on September 7, helping serve a hot dinner and provide take-home food to food-insecure community members. The event marked the first Adopt A Day of Nourishment sponsorship by the private beach club and residential community on Lake Tahoe’s Nevada shore. Representing the Club were Kristin Cleaver, Ambassador Manager; Jenny Skelly, Property Manager; Kevin Speer, General Manager; and John Watson, Facilities Manager.
As first-time sponsors, the AAD crew members were impressed by the tasty and filling Mexican-themed dinner and the generous selection of take-home food. Bags included meat, fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy products, breads and pastries, canned goods, and prepared foods that guests could use to provide meals later in the week.
In addition to donating $350 toward the meal’s cost, the AAD sponsor provides a crew to work alongside B&B volunteers on every task except cooking, which is handled by B&B’s volunteer cooks. Together, the volunteers served 128 dinners. “Tahoe Beach Club found this to be a very rewarding experience,” Kevin said. “The Bread & Broth volunteers were a delight to work beside.”
After welcoming and serving dinner guests on the serving line, Kristin reflected on the experience, “Thank you so much for having us! We will be back! It’s so great to be a part of the South Lake Tahoe community.”
Beyond sponsoring the September 7 Monday Meal, Tahoe Beach Club selected the Bread & Broth organization to be the recipient of their members’ Christmas Giving Tree donations during the upcoming holiday season.
“We are very thankful for the opportunity to give back,” said Jenny, who coordinated the Tahoe Beach Club’s AAD sponsorship. Bread & Broth looks forward to future AAD sponsorships and appreciates Tahoe Beach Club and the thoughtful staff members who joined them in helping feed those in need in the community.
To learn more about Bread & Broth, donate, sponsor an Adopt A Day of Nourishment, or volunteer, visit www.breadandbroth.org or follow Bread & Broth on Instagram and Facebook.
Integrity Locksmith is expanding into Truckee, Reno and Carson Valley Javier Silva / Tahoe Daily Tribune
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Integrity Locksmith and Safe has been serving the South Lake Tahoe community and surrounding areas since 1985, offering a variety of services ranging from automotive locksmithing and residential security to safe sales and a showroom. Now, they are offering services in Truckee, Reno and Carson Valley areas with the addition of new mobile vans.
Dustin Wiemeyer, owner of Integrity Locksmith, took over the business in 2022. Prior to that, he spent 10 years learning the ins and outs of the business.
“A lot of people don’t think of a locksmith until they’re locked out,” said Wiemeyer. “But we do a lot more than the basic ‘I’m locked out of my house’ [scenario].
Their showroom, located in South Lake Tahoe, offers an array of safes including floor and wall safes to fire-rated firearm and security safes, safe-servicing and combination changes.
They also specialize in 24/7 emergency services, residential and commercial key duplication, rekeying, access control solutions and security camera systems.
Wiemeyer notes that as part of their dedication to assisting the community, they strive to offer affordable solutions.
“I don’t think we’ve raised the price of lost keys in 10 years,” said Wiemeyer. “It hurts so bad when you lose your keys, and we can’t raise the prices on that. We try to keep prices down where we can.”
With the addition of four new mobile service vans, they’re now able to provide more affordable services to Truckee, Reno and Carson Valley areas, with goals of establishing themselves within those locations.
To learn more about Integrity Locksmith and Safe or to request a service, visit locktahoe.com or call (530) 544-2363.
Integrity Locksmith and Safe storefront and showroom is located at 2331 Lake Tahoe Blvd in South Lake Tahoe, Calif.
Integrity Locksmith and Safe storefront and showroom in South Lake TahoeJavier Silva / Tahoe Daily Tribune
When someone asks me “How is the market doing today?”, I can’t always give a quick and easy answer. That’s because we typically equate “the market” with one of several market indexes, but each index gives us different information.
In the U.S., the most-referenced indexes are the Dow Jones Industrial Average, or “Dow”, the S&P 500 Index, and the NASDAQ Composite.
The Dow, founded by Charles Dow dating all the way back to 1896, is the oldest of the three. In 1928, the Dow expanded to 30 large, U.S. companies, often called “blue chips.” While it is no longer limited to industrial companies, the Dow is not a great indicator of the overall markets; rather, experts consider it to be a snapshot of how U.S. blue chip stocks are doing.
The S&P 500 evolved from an earlier market index and was formed in 1957. It contains roughly 500 large, U.S. companies. While many investors think of the S&P 500 Index as representative of the broader stock market, it is most appropriately used as a benchmark for large, U.S. equities.
The NASDAQ Composite is the newest of the 3 indexes. Its start coincided with the launch of the NASDAQ, which opened as the world’s first electronic stock exchange in 1971. It is commonly thought of as the “technology” index, but it has a lot of growth stocks in addition to tech stocks. The NASDAQ Composite is actually a broad index of NASDAQ-listed stocks. Unlike the other 2 indexes, the NASDAQ Composite includes some smaller companies, as well as quite a few companies headquartered outside of the U.S.
In addition to the different types of companies represented by these 3 indexes, each one has its own unique weighting system to determine the value of the index on a given day—more on that in a future article. Because of this, and because of the different types of companies that are represented by each index, on any given day of trading one index can go up while another goes down.
A local analogy would be thinking about Kirkwood, Heavenly, and Palisade on a winter day in Tahoe and asking “is the snow good?” Often, snowstorms come through the region and dump beautiful, fresh powder, and all 3 resorts have great skiing. Other times, Kirkwood could get 18″ of powder, Heavenly gets 9″, and Palisade gets just a few inches—or vice versa. Great snow conditions at one resort do not guarantee great snow conditions at all of them!
Back to the initial question, “how is the market doing today?” On a day when all 3 indexes move in the same direction, we know how a large portion of the market is performing. But if the NASDAQ Composite is down while the S&P 500 and the Dow are up, for instance, the answer is more complicated, and a look at a broader range of investments beyond the indexes is probably necessary.
My final word is that none of these 3 indexes truly represents the broad stock market, let alone a well-diversified investment portfolio. It can be useful to track these indexes, but you should recognize that your portfolio’s performance may not closely match any one of them.
How ever you invest your portfolio, invest smartly and invest well!
Larry Sidney is a Zephyr Cove-based Investment Advisor Representative. Information is found at https://palisadeinvestments.com/ or by calling 775-299-4600 x702. This is not a solicitation to buy or sell securities. Clients may hold positions mentioned in this article. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Consult your financial advisor before purchasing any security.
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – John Friedrich, who previously served on city council, is ready to get back in the race. He says he’s “proud of what we accomplished,” and raring for more. His platform is based on the results of a survey he’s putting out, and is updated in real-time. “The people are the boss of city council,” said Friedrich.
Friedrich previously served on city council and as mayor pro tem, but stepped down in September of 2024. However, he says he was inspired to come back and motivated through engaging with politics again. “In the end, what drew me back was people and all the good work we can still do together.”
Other candidates have laid out their personal platforms, but Friedrich took a different approach: he asks people to fill out a survey and uses that to guide his priorities. “I’m creating a community shared vision and really taking the idea that ‘government is by and for the people’ literally,” said Friedrich. “The role of city council is to facilitate the will of the community we serve and there is a shared intellect and wisdom of our community.”
Friedrich believes that this work will help engage people civically and serve as an objective measure of what people want.
He prided himself on being in the community during his previous tenure, highlighting his work on engaging with the Filipino and Latino communities that would have been impacted by the loop road, funding Sugar Pine Village and Lake Link, partnering with Lease to Locals and passing a plastic water bottle ban.
Housing is a major priority for him and currently top of the list. He said he is interested in continuing to facilitate affordable housing, working with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s plan to remove barriers to building housing and creating programs to help people afford to buy housing.
He also felt there was a link there with business, and supported incentivizing business as a way to help promote job, housing and economic development. “Let’s cut through the red tape and make it easy to do good things.”
Friedrich is the chief development officer of Skycharger and prioritizes environmental stewardship balanced with development and tourism. “We’re gonna have visitors and it’s not our job to put up the gates. We are all visitors compared to the Washoe, and besides, it’s not the visitors that are the problem, it’s the cars.”
“Climate change is the largest threat to Lake Tahoe. We should be a national leader in climate solutions and sustainable tourism,” said Friedrich. He supported the establishment of solar energy (which he felt could help address concerns around power supply to Tahoe) and an electrified fleet of vehicles for the city and Lake Link.
“We see that data centers are competing with people for power. By maximizing renewables, and local energy production with residents and businesses, we get closer to meeting our goal,” said Friedrich. “I think it’s important that we look for alternatives to energy, as well as hold Liberty Utilities to their promises around renewables and costs.”
Friedrich also expressed support for funding staff for fire and police departments, along with their mental health, as well as the roads. “Wherever we can, we have to find funding for police, fire and the roads. That’s the foundation of public government.” He also has a vision for the future of redesigning Highway 50 to be safer and more like a local road than a highway.
Another major point that Friedrich wants—putting city hall closer to the center of town. “It’s noted in the 56 Acres Plan. In my view, the current place that city hall is should be a visitor’s center or a park and ride. Moving city hall to the heart of town would make it a lot easier for people to go.”
In general, people are a major focus for Friedrich, especially in uplifting the many cultures in the community. He wants to bring the multicultural committee back, as well as engage directly with communities, especially immigrants. “They are the heart and soul of South Lake Tahoe.” He emphasized how he wanted to make them feel safe in a politically tumultuous time, leveraging the state of California’s laws and the way it informs local police departments.
“I’m passionate about turning the spotlight back to people so we can get refocused on where we want to go together,” said Friedrich. “To me, it’s an antidote to the way politics usually is—people should be part of what policy is and feel like they can shape that. We should all be measured by our ability to facilitate the will of the people.”
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Dyna Boen, managing director of Escalent’s telecommunications, consumer goods and retail practices, is officially running after previously applying to fill the seat on city council last year. A major part of her platform is rebuilding trust in local government.
Boen got more politically involved in Tahoe a few years ago with No on Measure N. “As a Californian, we’ve had enough with taxes, sales, income, property. I’ve always paid my fair share of taxes and I saw the impact the measure could have on retirees who can’t live here full time.”
But, she says, “I’m not a career politician. Running for politics is completely new to me. But I run a $30 million business and job creation and building kickass teams is what I’m known for.”
One of the major reasons she applied for the open seat last year was to help promote unity and collaboration among city council. “When people work together, you can see the progress. I wanted to break that gridlock that was happening on city council. I believe in the importance of compromise, and I was asking myself, who do these blocks really serve? Not our community.”
Boen describes herself as an “in-the-middle” candidate who is pro-business and economic security. She told the Tribune that she felt her experience as a business owner and as a mother who lives in Tahoe, enjoying the “spirit of adventure” and environment put her in a unique position to serve the community.
“The community has all the ideas. It’s a matter of trialing them,” she said.
She said she strives to create a welcoming business community by removing red tape as a councilmember. She also is interested in job creation, calling it her “north star.” Boen suggested, after listening to community members, that council could help drive the economy during shoulder season by partnering with local businesses and creating sporting events, which she feels are consistent with the Tahoe brand.
However, she also noted that there was a dependence on second homes and visitors that couldn’t be ignored. Boen is in favor of vacation home rentals, with the caveat that they should have increased enforcement.
To that end, Boen expressed support for funding the police, along with the fire department and public utilities.
For housing, Boen said she believed that the community could come up with solutions there as well and pitched the idea of rent control for South Lake Tahoe. “We need to look at other examples and see what’s right for us.”
Like others, Boen was also interested in funding road infrastructure and repair in Tahoe. “Paved streets send a message to the world. It tells you about the priorities of the city and is tied to economic success, as well as lake clarity. It also makes you feel like city council is actually paying attention when they fix the streets.”
Overall, Boen feels that city council should focus on the quality of life for people. She pointed out the crumbling stairs at Regan Beach as an example of something that should be prioritized. “That’s a locals beach and the stairs are dangerous. Why is it so hard to provide accessibility to the place that everyone works really hard to enjoy?” She also emphasized that she wanted more consideration for veterans and retirees who would be impacted by those quality of life issues around the city.
Boen said she follows her alma mater Stanford Graduate School of Business’s motto of “Change lives, change organizations, change the world” while adding “for the better” to the end of it. She is especially invested in transparency and fiscal transparency for the city. “It’s the taxpayers’ dollars, so we should share the numbers.”
Boen said she’s seen people express that they’re embarrassed of city council and wants to change that. “Resisting and blocking change will only slow things down.. How about we create the future together through collaboration?”
“I’m willing to give a little to get a lot done for the community. I want to be a heartfelt leader who can create a win-win situation for everyone,” said Boen. “All I ask for is that the community votes for someone who is a team player and will get things done for all of us.”
What does a proposed Olympic heritage and snow sports museum have in common with a 65-year-old empty fire station? Both are on land given by the U.S. government to the public, and both have been taking over a decade to figure out if proposed projects match the zoning. The former is proposed for the Olympic Valley Park, zoned as forest recreation by the US Forest Service; the latter sits on Commons Beach, which was deeded to the people of Tahoe City in 1872 and is zoned recreation.
The question of whether a museum belongs in a public park and what to do with the old fire station building while maintaining the recreational intent of both properties has vexed Placer County and some residents for over a decade. Both projects, however, may soon be moving forward.
SNOW Museum
The nonprofit SNOW (Sierra Nevada Olympic & Winter Sports) Museum and Community Cultural Center moved one step closer to becoming reality after the Placer County Planning Commission unanimously approved it on Aug. 27.
The idea for the SNOW Museum dates back to 2009. Tahoe is one of the only Olympic host cities in North America that doesn’t have a museum to honor the event, which was held in Olympic Valley in 1960. Lake Placid in New York, Park City, Utah, and Vancouver, British Colombia, all have Olympic museums. Other mountain towns, like Aspen and Vail, have museums that pay tribute to their winter sports legacy.
Currently, the museum exists in a small retail space in the Boatworks Mall in Tahoe City.
After conducting multiple site studies and assembling master plans, in 2015 the SNOW Museum Board of Directors settled on a 2.3-acre site within the 26-acre Olympic Valley Park. Although the board considered the property across the street near 7-Eleven, it found that spot was not ideal due to the existence of a power substation, the industrial nature of the site, and a patchwork of land ownership.
Sitting on public land and at the entrance to Olympic Valley, the board believes the park to be the ideal location.
VACANT: The old Tahoe City fire station has been empty since 2012. What to do with the building has troubled Placer County ever since. Photo by Ted Coakley III/Moonshine Ink
“Throughout all the site studies, it’s like, where do we put something that needs to be connected to the milestone event — the ’60 Olympics — and that can represent the culture of our area and still represent all the culture in ski areas up and down the Sierra?” said SNOW Board President Bill Clark. “If you had a dream of where you could put something that recognized the Olympics, welcomed people to our area and our culture, and the rest of the ski industry would feel the connection to it, and it’s on public land so it can never really go away … We almost feel like from our perspective, we feel blessed that there’s that opportunity to do that.”
Other advantages of the park location are that it lies between the North Shore and Truckee and along the Highway 89 corridor, giving it high visibility to motorists, and is not on Palisades Tahoe property. It’s important to the board that the museum represent all Sierra ski resorts and doesn’t sit on private land, which could be taken away.
The museum is currently planned to be a two-level building that would occupy 7,250 square feet on land between the upper and lower parking lots above the pickleball courts. It would have public restrooms accessible from outside the museum, replacing the park’s vault toilets, as well as public meeting rooms.
BLENDING IN: The proposed two-level SNOW museum building in Olympic Valley Park is designed to convey the appearance of a single-story building. Renderings courtesy SNOW Museum
What is driving some opposition to the project’s location in Olympic Valley Park, however, is the question of whether charging admission and having a small gift shop and café as planned violates the deed restriction’s ban on commercial activity.
“What was the intent of the Forest Service even putting on this deed restriction that said no commercial operations? This is where I come down on the other side of the SNOW Museum and Placer County trying to stick it in there is the original intent of what was going on, because I was at those meetings with all the Forest Service people and the Placer County people,” said Olympic Valley resident Ed Heneveld, who helped establish the park in 2004.
Up until this winter, the Forest Service agreed with Heneveld. However, a leadership change in 2025 at the Tahoe National Forest brought a new forest supervisor with a different interpretation.
“So long as the county can implement the proposal in a manner that will not meet the threshold of a ‘private development of a commercial nature,’ then the Forest Service agrees that the museum would not violate the deed restriction,” wrote Forest Supervisor Chris Feutrier in a January 2026 letter to Clark.
Placer County, which has supported the museum with $850,000 in TOT (transit occupancy tax) funds for the environmental impact report, is thus far in favor of the park site for the museum.
VISTA SPECTACULAR: With million-dollar views like this, the old Tahoe City fire station sits on prime property as part of Commons Beach, which was deeded to the community over 150 years ago. Photo by Ted Coakley III/Moonshine Ink
“A lot of studies we did way back, long before I was in the supervisor role, indicated that one of the things we needed to broaden and reduce our dependence on weather and seasonality for outdoor recreation, was to have indoor facilities,” said Placer County Supervisor Cindy Gustafson, who represents North Tahoe. “The original tourism master plan indicated that we needed more facilities to broaden that kind of our offerings. The idea that we celebrate the heritage of our Olympics and the development of the ski industry and snow sports in the Sierra made a lot of sense to me.”
The SNOW Museum would be a public-private partnership, with Placer County owning the land. More details of the partnership still need to be worked out, which will happen if the board of supervisors approves it. The item is expected to go the board on Oct. 20 in Tahoe.
A partnership would bring with it financial and public benefits, since nonprofits are allowed to solicit donations.
“We know we need to replace the playground, and we would love to have permanent restrooms,” Gustafson said. “A partnership with a nonprofit helps us secure more funding to do the infrastructure and bring the water and sewer to the site especially so that we can have regular restrooms … The other thing that we as the county insisted on is that there would be a public meeting room or an event room, so people could take shelter there, or gather. It’s a partnership that we think could be very meaningful to the community.”
Gustafson does not think that a museum gift shop or coffee shop qualifies as commercial. Most museums around the world have these amenities, which help to offset the organization’s expenses.
“If you go to the Gatekeepers Museum, they sell trinkets, right? It’s a museum on state park property. It is a historical museum. They have a gift shop,” she said. “Having visited Mount St. Helens, which is a Forest Service-run visitor center, there’s a commercial shop in there … Most people don’t define gift shops in a museum as an unregulated commercial use.”
One option proposed by the USFS is that the county pay the difference between the assessed value and the fair market rate, since the deed restriction blocking commercial usage reduced the value of the land. If the county did, this would remove the deed restriction, and the issue of commercial use would be moot. This is one possibility Heneveld said he can live with. However, the county stated it is not considering this alternative.
“Our interpretation is that this county museum is consistent with county service operations, so we are not exploring a buyout of that restriction at this point,” said Stephanie Holloway, Placer County deputy CEO for Tahoe.
1 of 2
FOREST RECREATION: An aerial view of the proposed SNOW Museum. It would sit in a small, semi-forested area between the upper and lower parking lots in the Olympic Valley Park. The location was the site of a ready-mix concrete batch plant in the 1950s.
OLYMPIC HERITAGE: An artist’s rendering of the proposed SNOW Museum, which would be on two levels and encompass a total of 14,500 square feet on a 7,250-square-foot footprint.
The SNOW Museum estimates the project will cost $20 million. It currently has a $1.4 million endowment designated for construction and has its collection of artifacts in place thanks to the Auburn Ski Club, which donated thousands of pieces dating back to the 1930s. The museum will start fundraising when the project is approved.
The museum is not the only organization eyeing the park for possible development. According to Gustafson, Placer County offered a portion of the park behind the sports field to Creekside Charter School in exchange for maintaining the field and keeping it open for public use. If this were to move forward, public meetings would be held, and it would need board of supervisors’ approval. No official proposal from Creekside has been submitted.
Old Fire Station
A bigger headache for the county has been the former Tahoe City fire station — what to do that meets the recreational intent of the zoning, is open to public use, and is financially viable? The building has been vacant since 2012 when the North Tahoe Fire Protection District moved into a new facility.
In 2018, two groups — Siren Arts and Commonwell — submitted proposals, the first for a multi-use community space and the second for a market hall, but Placer found neither was economically sustainable.
“Moving forward, what we’ve really been focused on is trying to find the right mix of community support and a financially sound partner who has assets to bring forward,” Holloway said.
The nonprofit California Wildfire Institute approached Placer County about the space in 2022, but the organization eventually pulled out of discussions.
Through community surveys and public meetings, the county says it has an idea of what residents want in the space. A 2017 survey revealed that residents were most interested in bringing art complexes, indoor recreation facilities, and food and beverage options to the former firehouse. Meeting rooms and gathering spaces came in fifth.
Further community engagement conducted by the county, including focus groups in 2022, found that there was alignment around three guiding pillars for the future use of the site: (1) science and environmental protection; (2) art and community spaces; and (3) public awareness and stewardship education.
In 2023, after the county held small group conversations on the topic, a staff MOU to the board of supervisors stated: “Uniform support amongst all stakeholders interviewed [stated a preference] for a multi-use facility that would provide science research, science meeting and public education spaces, and flexible arts and community spaces open to the public.”
“What we heard from the community is that this is public land. We, as the county, are stewards of the land,” Holloway said. “What we learned was that the community had a strong interest in still having a community connection. That was first and foremost. Secondly, we heard that activating the space in a science-based, educational component to celebrate being stewards of the lake was important. We took all of that to heart.”
Another science-based nonprofit has been in talks with the county for a few years, according to Gustafson, although the talks are still in the early stages — UC Davis’s Tahoe Environmental Research Center, which has been in Incline Village since 2006.
1 of 3
LEG BONE CONNECTED TO THE KNEE BONE: Moving forward with the SNOW Museum project may make it easier to update both the restrooms and playground at Olympic Valley Park. Construction is planned to take place just above the pickleball courts. Photos by Ted Coakley III/Moonshine Ink
LEG BONE CONNECTED TO THE KNEE BONE: Moving forward with the SNOW Museum project may make it easier to update both the restrooms and playground at Olympic Valley Park. Construction is planned to take place just above the pickleball courts. Photos by Ted Coakley III/Moonshine Ink
LEG BONE CONNECTED TO THE KNEE BONE: Moving forward with the SNOW Museum project may make it easier to update both the restrooms and playground at Olympic Valley Park. Construction is planned to take place just above the pickleball courts. Photos by Ted Coakley III/Moonshine Ink
Gustafson said TERC could be a good match if the design of a new building includes public meeting and event space as well as a visitor center. The nonprofit’s offices, however, may need to be across the street in the Bechdolt building, which the county owns, to satisfy the recreational zoning of Commons Beach.
“I’ve always believed in the idea of a more elaborate visitor center for our community to educate the public on taking care of this lake,” she said. “I think it’s amazing to me that millions of visitors come into Tahoe City and they can’t really learn about the lake other than on interpretive signs outdoors.”
Gustafson points to the Mono Basin Scenic Area Visitor Center, run by the USFS; Washington State Parks’ Mount St. Helen’s Visitor Center, which has a theater that plays educational movies; or the nonprofit Monterey Bay Aquarium, which hosts dinners and after-hour events, as examples of what the TERC facility could become that would benefit the community.
“You can have movies. You can have shared-use facilities where people learn about the history of the lake, the environmental research going on, or exhibits,” she added. “Tahoe City could have a landmark facility.”
TERC said it could not provide details of talks with the county due to the preliminary nature of the negotiations.
“I can confirm that we have been in discussion with the county and we are looking into opportunities to expand our very successful education program into Tahoe City, but we can’t comment beyond that at this time,” said Cara Hollis, TERC communications and marketing specialist.
The key to whatever goes into the fire station is “perpetual funding,” per Gustafson, which likely means a public-private partnership similar to the SNOW Museum.
“Whether that’s TOT or the county or whether it’s TERC or other groups where there could be an event space … we need partnerships coming together because not one group on its own can fund the cost of such a thing,” she said.
If TERC were to take over the building, it would need board of supervisors’ approval.
Robb Olson, who was part of the Siren Arts team, said while he considers TERC a good fit for the former fire station, he thinks that the space should also encompass the arts, which is exactly what the Siren Arts project was trying to do — provide a space for both the arts and sciences and other community interests.
“The thing that Placer County hasn’t been able to connect with is arts,” he said. “We don’t really have a strong advocate for the arts. We need to be more well-rounded … The sun goes down, what do you do? That was what Siren Arts was about.”
Olson is critical of the county for not allowing Siren Arts to prove their project could work financially.
“The county just wanted someone to be like, ‘Hey, I’ve got $20 million. I’m going to make this project happen,’” Olson said. “We just need to try to lift things up and we can’t look to the county to subsidize arts and culture. They’re not there. I think arts and culture is hard for people to understand and to see the value.”
While the Siren Arts fire house project has been put to bed, Olson is trying to implement many of its goals with his new project — a total remodel of the Trading House buildings (across from the old Safeway in Tahoe City), which he and his wife purchased last fall.
“The Siren Arts spirit is very much alive. It’s just in a different form and it’s going through different channels to get there — it’s going through the private sector versus public,” he said.
Over the past 30 years, thousands of volunteers have shown up for the Truckee River Watershed Council’s (TRWC) annual Truckee River Day. I have been among them, volunteering since I could toddle back and forth with a willow branch in hand.
The Truckee River is where I spent countless summer days navigating rapids in inner tubes and playing instruments on its banks. But the river itself is a single part of the much larger network of creeks, lakes, forests, and meadows that make up our watershed.
Everything that makes our home in the Tahoe/Truckee area special can be traced back to our watershed –– from fresh tracks on powder days to the wildflowers alongside our favorite trails. Even the water we drink and air we breathe depend on a healthy watershed.
However, human development and industrial demands have been impacting our watershed since the 1800s. To accommodate cattle grazing and make room for highways, railroads, buildings, and other infrastructure, creeks were straightened, meadows degraded, and essential habitat lost. And despite improvements to environmental regulation and industry standards, the damage of past development can still be observed today.
Without our help, the Truckee River watershed will continue to degrade and its systems will fail to function. That’s where TRWC and its mighty volunteers come in.
Truckee River Day allows our community to come together in an effort to protect and restore the watershed. No matter participants’ age, background, or level of experience, this event welcomes everyone with open arms.
As a result, the legacy of Truckee River Day volunteers runs deep. Some have been coming since its inaugural year in 1996. Others first volunteered side-by-side with their children and, decades later, now attend with their grandchildren. Some return regularly to past project sites to observe changes and reflect on their own, individual role within our landscape.
Many have allowed their experiences as a volunteer at Truckee River Day to shape their lives and livelihoods moving forward. I fall into that category.
Some of my most vivid childhood memories took place at Truckee River Day. As a toddler, I remember helping my mother plant willows as we worked to stabilize creek banks. Years later, I showed up to volunteer with my Girl Scout troop, proudly donning my green vest to release juvenile Lahontan cutthroat trout into the river by the bucketful.
Truckee River Day has undoubtedly shaped both my love of the natural world and my commitment to protecting it, and I’m hardly the only one.
Jeff Glazner volunteered with his preschool-aged children, Ryan and Jessica, in the early years of Truckee River Day. Today, Jessica is completing her PhD in marine biology, and Ryan is approaching four years in Cal Fire’s forestry department. Both return as Truckee River Day volunteers whenever possible, and Jeff still hasn’t missed a year since 1997.
Sam Zabell also grew up volunteering at Truckee River Day with his parents, eventually securing an internship with TRWC. This foundation of environmental work shaped his professional trajectory, first with the Yosemite Rivers Alliance and now with Sierra Foothill Conservancy.
Our shared experiences with Truckee River Day reflect an event bigger than the sum of its parts. By convening our community around the watershed, TRWC transforms a single volunteer event into a lifelong connection to our landscape. Both as a launchpad for the future generations of environmental stewards and an opportunity for volunteers to give back, Truckee River Day continues to heal our watershed and create a more resilient community for years to come.
Learn more about the 31st annual Truckee River Dayon Oct. 18 or sign up to volunteer at truckeeriverwc.org.
~ Addison Wingate was born and raised in Truckee, where she grew up skiing, hiking, horseback riding, and enjoying the mountains she calls home. After six years in Southern California and a summer spent hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, she resettled in Truckee, where she works as the lead storyteller at the Truckee River Watershed Council.
I’ve taught American government at the college level for 20 years. Over time, I’ve made a few observations about my students.
One of them is that of the several hundred students who have passed through my classrooms, I don’t believe I have changed many minds. It’s not a matter of demographics. They have covered a wide age span, ranging from high schoolers to retirees. Nor is it a matter of retention, at least in the short term. Most of them listen attentively enough to do well on tests and papers. But in casual conversations, I’m struck by how many held onto their preconceptions of how government and politics work.
If I had to identify the reasons why this is the case, most if not all can be attributed to how and where we learn our personal values. Our early childhoods are dominated by our families, schooling, and communities of faith. Not knowing any differently, we default to what we learned early in life rather than entertaining any alternatives.
Our values, in turn, influence our attitudes toward events and issues. This is particularly true of controversial hot button topics that polarize the electorate. The goal of partisan politics is “mobilization of bias” –– attracting voters holding strong views on a given issue to your side.
The resulting polarized political climate works against promoting a well-informed electorate. The facts are out there and easily obtainable. Unfortunately, facts alone don’t change minds in a time where “facts” and “truth” have become highly subjective for many of us. (This is not a new thing, really. Kurt Andersen’s 2017 book Fantasyland makes the case that Americans throughout history have tended to live in realities of their own creation.)
One stumbling block is time. The information cost needed to be an engaged and well-informed citizen is simply too great for a lot of people. Many families are supported by two incomes. Families with small children compounded by the necessity of paying bills can overwhelm the mental bandwidth required to educate oneself on candidates, issues, and policies. The complexity of ballots, particularly in primaries under our top-two primary system, can be daunting for even the well-informed and confusing for everyone else.
Complicating matters is the ballot initiative. A legacy of the Progressive movement of the early 20th century, Californians take it for granted that they can enact statutes or amend the state constitution at the ballot box. Some initiatives are easy to understand, both in their intent and their expected outcome. Many are not.
Oftentimes we are confronted with initiatives whose purpose is obscure or at least opaque in their intent. I’ve spoken with people who voted for every office and every ballot initiative on their ballot because they thought they had to. This is untrue. It’s perfectly okay to undervote your ballot. I’ve done it more than a few times when I didn’t fully understand a measure.
There are bright spots here and there. Voter turnout in California, particularly in midterm elections, is improving. In 2014 it was a paltry 30.7%, rising to 49.3% in 2018. The 2022 midterms saw some back-sliding, with a turnout of 42.9%. Presidential election years generally bring greater voting rates, with 68.8% in 2020 and 62.1% in 2024. This should be a welcome development, particularly in the midterms where there is much more at stake than popular perception would have it.
But do these voters make good decisions? Our political culture has long been dominated by candidates’ personalities and often blind identification with one of the two major parties. Voters make decisions based on image and “vibes” rather than on a clear understanding of the issues at stake in an election.
There are a number of theories in my field as to why people make decisions at the polls. The prevailing school of thought is rational choice. This explanation holds that people don’t cast votes as a dichotomous, either/or decision (even though if you asked most people, they would probably describe it this way). Rather, rational choice uses a consumer-based approach. When we buy a consumer item, we rank-order our options to optimize value. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a can of beans, an electronic device, a car, or a house. Each of us is a rational actor in the marketplace.
This theory assumes that each of us has perfect information, when in most cases we probably don’t. A more plausible explanation, in my opinion, is a prospective and retrospective hypothesis. When times are bad, we want to go with whichever candidate or party offers a way out. When times are good, we want to stick with the candidate or party that is in office. Image and vibes may account for more than my colleagues and I may think.
So, how do we improve voter knowledge? I wish I had an innovative, outside-the-box solution.California voters do not lack for information. There is the secretary of state’s guide with its tiny font on newsprint. There are the sample ballots and candidate guides published by the counties. There are lots of third-party resources such as the League of Women Voters. A personal favorite is Ballotpedia. This website covers all the major federal and state political contests, along with notable local elections. Importantly, it discloses major donors and contributions to both candidates and ballot initiatives. (Ballotpedia began as a volunteer-edited wiki but has been professionally edited for several years.)
If I had to make a recommendation, I would suggest first choosing an issue area of interest to you. Then, find a source you believe reputable to research that issue and where candidates at all levels stand on it.
Inform yourself and choose wisely.
~ Scott Parker is an instructor of political science at Sierra College. Raised in Placer County, Scott earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from California State University, Sacramento, with graduate study at the University of Nevada, Reno. He lives in Truckee.
KNOW BEFORE YOU VOTE
November’s General Election is just around the corner. Do you know your local candidates?
Moonshine Ink put together a detailed Election 2026: Tahoe/Truckee Tracker, showing the local agencies with seats up for election this year, who will be included on ballots, as well as the benefits and compensation each seat receives.
Attend one or all the events below to hear from various candidates before the big day, Nov. 3, 2026.
P.S. Our October edition of Moonshine will cover critical races in our region. Stay tuned.
~ AH
North Shore Election Forum (Virtual) | Oct. 6
First Tuesday Breakfast Club is a community forum about news, projects, businesses, and influencers hosted by the North Tahoe Community Alliance (NTCA). The October Breakfast Club will feature local candidates running for election, from 7 to 8:30 a.m. Join on Zoom by visiting firsttuesdaybreakfastclub.com.
Truckee Candidate Forum Oct. 6 and 8
Both forums will be held in the Town Council Chambers at Truckee Town Hall, 10183 Truckee Airport Road and will be broadcast and recorded as well. The events are free and open to the public. Moonshine Ink serves as a partner to the events, and staff will be part of the team asking questions of candidates.
Night One: Tuesday, Oct. 6 | 5 to 8 p.m.
5 to 5:15 p.m.: Measure P
5:15 to 6 p.m.: Tahoe Truckee Unified School District
6 to 7 p.m.: Truckee Donner Public Utility District
7 to 8 p.m.: Truckee Fire Protection District
8 to 9 p.m.: Sierra College Board of Trustees, Trustee Area 2
Night Two: Thursday, Oct. 8 | 5 to 9 p.m.
5 to 6 p.m.: Truckee Town Council*
6 to 7 p.m.: Tahoe Forest Hospital District
7 to 8 p.m.: Truckee Donner Recreation and Park District
* The town council race is uncontested, however, organizers wanted to give community members a chance to hear directly from the candidates who will represent them.
Readers are invited to submit questions to Jessica Penman at jessica@truckee.com by Friday, Sept. 25. Due to time constraints, not all submitted questions may be asked.
Incline Village/Crystal Bay
As of press deadline, no candidate forums have been proposed for the Incline Village General Improvement District board.
Sandor Lengyel builds things meant to outlast him.
High on trails meandering along the West Shore of Tahoe, this means benches — massive, hand-built seats made from dead and downed trees, milled and hand-built on-site. Seven of them now sit along the trail — with one more on its way — offering hikers and bikers a place to stop, take in Lake Tahoe, and admire the view.
Lengyel, a Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association (TAMBA) trail crew leader, built his first trailside bench after the organization rerouted and dramatically improved the iconic Stanford Rock trail. He wasn’t expecting much from a piece of furniture.
BUILT BY HAND: Each bench takes six slabs, stripped of bark by hand with an ax, wedge, and draw knife.
But “[the bench] really became a focal point up there,” he said. “It had a larger impact than I anticipated.”
That bench sparked an idea.
As TAMBA began planning the Meeks Ridge Trail — a route that will eventually connect to Lost Lake and, via the General Creek Trail, Sugar Pine Point State Park — it approached the Tahoe Fund about financing. What emerged was a distinctly Tahoe kind of equation: People who love the place and have the means to give back can pay $10,000 or more for a commemorative bench. TAMBA gets money to build the trail. And everyone who comes along afterward gets a wonderful trail to explore and places to rest.
It was a win-win-win. Then Lengyel started building the benches.
“MINIATURE SAWMILL:” Sandor Lengyel using an Alaskan mill and chainsaw to create bench slabs. Photos courtesy Sandor Lengyel
“Sandor blew us away. We didn’t realize they would be as magnificent as they would be,” said Tahoe Fund CEO Amy Berry.
Magnificent may be understating it.
Building a bench
Lengyel began working on trails in Marin County after graduating from college.
“I discovered it is legacy work,” he said. “The work we are doing will positively impact people’s lives long after I’m gone.”
LABOR OF LOVE: Once ready, the heavy bench pieces are hauled up the trail with help from the TAMBA crew.
When he bought a house in Tahoma in 2005, he connected with TAMBA and started becoming involved in their trail projects, especially the Stanford Rock trail, before eventually working on the Meeks Ridge Trail.
“Sandor blew us away. We didn’t realize [the benches] would be as magnificent as they would be.”
~ Tahoe Fund CEO Amy Berry
“With so many drought-stressed trees dead and dying, we were able to use dead trees to build the benches. Half of them we built with storm blow-downs,” Lengyel said. “We would mill as close as possible to the site, but we had to haul some of the slabs a thousand feet to the site.”
Lengyel would lug out an Alaskan mill, which is a large rail attached to a chainsaw. It is basically a miniature sawmill, and makes a clean, flat cut in the wood. “It’s slow, noisy, and dusty, and I wear double ear protection and a respirator,” he said.
FROM TREE TO TRAIL: Bench slabs ready to be assembled high above Lake Tahoe.
Each bench requires six slabs. After cutting the slabs, Lengyel then strips the bark with an ax, wedge, and a draw knife, tools that have been used for taking on these tasks for hundreds of years. Once he has the slabs ready, other TAMBA folks help him to haul the pieces to the bench site.
Seven benches have been built so far, with the last to be constructed next year when the Meeks Ridge Trail is completed at the highest overlook. This trail offers beautiful views of Lake Tahoe, the Meeks Bay meadow, and the edge of Desolation Wilderness.
In addition to being a great fundraising tool, “The benches are a huge hit with the locals,” said TAMBA Executive Director Drew Bray.
Finishing the trail
Bray is hoping they can finish the connection to Lost Lake by next year. But the job has been harder than anticipated. The further up the ridge they travel, the more challenging and rockier is the terrain. The money TAMBA received from Tahoe Fund and other donors, however, has enabled them to have professional trail building crews out working for 16 weeks this summer. “It’s making an incredible difference, but progress is slow,” Bray said.
The need for trail volunteers and money is great in our area.
“The Forest Service is chronically underfunded,” Lengyel said. “The Tahoe Basin is a global recreation destination, but the Forest Service has only a two-person trail crew. They are unable to maintain their system of trails. So, the Tahoe Rim Trail Association and TAMBA have closed the funding gap and stepped in to maintain this amazing recreational resource.”
FROM TREE TO TRAIL: After a donor group paid for a bench, its members so enjoyed hanging out at the spot they asked Lengyel to make a table, which the author found to be a perfect spot for lunch. Photo by Tim Hauserman
In early August, the money needed to finish the trail’s construction arrived when South Lake Tahoe philanthropists Kyle and Jessica Aster gave TAMBA $250,000 to fully fund this upcoming season’s construction of the Meeks Ridge Trail. Avid mountain bikers, the couple made the donation not only to complete this trail, but for it to be the first phase in a new trail building program called the Basin Wide Trails Analysis Project, which seeks to add an additional 45 miles of trails in the Tahoe Basin.
“Time and time again the community steps up when the need is there,” Berry said. “TAMBA does a great job building trails, and a lot of people who love Tahoe have the capacity to really leave their legacy.”
Our astrological considerations begin with a Virgo new moon on Sept. 10, marking the height of the farming harvest season and offering grounded energy for both goal setting and practical acts of service. Venus in early Scorpio opposite Chiron in Taurus will stir tension between transformation and comfort, asking us to consider what makes us feel truly secure during our lunar reflections. Mercury opposes Neptune retrograde in Aries on Sept. 12, prompting diplomacy in communication but potentially in a blurry and intangible way. This energy shifts on the 13th, when Mercury trines Uranus in Gemini, sparking clarity and insight. Mid-month brings an exact sextile between Pluto retrograde in Aquarius and Neptune, quietly repatterning collective dreams and power structures. Chiron retrogrades back into Aries on Sept. 17, revisiting wounded energy in the realms of identity and initiation just as Saturn opposes Mercury, bringing serious conversations to the table.
The sun moves into Libra on Sept. 22, delivering the autumn equinox and the balance between day and night. The Aries full moon on Sept. 26 conjoins Neptune, illuminating idealism and big dreams, while Mars in Cancer simultaneously squares Chiron in Aries. This full moon again asks us to let go of what isn’t working in favor of what we hope to experience, but with extra vigor and spice. Oct. 3, we have Mars, now in Leo, opposite Pluto in Aquarius, a reactive transit worth noting so we can cool our jets. The same day, Venus in Scorpio begins her retrograde, which will end in Libra on Nov. 13.
NATURAL MAGIC
Fall Equinox is a wonderful time to celebrate with family. Cook a harvest meal with root vegetables and your favorite protein. Light one dark candle and one light candle, to honor the balance in the sky that brings the seasons and cycles to our lives. Making a gratitude list for everything that summer offered you is also a powerful practice; it can anchor positivity and support manifestation, and may become something to utilize with each turning of the seasons.
During Venus’s retrograde, the planet will disappear from the night sky to reappear in November as a morning star. The time when Venus vanishes from the sky has been spiritually significant for all who came before us and is worthy of preparing for. Offer yourself time between Oct. 3 and Oct. 14, when Venus will leave the night sky, to reflect and journal on attachments in love, self-worth, and how even minor shifts in these areas may shape the way we show up for ourselves and others.
My experience in foils doesn’t extend much further than using a fair amount of the tin variety when cooking over a campfire. But there is a growing number of highly dedicated individuals in our area who have dove headlong into hydrofoiling, or just “foiling” — applying aeronautics to traditional watersports in order to “fly.”
“It’s a whole new spectrum of watersport,” said Steven Siig, longtime North Lake Tahoe local who has become a multi-day-a-week foiler.
IN THE FLOW: A focused Doug Ingersol seeks balance upon board and wake. Photos by Craig Beck
There are various means of foiling — kite, wing, prone, downwind, efoil, and wake being the most prominent. While foilers find their rides thrilling and even spiritual, the learning curve can be steep, long, and painful.
“A lot of things are easy,” said adventure sports icon and foiling guru Craig Beck. “But it’s like, how much fun is that? Well, foiling ain’t easy.”
FOILERS find freedom, fun, and flight when out on the water. Photo courtesy Steven Siig
Beck has experimented with a number of the foil disciplines as a rider and a designer, and just recently tested his first skate foil to rave reviews.
Siig’s crew are wake foilers. Sitting in the water with their foil-and-board setup, they’re pulled up via a rope attached to a boat like a wakeboarder. Yet once enough speed is gained, the underwater foil’s wings-and-fuselage attain lift, the board rises above the water, and the foiler begins to soar. Letting go of the rope, the foil continues to do its thing — the rider hovering around from wake to wake, a turn here, a glide there as they find their water-flight Zen.
Siig and most of his foil-mates — including Tom Burt, Russ Klein, Mark Hendricks, and Dan Fraiman — were Tahoe water skiers in the ’90s who moved on to wakeboarding in the 2000s and wake surfing in the 2010s. Foiling was next in line in the progression of riding on water. “We all started seeing foiling on the lake,” Siig said. “There weren’t too many people doing it in [wake] surfing, but we noticed it was starting to become a new tool in terms of water sports. Once it kind of caught on, we realized we could adapt it into the wake scene. We were on the first wave of people doing it [locally], and it started happening all over the world.”
Through engine placement, ballast additions, and trim tabs (fins/rudders), new wake surf boats are creating bigger wakes, more technically shaped wakes, and more numerous wakes, essentially augmenting available terrain. The foil allows that terrain to be seized in a way that traditional wake surfing does not.
WAKE UP AND LIVE: Steven Siig finds the flow in a morning session on Lake Tahoe.
“Guys that are really good can go across the boat, to the third, fourth, fifth, six wave,” Siig described. “When Hendie’s like on the sixth wave, he’s way back there. Like a quarter mile away, then he pumps back up [closer to the boat].”
Foiling can produce a near-perpetual ride, the limitations not imposed by the lift/speed of the foil/board but by the human body’s need to take a break. Elite foilers can fly around for so long unattached to a boat that they sometimes seem less like athletes and more like wizards.
Daily improvement — but difficult, dangerous
Like snowboarding in the 1980s and early ’90s, wake foilers are frontiersmen, learning on the fly and creating as they go. “My favorite thing about the sport,” Fraiman said, “is I feel like I get better and learn something new every time I go … The progression is cool.”
PAYING THE PRICE: Siig’s face displays some of the inherent danger of foiling, sliced by the wing. Photos courtesy Steven Siig
When Siig started foiling three years ago, he relied heavily on the coaching of his crew, even though they had at most a year or two of experience on him.
The need for instruction in the sport is a recurring theme when speaking to foilers. There is an obvious reason why.
“It’s freaking hard,” said Beck, the longtime adventure-man and perhaps Tahoe’s godfather of the foil scene. “It’s typically a minimum of 10 times before you basically get up. And once you get up, you’ve still got a lot to learn. There’s a lot to it.”
THE FOIL RACKS at Praxis Skis feature an array of shapes and designs. Photo courtesy Keith O’Meara
But in a world where groceries are delivered at the push of a button and machines write people’s emails and do their thinking for them, there’s perhaps benefit to the sport’s inherent difficulty — a crucible that must be passed, the fun on the other side of the learning curve unable to be found through a prompt, the feeling of flight a thing to be earned by one’s own human acumen and determination.
ARTISTIC DESIGN: A foiler shows a Craig Beck designed board with Beck’s artwork, his art often drawing on inspiration from nature, and the Maori and Japanese cultures. Photo courtesy Craig Beck
Part of the sport’s difficulty is its inherent danger. The two sharp wings and fuselage connected to the mast-and-board are not entirely unlike a giant version of something you might find in a chef’s arsenal for slicing specialty meats.
“Seeing these hovering surfboards riding three wakes back with no rope defied logic and therefore captured my interest.”
~ Keith O’Meara
He now wears a helmet (the only rider I saw when watching numerous local and international foiling videos), and when he falls, he wraps his entire face within crossed arms, aiming to make himself “into a ball” as he pushes the foil behind him and leaps forward. “I probably look kind of funny,” he said, “but you gotta protect yourself at all times.”
Even the boats themselves can be dangerous, especially when other boats are in proximity.
Once a level of trust is established between wake foil crews, different groups can choose to come together to essentially create more terrain. Boats meet up in the lake and riders share the waves, moving seamlessly between their varied wakes as if a snow skier was somehow able to mingle back and forth between fresh pow and spring corn on the same run.
But, as in snow sports, upping the terrain game can up the consequences.
In early August, multiple crews were out doing their thing, and the interplay of numerous wakes was creating exhilarating conditions when calamity struck. “We had a big accident,” Siig said. “By circumstance you can get into the wrong place at the wrong time, and it happened. Someone got launched into the boat and broke six ribs, had a collapsed lung.”
In Tahoe/Truckee, hear-tell of injury in adventure sports can feel like commonplace news, perhaps too much so. But we go on. We put the ski boots back on. We put the bike helmet back on. We get back on the foil.
You could call it competitiveness or sticktoitiveness. You could also call it obsession, or you could use another word, which came up with great frequency when speaking with foilers.
“It’s an addiction,” Siig said. “I’m freaking addicted.”
But it is this need to get back on the foil that keeps the sport progressing and keeps the good times rolling. Tom Brady was addicted to winning football games, and Georgia O’Keeffe was probably addicted to painting close-ups of flowers. Such need can also be called passion.
And when it comes to foiling, there might not be anyone more passionate about it than Craig Beck.
Action sports all-timer
Beck grew up on the water in Southern California, surfing the breaking ocean waves of Dana Point by the time he was 8 years old.
Flight was in his DNA. His father was an Air Force pilot who flew experimental aircraft. The family moved around internationally for a few years before Beck landed in Truckee just in time for the 1960 Winter Olympics. Though he did not know how to ski, the 14-year-old procured an on-mountain, on-ski messenger job for the Games. His first ever run was from the very top of what is now Palisades Tahoe all the way to the bottom — his assignment to bring film from the start of the men’s downhill (ostensibly the only copy) down the black-diamond run to folks at the base who’d disseminate the photos worldwide.
Undaunted, the young Beck simply watched how the Olympians were making turns and made a plan to mimic what they were doing. He managed to make it down the mountain, the film somehow survived in one piece, and a lifelong love of carving was born.
Fifteen years later, Beck would produce one of the most pioneering and innovative ski films ever made, Daydreams, an ethereal showcase of Tahoe’s early extreme skiing movement and a foil of sorts to the more one-size-fits-all Warren Miller films of the time.
Beck got his first taste of hydrofoiling “35 or 40 years ago” on The Air Chair, the first commercial foil, marketed toward water skiers in the 1980s. “It was a giant turd,” Beck said.
So, he started innovating. Beck now works with sport-leading Lift Foils, and also designs his own custom boards (complete with his own custom artwork) sold on a more bespoke level.
To move from his disappointment in the air chair to designing top-level foil equipment, Beck turned to the sky for inspiration. After Daydreams, he launched heavily into aviation and aeronautics. He designed his own hang glider in his living room, and learned from its successes and failures in his pursuit of better designs and more efficient flight. He became a test driver for hang glide companies and gained an expert’s knowledge of aeronautics. Eventually he took his knowledge of wing forms and shapes to the wings of the water, some of his early hydrofoils even made from hang glider parts.
“Hang gliding was basic,” Beck said. “Then wings got wider and narrower [for better performance]. That’s aspect ratio. And that’s the big deal now in foils.”
Aspect ratio is, in simple terms, wing span divided by wing area. In nature, birds that fly long distances and/or that tend to soar (think albatross or eagle) have long and narrow, high aspect-ratio wings. For maneuverability, as found in the shorter, broader wings of bats, for example, low aspect ratio is the name of the game.
When converted to foiling, low aspect ratios offer heightened ease and stability while higher aspect ratios allow for increased speeds and optimized top-end performance.
Into the Future
Foiling as a concept in water sports received a big boost in the 2000s when surfing great Laird Hamilton began using foil boards for tow-in big-wave surfing. In time, the various niches of foiling became more defined as mainstream sports with bright futures.
“It was around 2016 that wake foiling caught my eye on Lake Tahoe,” said Praxis Skis founder Keith O’Meara, his heralded “handcrafted” ski company based in Incline Village. “Seeing these hovering surfboards riding three wakes back with no rope defied logic and therefore captured my interest.”
O’Meara met Beck at a Made in Tahoe festival, the former showing his snow skis and the latter showing a bevy of his custom-made surf, wake, and foil boards. “I was able to swindle a trade,” O’Meara said, “a pair of my skis for one of the Beck Boards, and in doing so Craig said he would teach me to wake foil.”
WITH SOUL: On this Tahoe Native Board one can see the mast attached to the two wings and fuselage that are “the foil.” Photo courtesy Keith O’Meara
His friendship with Beck and intrigue with foiling grew from there, and Praxis has become a significant player in the Tahoe foil sphere. It is a dealer for Lift Foils as well as Slingshot Sports, and also showcases Beck’s designs.
“When you get a board from Craig Beck you get a one-of-a-kind board with one-of-a-kind artwork,” O’Meara said. “You get a board with a soul.”
O’Meara stated that the most popular foil setups this summer have been for the wake and wing variety, with an increased interest in efoils. “The efoil is the easiest way to learn how to foil,” he said. “You will be up flying around on foil in a matter of hours.”
“Efoiling is solitary,” observed Siig of the discipline in which a rider gains speed and lift from an electric propeller attached to the mast. “It’s go out and Zen out.”
Siig also finds spirituality in his crew’s morning wake foil sessions. “We call it church,” he said. “We call it praying, being one in the world.”
Yet with efoils costing up to $15,000, and top of the line wake boats well exceeding $100,000, the nirvana ain’t free. On your local barista or teacher salary (not to mention journalist wage), in fact, it’s prohibitive. And a primary tenet of spirituality is that it should be open to all who seek it.
So, with all the progression that’s occurred since the Air Chair, all the distance that foiling has covered in the past 40 years, perhaps the final frontier is for foil flight to become accessible to all — all, that is, who dare brave its crucible of difficulty and danger in order to discover its realm of magic and beauty.
Equipment, types, technique
The foil-setup looks a lot like a miniature airplane. Composed of a front wing and a tail wing connected by a fuselage, when enough speed is reached lift is attained — and the above-water board and its rider take off in flight.
While wake foiling uses a boat for propulsion and lift, kite and wing foilers harness the wind for theirs. Efoilers use a battery-powered propeller, and downwinders (downwind SUP foil) use an oar, wind, and the energy of small bump-waves.
Prone foilers, found on ocean waves, start out on their bellies and paddle like surfers to catch a breaking wave for their initial speed and lift, catching multiple waves before ever needing to paddle again.
All foil disciplines employ “pumping” — riders pushing into the water with their legs to create energy in similar fashion to a child using its body to do so on a swing.
Donner Lake’s low-to-the-water winds are often ideal for wing foiling. In Lake Tahoe, the higher, gusty winds (especially of approaching storms) in Incline Village and Kings Beach offer a goldilocks zone for kite foiling.
And any morning where Lake Tahoe is calm and flat is prime for wake foilers to create their own waves to go out and fly around.
Various Tahoe/Truckee sport shops are now stocking foil boards and setups, and many offer rental/demo packages as well. If you’re interested in trying out foiling, visit your local shop and talk with the pros.
If you’ve been following OpenSnow’s Bryan Allegretto for his Lake Tahoe forecasts, you know he’s passionate about accurately predicting what the surrounding mountains will get. He’s the voice of reason when other news outlets and weather services hype up FEET of snow, only for the reality to fall far short. But even for “BA”—as he’s known—the storms in the first week of February 2025 were way off, and by a huge margin. In fact, it was his worst prediction in his nineteen-plus-year career. I had the chance to chat with him to get the inside scoop on what went wrong.
BA’s Soul Crushed
Bryan Allegretto enjoying one of Tahoe’s famous storm cycles when the forecast was spot on.
BA takes his forecasting seriously—so seriously that he’s been keeping a scorecard to track just how spot-on (or not) he’s been. Over the past nine seasons, his predictions for every storm across the Tahoe Basin have been off by just 1.5 inches on average. But during the first week of February, things went way off course. He was off by anywhere from 5.5 to 12.9 inches, with some mountains missing the mark by as much as 2 feet! Normally, when he’s that far off, it’s because the storms delivered more (think: colder, fluffier powder). This time? As far as he can remember, it was the first instance they delivered way less.
Atmospheric Rivers are Tough
One of the many warm storms during the wet n’ wild Jan 2017 season
Lake Tahoe’s weather is infamous for its feast-or-famine cycles, and a big reason is that up to 50% of California’s precipitation comes in the form of an atmospheric river. These intense bands of moisture originate from the tropics and slam into the Sierra. If Lake Tahoe is lucky enough to be on the cold side of it, we get huge snowfall. But if not, it means rain—LOTS of rain. And that’s exactly what happened during the first week of February.
Alarm Bells Ding
As the storms began to arrive in the 5-day window, BA was already mentioning how concerned he was about the forecast. First, the band of moisture was narrow at only 50 miles wide which is tiny in the scope of the globe. If the storm moved even a few miles north or south, the amount of liquid we get would be drastically cut. Then there was the problem of temperatures. It set up a battle royale of two giants – cold air to the north and the warm subtropical air flowing into the northern Sierra. Depending on who wins and when, this “could make a BIG difference in snowfall totals.”
Worst Case Scenario Happened
And that’s exactly what happened. Instead of the storm staying focused on Tahoe, it quickly moved north. While the National Weather Service predicted 30 inches of liquid and BA estimated 22 inches as a conservative forecast for the week, the greater Lake Tahoe area only received a meager 6-12+ inches. The moisture tap shut off before the cold air could move in, and the snow ratios—usually around 10:1—were closer to 7:1. The result? A rude awakening after the storm passed.
“Biggest Temperature Gradients as Far as I Can Remember”
A lot of this came down to how cold it was to the north—a real tease for weather forecasters. It was snowing all the way to the beach in Oregon and even in Susanville. With that much cold air up north, it seemed like it would force its way south, but it didn’t. Instead, the warm air took over. Not just in Tahoe, but across the entire West, where everyone got hit with rain. Jackson Hole was in the 50s, and even Utah saw rain!
Models Aren’t Gospel but a Tool
The GFS model… Snow porn at its finest. For the 1st storm in the larger cycle it predicted nearly 12 inches of liquid! The ENTIRE week only got 6!
The best tool for weather forecasters today is still the weather models. But as BA pointed out, “These are global models. Each micro-climate has its own set of errors. You need to understand these nuances and apply them to your forecast.” Take the GFS, for example. The U.S. model, affectionately known as “snow porn,” always assumes snow ratios are way too high, predicting crazy amounts of snow—and it’s nearly always wrong. Then there’s the Canadian model, which tends to underforecast how much snow places like Mt. Rose will get. The real voice of reason? The European model. Statistically, it’s proven to be the most accurate, and now with A.I. to help fix its errors, it’s getting even better.
OpenSnow Will Learn and Get Better
In the end, BA summed it up best: “It’s hard to forecast storms in the mountains.” But that’s exactly what drew Bryan to this field in the first place—the challenge of forecasting and getting it right. Sometimes, like the week of February 1st, 2025, you get it wrong. But that’s an outlier, and the team at OpenSnow is using it as a learning tool. Instead of taking a back seat, they’re constantly working to improve their product. They’ve even hired a full-time A.I. developer to create their own OpenSnow A.I., which is processing 40+ years of data to correct model errors and improve predictions.
And it’s not all about enjoying the summer for pickleball. The folks at OpenSnow use the “off season” as a chance to reflect and improve. That’s when they discovered the Canadian model’s issue with the Mt. Rose snow forecast. They’re always striving to get better.
We get how tough forecasting can be, and we hope this behind-the-scenes look helps explain the challenges involved. Big kudos to him—and to all of the OpenSnow team—for the hard work they put in!
When looking for a skiing destination, one of the factors that typically comes into everyone’s mind: “Is there more than one ski area to visit?” The answer when talking about the cozy town on the shore of Payette Lake is a wholehearted YES! In fact, McCall Idaho skiing has the perfect amount of resorts big and small to fit everyone’s budget, plans, or vision of what they think a ski town is all about.
McCall Idaho Skiing – Covers All Needs
Photo by: Local Freshies®
Within half and hour from the center of McCall, you have access to three vastly different ski areas. The closest is the Little Ski Hill which is only a few minutes away, offering affordable skiing and schussing under the lights. Less than nine miles away, you have the flagship resort: Brundage Mountain. Not just a ski area but rather a basecamp to outdoor fun such as snowmobile excursions to Burgdorf Hot Springs. The furthest away, but a MUST for all visitors, is Tamarack. This resort is now coming into a renaissance due to a new owner. Both Tamarack AND Brundage are a powder hound’s dream especially during mid-week. You’ll pretty much have each place to yourself. The best part is both of these offer lift-accessed backcountry skiing if you have the gear, knowledge, and fortitude to step outside into the wilderness.
The Little Ski Hill – For 1st Timers & Ski Addicts
Image appears courtesy: Payette Lakes Ski Club
As T.E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia said, “Big things have small beginnings” and the Little Ski Hill in McCall, Idaho is the greatest example of this. Founded in 1937 for local forest workers to recreate during the winter, this quaint area doesn’t have one or two Olympians but SIX who got their start here. Although it may only have a 405-foot vertical drop, it makes sure that every inch of it is maximized. They do this by offering night skiing, a legit terrain park, AND a kid-first attitude that families love. How do you know it’s good? By hearing the laughter and whoops on the slopes. If you’re looking for a fountain of youth or just affordable skiing, this place is it. How affordable? Well, an adult day pass goes for only $30 or hand out $140 and get a SEASON PASS!!!! College students can pick up a season pass for $80 and kids 5-17 can get one for $50.
Compared to other ski resorts throughout the country, the road to Tamarack isn’t treacherous. Heading due south from McCall on Highway 55, follow the massive ridgeline until you pass through Donnelly. We HIGHLY recommend making a pit stop here for breakfast at the Flight of Fancy Bakery. Besides serving tasty pastries and other scrumptious options, their baked oatmeal is the BEST oatmeal you’ll have anywhere.
If you pull into Tamarack’s parking lot mid-week, it will feel as though it’s your own private resort. Although it might have less in-bounds acreage than its cousin Brundage, the 2,800’ of vertical skiing will make sure your legs are screaming especially that you can lap the mountain without stopping. For those that have knowledge about the backcountry, the lift-accessed terrain is MASSIVE since the resort sits on a ridgeline making for easy pickings. That’s just a few of the many reasons you should visit Tamarack Resort.
Brundage Mountain – McCall’s Classic Resort
Photo by: Local Freshies®
Last, but not in any way the least, Brundage Mountain Resort will always be near and dear to our hearts. Looking at the trail map and statistics, you’ll think that it isn’t very big or that it’s pretty mellow. Well, you’d be wrong. Just like all Idaho skiing, you have to look in-between the lines or rather in the glades to find the challenging stuff. For example, from looker’s left, the trails or rather “zones” of the Hidden Valley area holds some amazing steeps you’d find in places like Kirkwood. And if you have a few extra dineros in your pocket, we HIGHLY recommend booking a backcountry guided tour via a snowcat. At over 18,000 acres to explore, the snowcat tours will make sure you find some untracked pow to shred.
Photo by: Local Freshies®
Nordic Skiing
Although we’re focused on the gravity fed version, we have to give a nod to the McCall Idaho skiing version known as nordic skiing. Instead of an afterthought, cross-country skiing here is big. So much so that there are multiple nordic centers that maintain and manage trail networks. The jewel on the crown is Ponderosa Park. It’s located on a 1,000 acre peninsula that splits Payette Lake. Featuring heavily forested trails with rolling topography to ridge tops offering up spectacular views of the lake. The newest edition, opened in 2005, is Bear Basin which contains 30 km of trails to explore. You’ll also find trail networks at Tamarack Resort and the summer activities hot spot for mountain biking at Jug Mountain.
As the throngs of skiers and snowboarders head to busy destinations like Vail, Park City, or Whistler, you may want to consider McCall, Idaho for your next ski vacation. From consistent snowfall, thousands of acres of skiing, and fun winter activities like the McCall Winter Carnival, you’ll understand why we consider not just McCall but ALL of Northern Idaho – the last frontier of skiing. If you want to learn more about McCall like what’s there to do, what places to eat, and even insider tips on how to get there be sure to read our insider’s guide:
Japan. Its snow is so legendary that it has coined its own term: ‘JaPow.’ It has become a part of every skier’s and snowboarder’s lexicon. Ranking up there with Steamboat’s “Champagne Powder” and Bozeman’s “Cold Smoke.” We understand if you want to experience where this term originated at Niseko’s ski resorts. But if you’re like us and want to go where no one else is going, we’ve learned that it might be time to go skiing in Hokkaido and experience its ‘Bonchi.’
A map of Japan might make you think that the northern island of Hokkaido is small compared to the rest of Japan, but you’d be surprised to find out it’s nearly one-quarter of the country’s landmass (~22% to be exact) and roughly the size of the state of New York! And there’s more to skiing in Hokkaido than the well-known resorts of Niseko or Rusutsu. There are over 100 resorts to explore in the Hokkaido region alone! On our trip this winter, we learned about a magical place called the “Hokkaido Powder Belt.”
Hokkaido Powder Belt
On Hokkaido, most of the resorts that people visit are on the western side, surrounding the city of Niseko. The Hokkaido Powder Belt, however, is in the center of Japan’s northern island. Using Asahikawa or Furano as base camps, you can access a variety of different-sized ski areas, each offering something unique.
Bonchi – Another Kind of JaPow
As we mentioned in “10 Things I Wish I Knew Ahead of Skiing in Japan,” the sea effect is what makes Japan’s snow so consistently great. While Niseko, being closer to the ocean, benefits from this effect and stays warmer, Hokkaido’s Powder Belt lies further inland. This means it receives slightly less snowfall than Niseko, but the quality of the snow more than makes up for it.
To set it apart from the rest of “JaPow,” central Hokkaido is now calling its snow “Bonchi Snow.” “Bonchi” means “bowl” in Japanese, referring to Furano’s basin-like topography. It also plays on the word “bon,” which means “good” in French, giving it a playful twist—suggesting that this is the land of the best snow, the kind of powder you crave.
Authentic Japan in Hokkaido
Photo by Jaime Pirozzi – Local Freshies®
From every person I’ve spoken to, the Niseko ski resorts feel as if you could be at a Colorado resort just as much as you’re in Japan. On the other side of the spectrum, you have the Tohoku ski areas, which are located in the northern part of the main island. There’s a high likelihood you’ll be the ONLY Westerner at these resorts, and without someone who speaks Japanese, it can be difficult to get around. The Hokkaido Powder Belt is the perfect medium between the two. It still feels authentically Japanese, yet you’ll probably run into people who speak English, especially at resorts, hotels, and restaurants.
Experience Over Pow
On our trip this winter, what started as one of the coldest and snowiest seasons in Japan turned into something unexpected. When we arrived in Hokkaido, a high-pressure system sat over almost the entire country, providing sunny, warm-ish (still below freezing) conditions for skiing throughout our entire trip. The locals told us that a week without snow is unheard of. Even without fresh snowfall, the rich Japanese culture we experienced and the stunning scenery made the trip worth it.
Tomamu
Overlooking Tomamu Resort – Photo by Jaime Pirozzi – Local Freshies®
Photos and videos can leave quite an impression before you even set foot on the slopes. But I’ll admit, the pictures of those two massive towers surrounded by nature felt so foreign to me. I imagined that with two giant skyscrapers, there’d be a sprawling village beneath them just as big. Turns out, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Rather than creating a massive village that stretched across the entire valley, the resort chose to build up, preserving as much of the natural surroundings as possible.
The Skiing
Like many Japanese ski areas, this mountain spans two peaks. From the base, it looks like you’d need to shuttle between them, but in reality, the trails connect the two effortlessly. Tower Mountain, located next to the Towers, is the more mellow of the two. It’s home to night skiing on certain days and “Hotalu Street.” But no matter what the snow’s like, you’ve got to make sure you at least bomb down “Hotalu Street” once. The snow-covered avenue feels like you’re in the video game Skate or Die, weaving through a charming Japanese village.
But the real skiing is on Tomamu Mountain. Right off the Unkai Gondola, head skier’s left, and you’ll find wide-spaced birch trees on a steep pitch just begging to be shredded.
The Ice Village
John LaConte enjoying ice ramen at Tomamu’s Ice Village – Photo by Jaime Pirozzi – Local Freshies®
I’ve seen countless photos of ice villages in places like Iceland and Norway, but I never had the chance to experience one in person—until Tomamu. It was truly magical and something you need to take in if you visit here. Inside, you’ll find an Ice Post Office where you can send a postcard. An Ice Bar serving Japanese whiskey cocktails in glasses made of ice. And if that’s not enough, there’s even an Ice Chapel where, according to the resort staff, there’s at least one wedding everyday throughout the season!
Oh, and there’s an Ice Ramen Restaurant… and let me tell you, that was an experience. The frozen egg in the ramen was like a ramen-flavored gobstopper—definitely something you’ve got to bite into to understand.
Local Freshies® tip: I can tell you right now, whatever you wear normally snowboarding or skiing, be sure to add a layer if you visit the ice village. After a day of skiing, the ice from the village felt as if cold was emanating from the structures.
Furano
Photo by Jaime Pirozzi – Local Freshies®
Even from a distance, its hulking face is impressive. Out of all the dozen or so ski areas we visited in Japan, Furano stands out with the rowdiest terrain—probably why it’s the most popular in the region. The steep slopes are made for expert shredders. The resort itself feels like a mix of different resorts rolled into one. The Ropeway’s cable car reminded me of Jackson Hole’s tram, while the fall-line skiing following the mountain’s natural topography brought to mind Taos’ classic trail system. A shining example of this is the A-3 trail: a fun, steep, twisty, tight run that bounces down the fall line as if it were trying to reenact how a waterfall would flow if it were made of snow.
Through it all, Furano still maintains its authentic Japanese vibe.
On sunny days, the views are stunning. Across the long valley, you can see the massive, treeless peaks looming over the snow-covered farmland below.
Danger Lurks
With each new angle, the mountain reveals more big lines you didn’t catch from the last perspective—and, at the same time, more danger. From the top of Kitanomine, looking toward the backside of the Furano zone, we saw huge fractures that looked like glide avalanches just outside the resort’s boundaries.
Kamui Ski Links
Our guide to Kamui Ski Links Akihiko Wakamatsu smiling after our 1st dawn patrol lap – Photo by Jaime Pirozzi – Local Freshies®
Some mountains stand tall, practically yelling at you, “You got what it takes?” while others are more comfortable in their own skin. Kamui Ski Links is definitely one of the latter. It wasn’t the first impression that blew me away—it was what we discovered once we got to know the place.
Mom & Pop Feel
Out of all the mountains we visited, Kamui Ski Links was our favorite. Why? It has that “Mom & Pop” ski area vibe we all crave. There are almost no “Gaijin” around, just a true community spirit, with race clinics on the mountain and locals enjoying cheap meals of soba and chicken curry with rice in the lodge.
And then there’s the terrain. From the base, it looks like the slopes are short, but that’s not the case. Turns out, their gondola accesses nearly 2,000 vertical feet of skiing. While the terrain might not be as steep as Tomamu or Furano, what it lacks in steep shots, it more than makes up for with a laid-back vibe (aka fewer crowds), accessible glade skiing, and a relaxed boundary policy.
Other Ski Areas
While we didn’t get to explore every ski area, the region is packed with some seriously unique spots. Asahidake is a one-hit gondola that opens up access to Mt. Asahidake’s epic backcountry terrain. Then there’s Kurodake, another one-lift wonder, featuring cliff bands to huck off, chutes to tackle, and steep fall-line skiing that’ll make experts feel right at home. And let’s not forget about Sahoro, which offers an all-inclusive resort experience along with its tree-lined slopes—perfect for some solid tree skiing. Then there’s Pipu, Canmore (not the Canadian one), and Santa Present Park to round out the list.
Where to Stay
The lobby at Asahikawa – Photo by Jaime Pirozzi – Local Freshies®
Resort Living or City Experiences
Depending on the kind of experience you’re after, that will dictate where to stay. If you’re looking for the all-inclusive resort vibe, you’ve got that option. Staying close to the slopes means you’ll be spending most of your time at the hotel, where nightlife is pretty much nonexistent. But if you’re the type who wants to expand your horizons, staying in one of the nearby cities is a great choice. It’ll give you the chance to sample local cuisine, check out shops, and soak in the local scene. In that case, staying in a city might be more your style.
Asahikawa – City Experiences
The town’s architecture feels like if Milwaukee went full-on Japanese and then got dropped next to a bunch of massive mountains. Staying in a real city means you’re in for an authentic experience—straight-up local vibes. For a general rundown of things to try and do along with some tips, check out our Japan Guide. For Asahikawa, here’s what to expect:
Local Cuisine
The city’s known for its ramen, and you’ll find spots serving it all over. But if you want to do a side-by-side ramen showdown, check out the Asahikawa Ramen Village, where eight of the city’s most famous ramen joints are all in one place. Another regional delicacy? Soba noodles. Made from buckwheat, Hokkaido produces nearly 40% of Japan’s supply. These brownish noodles are a staple in Japanese meals, with a nutty flavor and chewy texture. You’ll find them served both hot and cold—perfect for whatever vibe you’re feeling.
Sanroku gai – Nightlife
The Japanese live that New York lifestyle—work hard, play hard, and trust us, they work HARD. As the sun sets, Asahikawa’s entertainment district, Sanroku Gai, really comes to life. This area is packed with over 1,000 restaurants lining the tiny winding walkways, serving up fresh seafood caught right off the local waters. Plus, you’ll find plenty of drinking spots to keep the vibe rolling into the night.
OMO7 Hoshino Resort
For part of our trip, we stayed at the OMO7 Hoshino Resort in Asahikawa. As the name suggests, it’s a resort right in the heart of the city. The lobby features a “wax bar” stocked with high-end waxes and tools, so you can tune up your skis on the spot. Downstairs, there’s a beautiful onsen with soaking tubs, a cold plunge, sauna, and a giant whirlpool—perfect for easing those post-ski aches and pains. We didn’t get a chance to try breakfast, but friends who’ve stayed rave about it. The iconic dish? Waffles topped with salmon. It might sound odd, but apparently, it totally works.
The resort’s central location made it the perfect spot to dive into the local culture after a day on the slopes. Plus, it’s a great basecamp with Kamui Ski Links, Asahidake, and Kurodake all under 90 minutes by car, and even Tomamu just over two hours away.
Tomamu Hoshino Resort- Resort Living
As part of our trip to hit up Tomamu, we stayed at the towers. If you’re coming with a family and don’t feel like resort hopping, Tomamu Hoshino Resort would be the ideal basecamp. Besides the incredible skiing, the resort offers an insane amount of other activities, such as horseback riding in the snow (Jaime sooo wanted to experience this), snowmobile tours, ice fishing, and even curling, to name a few. Inside the towers, you’ll find rooms that are absolutely massive—even by American standards, let alone Japanese. A standard room includes a separate family area alongside a huge bedroom.
Join Local Freshies® in January 2026!
Photo by: Josh Laskin – Alex riding the JaPow from his trip a few years ago
This trip definitely sparked the itch for some more JaPow, especially after seeing what these mountains have to offer. After our last visit in 2023, where we got to experience Japan’s legendary snow (and got totally skunked on our Hokkaido visit), we’re ready to go back to Hokkaido for round two!
If you’ve ever wanted to experience Japan, come join us for the 10-day Hokkaido Indy Trip. More details will be dropping in April 2025.
Ever since Caldor ravaged Sierra a few years ago, the resort has become a powder hound’s dream. Storms would dump feet of snow, and only a few hundred locals would be out shredding it. The question on everyone’s mind was, ‘Will Sierra-at-Tahoe survive?’ If the crowd on Saturday, February 8th, is any indication, it’s returning to its former glory.
Back to the Good ‘Ole Days?
In town, the roads were eerily empty. But as we turned left at 8 a.m. onto the access road this Saturday morning, the drive up to Sierra became a slow crawl, with hundreds of cars winding their way up the mountain. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen so many people heading up to ski. By 10 a.m., all parking was at capacity, with cars waiting at the entrance for spots to open up. Talking to friends in town who have been skiing here for years—long before Caldor and the pandemic, during the busy 2015-2017 seasons—they said days like this used to be the norm. In fact, things would get so crowded that they’d call all the ski shops and hotels to let them know the resort was full, sending out text alerts and the whole nine yards.
The Perfect Storm
Photo by: Local Freshies
Without access to data, we can’t be absolutely sure why it was so crowded but can make some educated guesses. Here’s a list of potential factors that may have contributed to the crowds on Saturday, February 8th.
Drought Winter
For the 2024-25 season, January saw little to no snowfall, leading to a build-up of demand for some fresh, soft turns.
Hype Train For The Storms
The Sierra Nevada mountain range is notorious for the hype generated by media outlets. Social media, news stations, and various other platforms were predicting that Tahoe would receive 6 to 9 feet of snow. While this didn’t exactly happen, it certainly fueled the excitement to get up here.
Super Bowl Weekend
Despite not being an official holiday, Super Bowl weekend is one of the most popular times to visit Tahoe, especially with the opportunity to head to the casinos and bet on the big game.
Multiple Events
In addition to everything else, Sierra hosted several events, including a USASA Boardercross competition and a local snow camp aimed at getting young kids on the slopes.
Sierra-at-Tahoe Joins Ikon
The biggest news of the season is that Sierra has joined the Ikon Pass. But is this something locals wanted? Every local we’ve spoken to has shared a similar sentiment: “It sucks, but if it keeps the lifts running, it’s the lesser of two evils. I just hope it doesn’t ruin Sierra and turn it into another crowded South Shore ski area.”
Unlike Epic, which is owned by a publicly traded company, the Ikon Pass is backed by a privately held fund, so any insights about its impact are largely anecdotal. Was the Ikon Pass a factor in the crowds returning? Everyone we spoke to on the lifts had a Sierra-at-Tahoe season pass or another product, like a three-pack. While this may be true, it’s also like a surf break—people might not always tell the full story.
Is this the New Normal?
While it’s refreshing to see Sierra returning to its glory days, every local is thinking the same thing: Will powder days become as crowded as those at other Tahoe ski resorts? Only time will tell. At the end of the day, here’s hoping Sierra continues its comeback after the Caldor fire.
