Squaw Valley, CA Report: Upper Mountain NOW OPEN After 19″ of Snow in Past Week Brought to you by Squaw Valley/Alpine Meadows. This report is from December 18th, 2020, at Squaw Valley, California. After nearly 20 inches of fresh snow fell at Squaw Valley, California, this past week, the upper mountain that had been left mostly untouched this season was finally up for up grabs. The snow had caked the upper mountain, and it was […] Conditions Report Galen Carrico | December 21, 2020 0 Comments
Lake Tahoe, NV Backcountry Report: Bluebird Powder Lake Vista Day Brought to you by 10 Barrel Brewing Report from December 20th, 2020 The last few days in the Lake Tahoe area have provided nothing but bluebird powder days after several storms blanketed the area in the previous few weeks. Although most of the snow exposed to the Tahoe sun has been baked and crusted over, there is still great snow in […] Conditions Report Galen Carrico | December 21, 2020 0 Comments
Alpine Meadows, CA Report: Bluebird Day Enjoying Fresh Snow Between Storms Brought to you by 10 Barrel Brewing This report is from December 12th, 2020, at Alpine Meadows, California. After receiving about three inches of snow overnight, Alpine Meadows was nicely refreshed on a bluebird Saturday, and it felt great to get some fresh turns. The first snowfall of December got everyone stoked, and the excitement on the mountain was audible. Roundhouse, […] Conditions Report Galen Carrico | December 14, 2020 0 Comments
Alpine Meadows, CA Report: Fast, Fun, the Sun is Shining and the Park is Firing This report is from December 4th and 5th, 2020 at Alpine Meadows, California. According to rumors heard throughout the week, Alpine Meadows currently has the best lift-accessed skiing in the Sierra and that has been confirmed. After spending the first few days on the other side of the resort following the holiday, Friday and Saturday were spent at Alpine Meadows where […] Conditions Report Galen Carrico | December 7, 2020 1 Comment
Squaw Valley, CA Report: East Winds, Chalky Snow, 159% of Average Snowpack This report is from Thanksgiving Day: Thursday, November 26, 2020. Brought to you by 10 Barrel Brewing Co. Thanksgiving Day at Squaw Valley was a blustery preview of the season while ski patrol was able to open more terrain and the grooming and snowmaking crew gave the mountain a great refresh from yesterday. The notorious East wind was out there […] Conditions Report Galen Carrico | November 27, 2020 2 Comments
Squaw Valley, CA Report: (The Day After) Opening Day 2020-2021 This report is from Wednesday, November 25, 2020 Although November 21, 2020 turned out to be Squaw Valley/Alpine Meadows’ (SVAM) first “official” day of operation for the 2020-21 season, today was the first day I was able to “work remotely” so that I could provide our readers with a condition report. How was the snow? Better than expected! Especially since […] Conditions Report Galen Carrico | November 25, 2020 0 Comments
Lake Tahoe Ski Resorts Struggle to Hire and Offer Affordable Housing due to Visa Ban, Pandemic Ski resorts in and around the Lake Tahoe area are forging the way through a shortage of international workers and affordable housing as the winter hiring season begins. Most fingers are being pointed at the pandemic, as well as President Trump’s stance on legal immigration, which has made it more difficult for temporary workers who have historically been counted on […] Industry News Galen Carrico | November 2, 2020 4 Comments
RIP Powder Magazine… Or Will It Comeback From the Dead? As if 2020 had not brought enough pain, news broke on or about October 2, 2020, that Powder Magazine, “The Skier’s Magazine,” was being discontinued after their parent company A360 Media, LLC ( formerly American Media, LLC), announced that the entire editorial staff would be placed on indefinite furlough, effective November 20, 2020, when operations of the magazine, the website, […] Industry News Galen Carrico | October 27, 2020 0 Comments
Eric Pollard and LINE Skis Go Separate Ways After Over 20 Years The ski industry was shocked to hear that Eric Pollard and LINE skis have finally cut ties after over 20 years of designing skis and riding the world together from Oregon to Japan. Pollard has been every bit of the ski legend, switch-skier extraordinaire as well as the face of the company over the last 20 years. Pollard not only […] Industry News Galen Carrico | October 23, 2020 0 Comments
Area Near Mt. Shasta, California Sees Alarming Increase in Deaths and Cases of COVID-19 Mt. Shasta in Northern California is a mecca for skiers, riders, climbers, and even those looking for intelligent life beyond Earth. However, in recent months, the mostly rural and wide-open yet comparatively unpopulated area has had an alarming uptick in COVID-19 cases and deaths. California as a whole has had some success in containing the virus, despite being the most […] Industry News Galen Carrico | October 15, 2020 3 Comments
Nevada’s First Meadery: Black Rabbit Mead Co. Introduces Honey-Based Libations to the Sierra Black Rabbit Mead Company is one of many new establishments in Reno, Nevada’s new Brewery District and they just happen to be Nevada’s very first producer of mead. “Mead is the world’s oldest alcohol,” says co-owner Wiliam Truce. “It’s made from honey and traditionally is like a dessert wine. However, we make ours more like a dry cider. Much of […] Industry News Galen Carrico | October 1, 2020 0 Comments
A $1.5 Million Paradise for Skiers and Riders is Waiting for You in Austria If you are looking for your own slice of mountain paradise, then look no further than this penthouse in the Austrian Alps. Tucked away in the village of Neukirchen am Grossvenediger, this chateau has everything someone with $1.5 million stashed away from 2019…. The New York Times highlighted what would be a winter paradise for anyone looking to spend more […] Industry News Galen Carrico | September 30, 2020 0 Comments
Ski Towns See Uptick in Move-ins as well as Enrollment Due to “Urban Exodus” Schools in ski towns across the U.S., in areas including Lake Tahoe, California/Nevada, Aspen, Colorado,, Mammoth and Bear Valley, among others, have seen a marked increase in enrollment both due to more people relocating to less urban areas as well as an uptick in remote learning due to the “new normal” of 2020. How locals students, parents, teachers, school staff, […] Industry News Galen Carrico | September 29, 2020 5 Comments
A Crowded Summer Season in the Tahoe Basin: By the Numbers Lake Tahoe area locals and business owners have been beyond frustrated for the past several months as tourists have inundated the popular summer (and winter) recreation spot that is home to many individual communities. Holiday weekends have always been busy during the summer but with people being forced outside in order to remain socially distanced, there was been some conflict […] Industry News Galen Carrico | September 3, 2020 6 Comments
Ski Season in the Northern Hemisphere Starts Next Month… In Scandinavia and the Alps This is the time of year skiers and riders begin to salivate. Ski movie trailers are coming out. The first snow has dusted the Rockies. You may or may not have been shopping for some new sticks… But “winter is coming.” At least in Finland. Levi, the nation’s largest ski area, and Ruka, another one of the largest– both plan to […] Industry News Galen Carrico | September 3, 2020 0 Comments
RIP: Renowned Climate Scientist Falls to Death in Greenland Crevasse Renowned climate scientist and glaciologist, Konrad “Koni” Steffen, slipped and fell to his death in a crevasse in August 2020, while he was doing research in the Swiss Camp area of Western Greenland. During his prolific career, Steffen had credited close to 15,000 academic credits to his name during the decades he spent studying rapidly melting ice sheets in Greenland […] Galen Carrico | August 25, 2020 0 Comments
New Laws to Allow Hunting/Trapping of Bear Cubs and Wolf Pups in Alaskan Nature Preserves New rules established by the National Park Service (NPS) will allow for previously banned hunting and trapping techniques that will now be permitted in ten national preserves in Alaska. Although such methods were previously permitted on state lands, these new rules will permit hunters and trappers in Alaskan National Parks and nature preserves to now trap bears with human food […] Brains Galen Carrico | August 17, 2020 3 Comments
Trip Report: Mokelumne Wilderness – California Wildflowers and July Skiing On July 31, 2020, I made the questionable decision to wake up at dawn and head south of Lake Tahoe to an area I know holds snow late into the summer. This area is used by many of the Turns All Year (TAY) tribe of skiers and riders who try to link-up turns during each of the 12 months of […] Trip Report Galen Carrico | August 6, 2020 4 Comments
Brain Post: Check Out Saturn in the Summer Sky With the Naked Eye Although most of the hype this summer has been directed at Comet NEOWISE, you may be able to see Saturn from your home now that the comet is beginning to fade from view. On July 28, 2020, I was able to see the ringed planet with the naked eye from my neighborhood in Northwest Reno, Nevada. Saturn, like fellow gas […] Brains Galen Carrico | July 31, 2020 0 Comments
New Study Reveals Dogs Use Earth’s Magnetic Field to Find Their Way Home If you thought dogs could usually find their way home solely because of their keen sense of smell, a new study may intrigue you. Researchers collaborating at the Czech University of Life Sciences and Virginia Tech University tracked the navigation abilities of 27 dogs from over 10 breeds across a period of three years and found that dogs’ sense of […] Brains Galen Carrico | July 29, 2020 0 Comments
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