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Spring Skiing @ Heavenly

Once again, it's that time of year.  The sun is shining and the slopes are covered.  Skiers and riders in South Lake Tahoe are gearing up for another beautiful day at Heavenly Ski Resort.  After some fresh snow earlier this week, we are looking at another perfect day in Tahoe.  March is the time to buy some sunscreen, strip off the layers, and enjoy the amazing weather and scenary we have to offer here in Northern California.  Tourists and locals alike are blessed with unmatchable conditions and terrain in the Tahoe Basin.  Earlier this week, I had the chance to check out the slopes at Alpine Meadows with two good friends.  After a nice 4 to 6 inch dusting, the mountains were prime for magnificent sugar turns.  Unfortunately, underneath the fresh snow were some pretty crusty conditions, but at those moments, if you use your brain, you can really find great snow.  We managed to search for all of the North facing slopes and tree wells, which generally keep the best conditions, and low and behold the snow there was amazing.  So for the rest of the day we lapped the resort, hitting as many North slopes as we could find. Lesson learened, if you come across a day where the snow isn't perfect, look for the northern slopes and you will be satisfied.  Tahoe has officially entered Spring skiing time, which is one of the best times of the year.  Our "freeze/thaw" cycle elicits unbelievable afternoon spring conditions, where a t-shirt is really all you need.  There is nothing like having a day off of work, visiting a fresh resort, and skiing with your buddies in the Spring time.  Personally, it helps to keep me centered and remember why I live here and why I do what I do.  I always think about something my Dad once told me, "Find something you love and figure out how to make a living doing it," and that's exactly what I did = Thanks Dad.   


Bode Miller - Up Close with Ski Butlers at the Olympics

By Bryn Carey, President of Ski Butlers

 

On Friday night after Bode Miller won the Silver Medal in the Olympic Super G, he told me that he is going out and skiing like he did when he was younger and just pushing the limits and going for it. He also sounded inspired, confident and enjoying these games. These were very good words to come out of Bode Miller’s mouth; a sign of confidence that would later lead to a Gold Medal in the Men’s Super Combined.

Bode Miller and I go back to high school when we raced together in Maine. Bode was always older but none the less a role model. As Bode’s career progressed, my brother Forest Carey became his coach on the US Ski Team. He was then his personal coach for two years on Team America when Bode skied independent from the US Ski Team.

To see Bode win Gold, Silver and Bronze on the biggest ski racing stage in the world, in an Olympics where the media did not see him as a favorite (ask his coaches, they knew he could do this) was something that is special for everyone involved with Ski Butlers, the US Ski Team and of course Bode Miller.

After Bode won gold, he walked out of the finish area and came up to his dad (who I was standing next to and the picture to the left) and gave him a big hug and said “Dad, that was awesome, truly awesome!” He gave the rest of his family hugs and was basically speechless but he had a grin from ear to ear and a look on his face that showed a sense of relief.

In interviews later that day, Bode said, "The way I executed, the way I skied, is something I'll be proud of for the rest of my life. It feels amazing."

Congrats, Bode! From everyone at Ski Butlers!

Go to Facebook.com/SkiButlers to see more photos of Bode and the rest of the Olympic Games.

Go to Twitter.com/SkiButlers to see inside info and tweets from the Olympic events.


Bowling in the Forecast
Each year the great folks of Sierra-At-Tahoe invite local businesses to participate in their "Bowling Nite."  It is a great time of year and is always a pleasant welcome to the start of the ski season.  We are no "Lebowski's" over here, but we do enjoy pizza and bowling as much as the next guy, (not to mention some free spirits too).  It is always nice to mingle with all the ski folks from around town and get pumped on what a fantastic season we have ahead of us.  I personally went onto Sierra-At-Tahoe ski resort this week and was amazed with the conditions.  The morning pretty much consisted of fresh turns from top to bottom for the first hour of the day then followed by fast groomers for the rest, which was just about all you could ask for so early in the season.  I look forward to some serious coverage in the Lake Tahoe Basin so we can carve some nice turns down the Grand View lift line and get that out-of-breath feeling that can only come about from aggressive skiing.  Until then, my fat powder ski rentals will have to remain in the closet but not for long.  So for now, I'm looking forward to crushing the bowling lanes tonite, gorging on pizza, and reminiscing about deep powder lines from years past.  Keep thinking snow because it's working!      

Snow is comming
After a summer and fall of getting ready for the winter it is very good to see that the weather report is looking positive at just about all our 25 North American resorts with snow on the way and places like Whistler getting dumped on.

When owning a ski shop you can do everything in your power to work hard, advertise, and gear up for the season, but the one thing you can not do is predict the weather and unfortunately our best marketer is Mother Nature. Early Snow = Good Year. At last weeks Park City Lodging Association's luncheon the guest speaker was Brian Mclnerny who works for NOAA and he had some encouraging news; El Nino in the Pacific means a greater chance of a good snow year and we are in an El Nino. Now no one can predict the weather past 7 days but they can make good assumptions based on historical data.

In today's day and age of high tech snow making and groomers, ski resorts have been able to offer a very good product even when mother nature doesn't cooperate. With cold temperatures the past few weeks, places like Park City Mountain Resort, which is right out my back door, have been blowing snow at night when the temperature drops to make sure they are ready there ski season opener November 21st. So no matter what mother nature does, we are going to have good skiing and riding this year, mother nature will just a be a great bonus!

By: Bryn Carey, Park City, UT



All Signs Point 2 Snow
It has been one awfully mild summer in Lake Tahoe, locals are talking, and Mother Nature seems to be tempting us Alpine folks with cold temperatures.   These signs usually trick us into thinking winter is around the corner, but this year it just might be. In fact, there was snow on the north side of Mt. Rose until Thursday night from a front that moved through a few days before. The wind today was white-capping the lake on the South Shore just below Heavenly where frost could be seen from town a few days before. It's been cold at night and some sporty parkas have been dawned on the south shore casinos keeping tourists warm. Sail boats seen from Cave Rock where moving quite well in 20 knot wind on Thursday with clouds coming in in the afternoon. From Castle Rock on Friday, larger clouds came across the lake with 40 mph winds. The tree branches were swaying and pine needles and forest debris was blowing. Local ski rental shops have been setting up throughout the Heavenly Valley area. Ski industry purchase have been growing at a faster rate than last year as media coverage begins to offer crazy weather predictions for the season. The oceans affect the weather, and it does appear that the current weather patterns seem similar than in past huge snow seasons here in Tahoe. One local ski rental delivery shop employee believes this year will be similar to the explosive ski season of 2005 where Heavenly, Kirkwood, and Sierra-at-Tahoe received 900" of snow each starting with skiing in October. The concern for the winter could possibly be more rain on snow events with precipitation at different temperatures. This forecast could make it difficult for backcountry skiers to read the snow as the season progresses or just make conditions in the Sierra backcountry more precarious and dangerous. In this case, South Lake Tahoe is well endowed with lift access skiing for some of the most unique powder turns in the country.
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