Reno-Tahoe

Spring fever has hit the slopes in Reno-Tahoe – the birds are chirping, the air is warm and the snow is turning to corn. But spring is more than the celebration of perfect T-shirt turns for skiers and boarders, it’s also the time to plan ahead for next year and land your 2009-2010 pass for the (sometimes) discounted price.

Check out these deals at Reno-Tahoe ski and board resorts*:

• Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe: $399 – purchase now and ski the rest of this season for free
• Diamond Peak Ski Resort: $454 – purchase now and ski the rest of this season for free
• Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort: $329 – includes Sierra-at-Tahoe access
• Alpine Meadows: TBD
• Squaw Valley USA: $369
• Heavenly Tahoe: $579 – includes access to other Vail Mountain Resorts Co. properties
• Boreal: $229 – this deal is available for the next 10 days!
• Sugar Bowl – TBD

For a complete list of Reno-Tahoe resorts, go online.

* Adult rates: Check Web sites for details on children/students/seniors pricing as well as any restrictions.

Returning for a second year after a successful inaugural race, Rock-n-River in Reno has expanded its format to include options for runners looking to enhance their skills, train, qualify or just have fun.

The famous Reno Arch provides the starting gate for the May 3 races that include a new marathon, a half marathon option, and a new 10K and kids fun run with the course traveling along the Truckee River and winding through downtown Reno. A large portion of the race proceeds will be given to a local non-profit foundation focused on bringing awareness, preventative education and support to people suffering from a variety of eating disorders in the Truckee Meadows.

In 2008, more than 800 runners participated and event producers are anticipating more than 1,500 registrants this year. A pre-race dinner with guest speaker Tim Twietmeyer, a Western States Endurance Run record holder from Auburn, Calif., is scheduled for Friday, May 1 at the Eldorado Hotel Casino.  Advance registration and a pre-race expo starts on Saturday, May 2 at Harrah’s Reno.

Registration is available online at Rock-n-RiverHalfMarathon.com with fees starting at $50 for the full marathon, $45 for half marathon and $30 for the 10K and a free kids fun run.  Each participant receives a t-shirt, finisher medal, race goodie bag and post-race massage.  Additional festivities include live entertainment, food and beverages. Top runners also have the chance to receive cash prizes, hotel packages compliments of Eldorado Hotel and Casino and more, as well as first-, second- and third-place awards for all age group categories.

Last weekend’s snow in Reno-Tahoe reminded us of the reason for the season – skiing and boarding! Hopefully the early season flurries are indicative of a snowy winter ahead.

For regular, even semi-regular, skiers and boarders a season pass is a worthwhile investment. Here’s a breakdown of pass prices at local resorts (adult). Drop a few coins on a pass now … it will pay off when the big dumps come this winter!

• Alpine Meadows: $599-$1,074
• Boreal Mountain Resort: $199-$329
• Diamond Peak: $109-$567
• Donner Ski Ranch: $249
• Heavenly Lake Tahoe: $379
• Homewood Mountain Resort: $349-$499
• Kirkwood: $439-$569
• Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe: $599
• Northstar-at-Tahoe: $299-$749
• Sierra-at-Tahoe: $299-$749
• Soda Springs: $199
• Squaw Valley USA: $1,889
• Sugar Bowl: $299-$839
• Tahoe Donner: $270

* Prices may reflect early season specials/online discounts.

After enjoying a month of summer time down south in Argentina– tele girl is back! It’s so exciting to see (and experience) the powder and new snow in Reno Tahoe! Yeah!!!

Since we got back, we’ve been out a couple of times and it’s been awesome! First we went to Thomas Creek with our 18 month old girl and had a blast.

But last Sat got even better. My friend asked if we wanted to go out on a date she would watch Cielo, so I said “how about Sat morning so we can go skiing?!” and she agreed. So we went up to the Tahoe Meadows and hiked up and teled down while snowing the entire time. It was like heaven! Even though I am pretty pregnant (due in 4 weeks) I love to get out and earn some curves!

Even though it seemed like there wasn’t enough snow, we decided to go for a few runs on Sunday – and we were amazed!! The snow was awesome!! You could see on the Mt Rose Ski Resort web cam that it was windy and maybe even miserable. But when we got there, we parked at the Summit and hiked up to a North facing slope, between the trees – and it was perfect.

Fresh power for the last ski trip!

Is skiing in April considered Spring skiing? Maybe not – especially when you get 9 inches of pow pow!

Last Saturday we went back up again and took turns skiing. We went to the "bend on the road" on Mt. Rose Highway, coming from Reno before you hit Mt. Rose Ski Resort. It was such a perfect blue bird day!

Taking a breat to eat

Back to base

Wow – it’s been a while since my last post. Tele girl is back — and now with almost 7-month old tele baby!

Over a week ago, on Saturday 2/17 my hubby and I decided to try backcountry skiing with Cielo for the first time. We had a blast! She loved the big girl backpack and we enjoyed the chance to get some tele turns in. We checked out the Meadows and the snow was better than we expected. This winter had been so slow… with little snow… but now that seems to have changed!

Are we ready daddy?

I’m having so much fun that I can just fall asleep while you guys ski

I like it when we take breaks – yay!

So you are wondering about this weekend, since it snowed non-stop. Well, we decided to go to the gym instead – not for lack of desire but trying to wait for the sunny powder days so Cielo can learn to love this — instead of wondering "why do you make me do this?" So hopefully you’ll see and hear more of us in the next couple of months.

Bring it on!