28 Nov Mountain Dreamers
Two teens took breaks from school two years apart, either side of 1970, and moved to the mountains. Each fell in love with skiing, then with Tahoe, then—when they met two winters later—each other....
28 Nov Chronicles of an Acclaimed Cameraman
Larry Prosor isn’t one to glamorize the past or vilify the future, tempting as it may be for someone who built a career on the cresting wave of extreme sports photography in what was arguably the golden era of Tahoe, only to watch it flounder...
27 Sep Galen Rowell: A Dynamic Mountain Light Remembered
In 1969, I was walking along the base of El Capitan in Yosemite Valley with a couple of climbing buddies when we ran into Galen Rowell. I was new to the sport and not up on my Yosemite climbing history, and thus had never heard...
22 Feb Where Good Things Grow
On a morning when Truckee is blanketed in snow, the inside of Good Anya Plant Shop is lush and inviting, a multitude of well-loved plants radiating their positive energy onto anyone who walks through the door....
27 Nov Tim Humphreys: Forever Young
Even the burliest, most steadfast powder aficionado can be forgiven for seeking respite from snow come late spring and early summer, especially after a brutalizing winter. Sometimes we want to mountain bike, or recline at the beach, or play golf. Sometimes the feet just ache...
25 Sep Twilight of Tahoe’s Mark Twain
Summer 2023 marked the end of a long run for a beloved member of our region’s cultural fabric. McAvoy Layne appeared in his final Chautauquan performances as Mark Twain in venues where he’s entertained thousands over the decades, retiring from the stage on September 30...
25 Sep Decades-Old Mountain Mystery Put to Rest
Only while skiing Sun Valley Resort’s Bald Mountain was Jeanne Smith Gaida able to feel the spirit of a man who had cast a long shadow on her life....
25 Sep Martin Arrouge: The Sheepherder Who Unlocked World-Class Ski Terrain
The story of how Wayne Poulsen developed Olympic Valley in company with—and then without—Alex Cushing is well documented. There is no need to repeat it here. What is far less known—even among ski historians—is the embryonic influence of Martin Arrouge, the man responsible for introducing...
26 Apr Steve McKinney: Transcending the Continuum of Excellence
Steve McKinney was one of the best all-around athletes in Tahoe history. Given the long line of exceptional athletes who have called this region home—dating back to the skiing pioneers of the mid-nineteenth century—that is saying a lot. ...
27 Sep A Roundabout Route to Stardom
Nick Russell is a dude of paradoxes. He’s youthful in appearance and athletically slim, but rocks a grizzled old man’s beard. He could be labeled a stalwart Backcountry Bob, but has core pipe and park credentials. He globe-trots to far-flung mountain ranges, but is most...