There are several peaks above Reno, Nevada that offer excellent terrain for backcountry skiing. Here is a little video from this past Saturday that sums up the fun.
Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe
Here a couple of shots from a snowshoeing jaunt I did today in the mountains above Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe.
Skiing in the Sierras
What a fantastic weekend of skiing in the Lake Tahoe region. In the past week we have received more than 50 inches of new snow with more on the way.
It all started Friday morning at Alpine Meadows Ski Resort. Check out a little video I made to give you a sense of the conditions.
Turn your speakers on.
I intermixed some photos I took at Alpine last year just to make the video a little more interesting.
As usual, I was shooting in really poor light conditions with my Canon A620. Still, for a compact little digital camera that also has video with audio capabilities, it is a nice little companion. It is already difficult enough to get my friends to hold still on a powder day. Carrying and protecting a large camera in cold, snowy, windy conditions would make it even harder.
I am waiting for a camcorder that is small and compact, offers excellent video quality, saves to a hard drive, and also allows you to take high resolution pictures. Come on Canon or Sony, you can do it!
On Saturday, I did some backcountry in a place I cannot reveal, and today I went over to my backyard resort, Mt Rose Ski Resort. It was quite windy and snowing heavily, but the powder was endless and I skied as long as my body would allow me.
I hope everyone else had a wonderful weekend!
Cruising Around Costa Rica
One’s Personal Perspective
Costa Rica is an eco-tourist’s dream. An abundance of flora and fauna, beautiful beaches, and big mountains make this country equally appealing to both naturalists and recreationalists alike. You can surf, fish, hike, rappel waterfalls, fly through the treetops on zip lines, race horses on the beach, and witness more wildlife than you ever thought existed.
However, the one characteristic of Costa Rica that is lacking, especially to those familiar with such destinations as Mexico, Peru, the Caribbean, or the Mediterranean for that matter, is the unimpressive architecture and a seemingly undefined or preserved culture.
Yes, there are coffee, chocolate, and African palm plantations, a few scattered pre-Columbian sites, and some evidence of Spanish influence, but frankly it is not that interesting in comparison to other places in the world where humans have left their mark. Costa Rica is beautiful, and its people are noble and proud, but it is not a place one should necessarily visit if they quickly get bored of ocean and rain forest activities.
Fortunately for me, I love to surf, and I am somewhat of amateur ornithologist. I appreciated the countless incredible surf spots and Costa Rica’s efforts to preserve large tracts of land in the form of reserves and national parks.
It Finally Snowed in the Sierras
On Saturday it was cold, snowing, and the light was flat, but I still managed to begrudgingly pull my hands out of my gloves, and fire off some video of backcountry skiing in the Mt Rose Wilderness Area.
Despite the fact that it did not make for very good video conditions, I am absolutely overjoyed to see some snow finally descending in the Lake Tahoe region. I am praying for more!
I would also like to give a shout out to the Mt Rose Ski Resort patroller who broke his leg doing avalanche control in the Chutes on Monday. I appreciate the work that he was doing and recognize that there are inherent dangers in this type of work.
I absolutely love the Chutes and it is the primary reason why I have a pass at Mt Rose. The ski patrollers do a great job of managing a notorious area and getting it open for people to safely enjoy.
Hopefully the team was able to learn from the situation and apply that knowledge to avoid similar situations in the future. However, it could be that it was simply unavoidable.
Here’s to a quick recovery.