This post comes from Pam Jahnke, owner of Tahoe Mountain Sports and healthy eating connoisseur. Pam is always on the prowl for tasty new treats, but she holds a few prerequisites: they must be all-natural, provide good energy, and pack a solid punch of flavor. Here’s one of her most recent creations, which takes little effort and whips up quickly so you can grab-n-go, and keep going all day.
Living an active life with kids, work and outdoor adventures, I’m always looking for healthy snacks that I can make or grab quickly. I’m one of those people always trying new food plans – one month I’m gluten-free, then I’m going Paleo or doing the Blood Type Diet. I think I drives my husband a bit nuts because one month there’s no meat, then the next it’s all about the meat! I look at it as a process that I’m constantly refining to learn which foods provide my body with the best fuel.
One great easy go-to snack, or even a meal for me, is a smoothie. Sometimes I use a protein powder and add fruit and almond milk, other times I just blend up some greens with ginger, lemon and banana for a nice veggie boost. While looking for a new protein powder I decided to try a Fruit & Vegetable Smoothie mix from Sherwood Valley Juice Co. because it’s sugar, gluten, soy and dairy-free. They come in lots of different flavors; I tried Citrus Sunrise and it came out an interesting bright green color! You can blend it with water or add your own frozen fruit and milk/soy products for extra flavor and nutrition. I recommend adding some ice cubes or liquid to thin out the texture just a little bit. Each smoothie is packed with lots of fiber, potassium, and vitamins A and C, but only 5 grams of protein.
What are your go-to snacks while on the run or when you’re backpacking or camping?
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received the smoothie mix for free from Sherwood Valley Juice Co. as coordinated by Deep Creek Public Relations.
Being the ski and boot buyer here at Tahoe Mountain Sports can be a daunting job as I have to sift through literally tons of product on a regular basis to pick out what are going to be the best options for our customers and what companies are truly making the top-of-the-line gear. I have to balance fit, durability, comfort, price and of course graphics when deciding what to bring in to the shop. One of the best parts of this decision-making process is when the companies and sales reps give us a chance to test their gear in the field. This past March, I was fortunate enough to be invited on a trip down to Bishop with Sierra Mountain Guides at their hut in North Lake to test out the latest from La Sportiva, Scarpa and Arc Teryx. Just one week later I headed out to Lost Trail Lodge, outside of Truckee, to ski and test with the Tecnica and Blizzard crew. Here is a short recap of both trips and the gear I got to use:
Trip 1: North Lake, Lamarck Col, Paiute Pass – Outside of Bishop, CA
I joined this group that consisted of buyers from four shops from all over California, three guides from Sierra Mountain Center and our La Sportiva and Scarpa sales reps. It was a lively group with folks of all ability levels, and since there were a few of us that were there for the uphill skinning and steeper downhill skiing, we quickly broke off from the less experience skiers. We gained some great vert and had some pretty awesome turns all day long, both powder and hard snow. This was an area of the Sierra Nevada I had never toured in before so it was exciting to check out new terrain, especially the Lamarck Col and Paiute Pass areas.
As for the gear, I have positives and negatives to share (more…)
The Tahoe doldrums had set in and we were ready to hit the road. Zach rallied the troops, we jumped in the Subaru and off we went to the North, the zone where the Sierras end and the Cascades begin.
We B-lined it for the Bunny Flat trailhead, which is the highest you can drive on Shasta in the winter months, and found ourselves alone at about 1am. Bust out the tent, sleeping bags, water bottles in the bags (hot water in a bottle + bottle in bottom of sleeping bag = warmth), and we were off to sleep in sub 10-degree temps. At this point, the wind was not nuking but it was blowing steadily.
We woke with a plan to camp on Shasta and summit on Sunday, but from the wind clouds and blowing snow that we woke to, that plan quickly changed to a day assault on the mountain and summit goals were left for another trip. You can see the howling winds in the pics below and bottom right:
When we returned to the car that day and checked some remote wind meters, we saw crests of about 65 mph at 9,000 ft. Considering we made it to 11,000 ft, we were judging the winds consistently at 40-50 with gusts to 80-100 mph at times. We made it above Lake Helen, dug ourselves a little trench so we could get a little shelter before heading back down. The views and our time up there were beautiful and we were all bummed to have to leave so quickly. The picture below and left is the trench we dug that pretty much filled right back in within minutes of us digging it:
With temps over 100 in the Sacramento and Reno areas, it’s going to be a big weekend in Tahoe, so make sure you are here to enjoy it!
Annual Summer Sale 20-70% Off Everything
Tahoe Mountain Sports is taking 20 to 70 percent off everything in the downtown Kings Beach store during our 5th Annual Summer Blowout Sale. Yep, we said EVERYTHING (well, just about everything!)
Find deals on camping gear from Snow Peak, Mountain Hardwear, Marmot, Black Diamond and Klean Kanteen. Clothing, swimwear and footwear from the likes of Patagonia, Merrell, Chaco and Lole are all marked down. Backpack and bag prices get chopped, too, so go ahead and treat yourself to that much-needed trekking pack from the Deuter ACT Lite series, a dry bag from Outdoor Research, a sturdy laptop backpack or an Osprey hydration pack like the Manta 25. And, lots of leftover ski and winter gear from our lack of winter last season that is priced to move!
Stock up for that Labor Day trip, for any back-to-school needs, to finish out the summer in style or to prep for the upcoming winter. Whatever your gear needs, we’ve got you covered!
Tahoe Mountain Sports is just a block from the sandy shore of Lake Tahoe (about a quarter mile east of the Highway 267/North Lake Boulevard intersection), so stop by for some serious discounts this weekend during our regular store hours, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
ALSO, one of the biggest and most awesome stand up paddleboard events will be going on and we have teamed up with UGG of Australia to represent their awesome line of summer footwear and sell it at the event.
Just keep a lookout for the Tahoe Mountain Sports tent on the beach and come visit to check out the coolest and hippest in summer footwear!
Both the store sale and Ta-Hoe Nalu Event will be going on Friday-Sunday 10-6 daily. See you there!!!!
Whenever the wind is blowing at moderate speeds and the weather seems to be perfect, I always see 3-10 people launching off the open ridge area above my house, soaring to great heights, hanging out like a bird in the air and then landing on one of the most beautiful beaches around Lake Tahoe. These guys are paragliding and to watch from the ground as they soar and then come in for a super smooth beach landing is one of the favorite past times of many a Kings Beach local. Being a kiteboarder, these big wings that these guys use are clearly the next step as it is a very similar setup to a foil kite that I use on the snow. After stopping by the shop a couple times, it was time to work out a deal and get up in the air for my first paragliding flight.
Luckily, this past Sunday night, a couple of their booked tandems dropped out leaving room for Ryan (the TMS hardgoods manager) and I to jump at the opportunity in front of us. It didn’t take more than a second for either of us to accept the invitation of a tandem flight.
After a 20 minute hike up to the launch spot referred to as Daydreams (named after a Squaw Valley 70s era Beck Bros. movie filmed locally with some hang-gliding footage), it was timed to get geared up, roll out the wings and get ready to fly. These guys sure knew what they were doing because within about 10 minutes of getting to the launch spot, wings were rolled out, lines were checked and the first in our group was ready for lift off.
It looked pretty fluid to be honest and it was a lot gentler than I imagined. After getting launched on a kite enough times, you start to understand the power of these forced air kite/wings, but because the Paraglider wing is so big, the lift off is a bit smoother and it just launches you right up. And then……………………………………………. you are airborne!
The winds were not too strong on this occasion so we did have a little trouble getting enough lift to really stay up in the air too long, but it was the ride of a lifetime and I can’t wait to go for another. Having lived in Tahoe for 12 years now, Paragliding is now on my Top 5 things to do whether you live here or are coming for a visit. Enjoy the rest of these pics and contact these guys if you are ready for the ride of your life!
For more information about Paragliding in Lake Tahoe, you can contact:
This Adventure of the Week comes from TMS owner, Dave, who ventured down to the Eastern Sierra to salvage this crazy, low-snow season for some high elevation, alpine fun!
Who: Dave, Andy from Sierra Descents, Zach, Sara and Molly the dog
What: Backcountry spring skiing
Where: Tioga Pass Road, the Eastern Gateway to Yosemite National Park
Caltrans doesn’t take a big liking to skiers I don’t think, but when fishing season is due to open, you can rest assured that means most of the roads on the Eastern Sierra are going to try and open. And luck just has it that every year, the fishing opener coincides with some of the best spring skiing the country has to offer. Yup, right in our own backyard, the Eastern Sierra is a spring skiing mecca, and when the roads open up to 9,000 ft+, you can’t really go wrong.
View of False White from the parking area on Hwy 120
Being a horrible snow year in this part of the Sierra, we were quickly turned around from a lower route on Mt. Koip due to miles of hiking that would have had to be done on dirt, and instead opted for the snow start and end. We parked at the intersection of Saddlebag Lake Rd and Hwy 120 both days. False White is a pretty easy and straightforward 2.5–3 hour climb from this parking area. Saturday was super warm with almost no wind, so we opted to explore a bit as the regular descent (southeast face) was a bit mushy already. Instead, we headed to this notch we spotted that would drop us on the north side into the Skeleton Lakes Basin.
The shoulder on False White by which we accessed the North Bowls
This proved to be a great choice as the skiing stayed wintery over there and gave us an extra long tour to get out. We were still off the snow by 2pm as the warming was getting extreme and the snow was turning quickly. Our views and ideas just as quickly turned to Sunday and the idea to bag one of the couloirs on Mt. Conness.
For Sunday, Andy from Sierra Descents and Sara (Zach’s wife) met up with us for what was sure to be an epic. I had never traveled in the winter back to Saddlebag Lake and Conness in particular so I was extremely excited to see this new terrain and ski some of the best stuff we could find. We started at 6:30am to ensure the midday heat would not be as much of a problem as it was on Saturday and headed out towards Saddlebag Lake. Once rounding Saddlebag, getting overtaken by some super fast and crazy backcountry Nordic skiers (see this photo album), we pushed on to the Conness Glacier and eventually the Y-couloirs on another route to the ridge.
The Conness Basin as seen once rounding Saddlebag Lake
It took about 4ish hours to reach the base of the Y-Couloirs and based on the look of them and the possible bergshrunds that we could see in the shorter, Summit Couloirs, we decided this was the way to go. Crampons and axes out, we headed up. Andy lead the first half and then I took over for the second on some pretty steep and exposed terrain; we sure were happy to have those crampons on. After about an hour in the chute, we pulled up and over and were on the ridge with a view out into the rest of the Sierra that can’t be beat.
The snow in the chute was perfect, edgeable and carveable with even a little pow thrown in for fun. And then, the way out was just perfect soft, corn snow and we were able to kick and glide our way back to the car without donning skins again. This video from Andy at Sierra Descents pretty much sums it up. Can’t wait to get out there again!
See the rest of the pictures from this Tioga Pass skiing trip on our Facebook Album.
The Tahoe Mountain Sports Adventure of the Week blog series takes a walk, hike, bike, or Eastern Sierra backcountry ski trip in someone else’s shoes, from pro athletes to local Tahoe adventurers. Let us know if you’ve got an adventure to share.
Valentine’s morning with our wives/girlfriends or light, fluffy backcountry powder? Well, for a bunch of snow starved Tahoe ski bums, the choice was easy (though we might regret it later). Tahoe Mountain Sports web editor, Greyson happened to be riding the lifts with Jesse from Folsom Custom Skis earlier in the week and they made an instant connection so Jesse decided to come and visit the shop and see if anybody was going out skiing this week. Luckily we had a pre-planned dawn patrol trip scheduled for Tuesday morning so it all worked out.
Getting ready for the ski down
With about 12-14 inches up on the Sierra Crest and 6-8 inches down lower, we chose the west shore of Tahoe for our early morning jaunt and it was well worth it. The West Shore seems to have squeezed the most snow out of the most recent storm, so we headed straight there and started skinning up in the dark only to get engulfed in a misty, rimey cloud about half way up.
Skinning Up on Valentine's morning
The powder was incredibly light and fluffy on top of the hard crust that has formed in between the January storm and this one. At the top, we could barely feel the crust, but down lower, the 6-8 inches were not enough to keep you from hitting bottom. We were able to ski right from and then back to the car with hardly any bushwacking so the coverage turned out to be much better than expected.
The other purpose of this mornings trip was to check out these skis Jesse had brought with him. Luckily he had a Dynafit setup on a pair of BlueNote’s so I got to ride those. They were 100 under foot with a rocker tip, poplar/bamboo core, ABS sidewalls and one of their stock top sheet graphics. While you might not have heard of these guys yet, you are likely to start hearing about them soon. They are in business to make ONLY custom skis. They have a questionnaire on their website that is about 25 questions long and depending on your answers, the type of ski you want and how much you are willing to throw down, you can create your very own ski with your very own graphics. Currently they are making about 250 pairs a year of these things, but look out cause once everybody finds out about them, they are going to be cranking.
Folsom BlueNote Skis on the way up
So, the ski, did I like it or not? I most certainly did. It skied incredibly solid, was very logitudinally and torsionally consistent and midly stiff. The tip profile made it very fun and somewhat floaty in the light powder and equally fun at the bottom when quick turns and a solid platform were needed to make our way out. This ski was certainly a 1 ski quiver. With semi-custom skis starting at $850 to fully customized skis going up to $1200, these are not for everyone, but if you know what you want, want it to be the highest quality, Made in the USA and ski like a dream, these could be the skis for you. The Aspen Highlands ski patrollers have adopted them as their ski of choice for their durability and unique shapes. Jesse had a chance to stop by the shop after we skied so we could see some more options from them and you can see those below.
Some of the selection from Folsom Custom Skis
Demo fleet from Folsom Custom Skis
You can check out some more of the pics and some closeups of the skis on our Facebook page here.
So you ask… What the heck is a Nacktspektakel? Well, it’s a night of spectacular fun is my explanation. A Nachtspektakel (pronounced knocked-shpeck-tockle) is a traditional European-style ski event that bonds people through the sport of ski touring. A cultural norm in Europe, night spectaculars are new ways to combine skiing, beer and food that are sure to catch on in the States, and in my opinion, they are here to stay! There is no better way to spend a Saturday night than skinning, drinking and meeting like-minded new friends.
The end of a great night
A group of 50 gathered at the Village at Squaw Valley to meet up and embark on this unique event. We headed up the summer trail with the goal of High Camp on our minds and cold beer and hot food as our rewards. This was not your ordinary group of 50 seasoned backcountry skiers because there were people of all ability levels and with all types of gear. Abilities ranged from folks who had never donned skins before to the most seasoned of backcountry skiing vets along with splitboarders, Dynafit enthusiasts, telemarkers and the sidecountry-specific Marker Duke users of the world.
Skinning Up Squaw
Once we arrived at High Camp at Squaw Valley USA, we were greeted by friendly staff ready to help us to our beverages of choice and serve us up a 3 course meal with salads, soups, burgers, pork shoulders and a wonderful berry cobbler dessert. Quite the meal for such high altitude dining. There was much revelry and many smiling faces throughout the event, but the dinner and camaraderie while at High Camp was at an all-time high. Everybody was truly stoked to be part of such a unique and fun event.
As the evening wore on, Squaw ski patrol was looking out for our safety and making sure we didn’t drink too much, so they started to shepherd us out of there and got us skiing on down the hill. As everybody geared up, the excitement for the ski down started to increase and more smiles came out because after all, at heart, we all love the downhill and that’s why we do the uphill to begin with! Skiing down in and out of the Squaw Valley lights was a great experience, and there was a lot of woot-wooting and hollering all the way down.
Gearing up for the ski down
Benefiting from the night was the Snow Leopard, an endangered species currently living in the high Himalaya of Tibet and China. A portion of everybody’s registration fee is being donated to the Snow Leopard Trust, which is working to conserve these mysterious animal’s habitat and existence and is a truly worthy recipient of our donated dollars. Thanks to them for all the work that they do.
Lastly, thanks to the sponsors of this great event, Dynafit, Squaw Valley USA, Alpenglow Sports in Tahoe City and of course, ourselves, Tahoe Mountain Sports. We look forward to putting on more great events like this and hope you will join us!
There is no better time of year to go hiking then the Fall, at least in my opinion. The air is cooler, the sky is clearer and there are less people around so it is way more peaceful. On a rare day off together (sans child), Pam and I found ourself looking to do one of the longer hikes in the Tahoe region and we chose the PCT from Donner to Squaw due to its length, exposure and incredible views. We were also looking forward to encountering a little snow, but alas, there was not very much of it.
Rounding the back side of Sugar Bowl
The hike is around 18 miles and we did it as a car shuttle, leaving 1 car in the Squaw parking lot and leaving the 2nd car at the top of Old Highway 40, near Sugar Bowl Ski Academy. We encountered a little bit of snow on and off throughout the hike, but the only decent drifts were on the back side of Sugar Bowl, just as we gained the main ridge of the Sierra Crest. You can see some snow in this pic on the right.
Otherwise, it was very smooth going with a few encounters with some other parties but for the most part, pretty quiet and peaceful. This hike can take anywhere from 5-8 hours depending on your pace and we finished in just under 7 hours and we made two 30 minute stops along the way to enjoy the scenery. The trail parralels the ridge for the most part until after Tinker’s Knob where it drops down on the west side of the Crest only to climb back up to the Granite Chief ridge on the outskirts of Squaw.
PCT Trail Marker on the back side of Granite Chief
You actually descend quite a bit here, even beginnning to think that you might never gain the ridge again, but alas, you then hit this creek and this sign and realize you are about to climb back up for one final climb to the ridge and then down the Shirley Canyon trail. The autumn colors were in full effect in all the drainages and below the ridges. Especially beautiful were the aspens and the willows on the way down the trail and back into Squaw Valley. As your knees and feet start to feel tired, the beauty of the Sierra Nevada in its full Fall splendor reminds you why you live here and recreate here.
As for the gear, we could not have asked for better setups. We were both wearing our Smartwool base layers and they proved invaluable for the constantly changing temperatures along the way and my Deuter Speed Lite backpack was the perfect size for carrying all the necessary essentials for an extended day hike. Until next time, enjoy your outdoor adventures wherever they take you!
Autumn on the Shirley Canyon Trail
The Tahoe Mountain SportsAdventure of the Week blog series takes a walk (or hike, surf, climb or PCT hike) in someone else’s shoes, from pro athletes to local Tahoe adventurers. Let us know if you’ve got an adventure to share.
After the Amgen Tour of California folks decided to leave town due to a snow storm, we were all a little disappointed. BUTTTT, did I say snow storm? Yup, you bet I did. Since Sunday, Tahoe’s higher elevations have received 2-3 feet of some of the coldest and driest snow we have seen all winter and since none of us are really into road biking anyways, we decided to venture out and see what the coverage was like with the hopes of making some sweet powder turns. Wow, were we surprised to find that conditions were still like mid-winter in many places and the snow was insanely phenomenal!
We hit up Grouse Rock on the backside of Alpine Meadows on Tuesday in the midst of the storm. We were the first ones up so we broke trail most of the way and got to ski down first, always my favorite part. The bottom over here got a little wet and manky so we decided that as long as it snowed a little more, we were going to head further down the West Shore and see what some of those peaks had to hold. We were a bit unsure if we would even be able to ski from the road as we hadn’t been down there in a good month and didn’t know the status of the snow levels.
On Wednesday, we decided the snow had fallen and Rubicon Peak was the goal. We were able to skin right from the car as you can see in the pic at the top of this post. It started to clear a little as we made our way up and we got some nice views of the lake.
Skiing up Rubicon
The higher we got, the deeper the trail-breaking got and we were about 1-1.5 feet deep in the skin track by the time we hit the top. We were also worried the sun was going to come out fast and furious today but lucky enough, there was just enough light cloud cover that the snow was staying perfect and we were getting more and more psyched for our descent. After topping out and taking in some of the views, it was time to go down and both Jeff and I could not stop yelling to each other how good the snow really was and how psyched we were to be skiing dry, light, fluffy, DEEP powder on May 18th. If you are in Tahoe, go get some and if you are reading this from somewhere else, hopefully it is warm and nice out there because our winter is still going strong!
Here are a couple more pics from our morning on Rubicon.
