Tahoetopia

Ski Resorts (and others) Seek 12-month Seasons

Their first client was a man who was stuck with an expensive ski lift in Palisades Tahoe that sat idle half the year. They advised him to start a posh and rather formal restaurant-nightclub up the slope that could be reached only by ski lift. So he did. It was named High Camp and it immediately became all the rage.

Bela & Mimi--Love Affair with the Mountains

"The snow in the lower elevations might be getting thin, but in the high elevations the spring skiing remains phenomenal. The upper snow elevationsin 2006 are 120 percent of normal," says Bela Vadasz of Alpine Skills International (ASI).


Lake Tahoe is Thirteen Inches from 'Top'--May 2006

What's the problem? On May 15 the lake was at 6,228.02 feet. When it reaches 6,229.1, more of the 17 gates at the dam in Tahoe City will have to be opened; so says a federal law. Only one gate has been open for many months.

Local Woman's Father Pardoned in Montana after 88 Years

Montana had one of the most vicious state sedition laws in the nation. Such laws were designed to punish people for speaking out in ways critical of the United States. In its story of the 78 pardons, the New York Times listed one example in which a traveling wine and brandy salesman was sentenced to 7 to 20 years in prison for calling wartime food regulations a "big joke."

History of Mother's Day

Mother's Day was first suggested in 1872 by Julia Ward Howe (who wrote the words to the Battle hymn of the Republic) as a day dedicated to peace. Ms. Howe held organized Mother's Day meetings in Boston, Mass ever year.

Spring Harvest: Corn Snow

While purists may put spring skiing behind the adrenaline rush of deep snow, nothing captures the free fall thrills of snow sports as the exhilaration of corn. Simply speaking, corn snow makes ordinary skiers or snowboarders into gods.

In fact, even the gods agree.

April 1912: Unsinkable Titanic goes down

The ship was on its maiden voyage from England to New York City. It had 29 boilers, a swimming pool, gymnasium, Turkish bath, squash court, library, and a grand stair case that dazzled all (in First Class) who saw it.

Jury: “Brooks Guilty, 2nd Degree Murder.” 15 Years to Life

The courtroom was silent as the jury filed in at 11:15 a.m. to deliver its verdict. Five uniformed deputies spread out around the courtroom in anticipation of any negative reaction to the announcement. After reading the decision aloud, Judge McElhany polled each of the eight men and four women on the panel to verbally affirm their guilty verdict for second-degree murder.

We Have Our Faults, Too, Three of Them to be Precise

The Tahoe Basin wasn't scoured out by glaciers or extruded by volcanic eruption. Over the course of 10 million years, powerful mountain-building processes slowly uplifted the Sierra range from a shallow sea.

Lake Formation

April 18, 1906: Massive S.F. Earthquake

It ripped along 300 miles of the San Andreas Fault at speeds up to 13,000 mph. When the seismic energy hit San Francisco, it tore the city apart. The quake and subsequent firestorm killed an estimated 5,000 people and caused $524 million in property losses (1906 dollars).

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