Words: Colin Wiseman 2017-12-12 17:55:44
In late February, I took my second trip to Tahoe in a month. The first visit had seen inclement weather—heavy snowfall, heavy winds, heavy rain down low. With limited options, we still scored powder in the more protected spots.
This time around, however, it was bluebird. A foot of new snow. Driving up Donner Pass, the lake laps were filled in perfectly. Glory lines traced the granite boulders. I could see booters off the train tunnels. The old road gap even had a wedge at the takeoff. It was emblematic of a return to form for Tahoe, the first time in a decade these once-hallowed grounds were back to their old standard. And although I didn’t get to rip the classics on this trip—I was en route to a backcountry hut—it was refreshing to see North Lake looking like it did during its heyday.
In the ’90s, Tahoe was ground zero for snowboard culture. Shawn Farmer was sending the Donner road gap. Shaun Palmer and company were ripping the South Shore and beyond. Noah Salasnek and Chris Roach and John Cardiel and so many others were bringing skate-influenced freestyle to the forefront. Andy Hetzel and Temple Cummins jumped the train. Later, riders like Peter Line flew in to add a new wave of freestyle to those legendary jumps above Donner Lake. Standard Films shot a good portion of their progressive flicks in the Tahoe backcountry. Tahoe had everything: backcountry booters, alpine lines, beautiful tree runs, sunshine, parks, pipes and rails and resorts. They even got reasonably consistent snow.
Then an extended drought shut down the wave of snowboard media coming out of Tahoe. Until this year, that is.
In Volume 15, our pages have been graced with more Tahoe-based imagery and stories than ever. It’s evidence the Tahoe scene never died. During the lean years, Tahoe-based boarders just had to travel a bit more to find good snow. But Jeremy Jones’ High Sierra feature [pg 040] and our profile of Jesse Wilfley in this issue are just two of many Tahoe-centric entries in this year’s journals. Watch Absinthe Films’ TurboDojo, and you’ll see plenty of Tahoe terrain in Brandon Cocard and Brendan Gerard’s segments.
Here’s to Tahoe’s return to form—and here’s to hope for another big year in the place that has it all.
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Tahoe Revival
https://digital.thesnowboardersjournal.com/articles/tahoe-revival