New tahoe.com site provides window for visitors, locals

Tahoe locals may think that the Web site tahoe.com is just for outsiders planning to vacation in Tahoe.

Nope, it's a new version of the old site, now hot and "nuclear capable," as the U.S. Air Force once described it's B-52s flexibility.

"The new tahoe.com offers the simplicity of a single source for planning a great Tahoe experience. We have it all - travel, entertainment and recreation information for the entire basin," said Mary Jurkonis, publisher of tahoe.com.

The old cluttered look is gone, smashing photos are everywhere, from mountain trails to ski runs, from Shakespeare festivals to casino revues. Everything that was good about the old tahoe.com is still there, but now better, easier to use and - a real upgrade - a new section called mytahoe allows all to be part the site, make comments, add photos, chat with friends, write reviews. (Sorry, it won't wash your car.)

The mytahoe feature is a kind of YouTube about life in Tahoe - fun for visitors but just as much for folks in Truckee and Reno, Carson City and South Lake Tahoe. Long-time locals may be surprised to find out just how much information there is at tahoe.com that they never knew.

Mytahoe lets us all share nuggets of local lore with visitors from around the world and with other locals. And it's a place where locals can share their opinions and ideas with an audience as big as the United States.

The new look will be just the first impression locals will see. Log on and you'll be facing a professional photo of some aspect of the Tahoe world. Those of us who live here become blasé about things until visitors come and ask us what's there to see or do.

Mytahoe is on the way to becoming the site for all of us - local, national or international.

The goal is to showcase Lake Tahoe as the dream vacation spot. The site will answer almost any possible question about Tahoe, and if it can't, it will. Just give it a little more time. It's now and always will be a work in process.

The focus is to give visitors and locals more information with fewer words: Streamlined stories, lists of must-see places, how to buy tickets, where to take a hike, where to canoe and where to dance.

The new vacation rentals search has been improved so users can more easily find the perfect hideaway for a day or a week. Hotel/flight bookings haves been upgraded so folks can find those sudden super deals.

A major change in the new events calendar is the Tahoe Guide. Search by date or event to find out what's happening on; and now you can e-mail events to yourself, have a reminder sent to your cell phone so you don't miss it, or download the event to your mytahoe profile or any calendar application, such as Google calendars, iCal and Outlook calendars.

You can even send events to your friends, be notified of any changes to the event and download event information to your desktop.

The Tahoe Guide will send you to wherever you want to go. Search by region, landmark or interest; find a golf course near a hotel, search for nearby restaurants to satisfy your post-game hunger. Check users' comments about their best beach, or who's got the cheapest happy hour in town. See pictures and menus, get driving directions, phone numbers and more.

Some other new features include more Web cams, a redesigned snow/ski conditions page, a completely new road conditions application and a trail guide that, with a simple search will reveal hiking trails of all levels of difficulty, elevation, distance and preferred mode of travel (do you like boots or bikes?). Find quick facts, satellite and topo maps, general descriptions, current conditions and contact info.

Tahoe.com is there for all of us.

Tahoe.com and the Nevada Appeal are part of the Sierra Nevada Media Group, which is owned by Swift Communications.