King of Mountain races at Squaw next weekend

By Sam Bauman

It just keeps coming and the snow keeps on deepening. All mountain resorts in the Sierra Nevada are open and churning. More snow all weekend along with some winds and other weather.

The roads have been less than kind so we've missed a weekend on the slopes, but we'll be out there this weekend, starting today at Mt. Rose and Saturday at Heavenly. If we've got any legs left, we'll try to make it to Squaw Valley for a refresher there before the Jeep King of the Mountain music and snowsporting festival arrives Feb. 8-10.

This promises to be a blast of an event, with the music almost as important and the snowsporting. Music takes place in a big tent, while all around town there are parties and concerts. Much of this is free, but the big tent has some admission costs, reasonable considering the talent level.

This could be he premiere competition in the local area with lots of big names taking part. It's enough to lure this old writer out for the show.

DIAMOND PEAK DEALS

Diamond Peak is a small resort tucked away above Incline Village. It rarely gets any mention outside the local press. But despite its lofty financial status, the Incline Village area is decent skiing and a nice family atmosphere, particularly on Saturday nights, when it holds its Last Trails buffet and wine tasting at the Snowflake Lodge. Ski down after it all and enjoy the empty trails. On Feb. 14 Diamond Peak will have a 2-for-1 ticket special. Bring your Valentine's sweetheart to ski and get two lift tickets for the price of one.

Toyota's Sick & Twisted Freestyle Tour, presented by Under Armour Performance, is making its seventh stop at Diamond Peak with more than $1,000 in prizes and gear. The Tour is open to men and women of all skills and ages. Registration will be at 8:30 a.m. in the base lodge deck and practice takes place at 10. The competition starts 11:30 a.m. in the new Snowbomb.com terrain park on the Spillway run. An awards ceremony will follow the competition on the Diamond Peak base lodge deck. After that, a Sick & Twisted post-party/Super Bowl party will take place at Crosby's.

Event takes place March 16 for the Tour, a favorite event among locals. See www.diamondpeak.com or call 832-1177.

SQUAW VALLEY PROM

In the spring of 2005, the Squaw Valley community banded together to throw a prom - not a high school prom, but a ski town prom in which all proceeds went to charity. The 4th Annual Squaw Valley Prom, "Enchantment Under KT," is on again at Squaw Valley's Plaza Bar Saturday March 8, 2008. Tickets are on sale now at www.squawvalleyprom.com.

Tickets are $50 per couple and $100 for those who prefer to go stag. The proceeds will benefit a fitting scholarship at CHARITYSMITH, the Duke Peterson Memorial Fund which helps kids afford to train on the Freestyle Team at Squaw Valley.

See www.squawvalleyprom.com.

INTERACTIVE TRAIL MAPS

Responding to consumers who are increasingly booking their travel online, Northstar and Sierra Resorts have launched online interactive trail maps to help skiers and snowboarders plan their day on the mountain before they head up to the resorts.

Guests can upload videos of themselves skiing/riding directly to the map for sharing with friends and family.

Studies have shown that the majority of Web users prefer to absorb information in a graphical, pictorial or video format versus text, hence the growing prevalence of these communication styles on many of the most sophisticated Web sites. The essence of the online interactive trail map is to transfer all of the textual information contained in the resort web site onto a visual, geographical representation.

The online interactive trail map is the latest manifestation of Web 2.0 in the ski industry. Users can Upload their Videos to the Map. The user video uploads are just one of the rich media features of the interactive trail map. Other valuable tools include 360-degree panoramas that can be controlled by the user, videos uploaded by the resort, daily snow and grooming information regarding current mountain conditions, weather forecast icons and links to multiple live cameras.

Sierra Resort: www.sierraattahoe.com/info/winter/trail-maps.asp

Northstar Resort: www.northstarattahoe.com/info/ski/the-mountain/interactive_trail_map.asp

BIG BLUE UPDATE

The Big Blue Adventure Series will get a snow-filled early jump on the 2008 season with the Tahoe Winter Blue Adventure Race Sunday, March 9 at Northstar-at-Tahoe.

The event challenges adventure racers and winter athletes to use navigational skills to find specific checkpoints while making their way through Northstar's backcountry via snowshoes or free-heel skis. The race is open to teams of two and has estimated finishing times of three to five hours.

Teams (coed, all male, all female and masters) can register through March 8, with late fees applying after March 2. Teams entering in multiple Big Blue Adventure Races are eligible for discount registration. Racers can register and find teammates at www.bigblueadventure.com. Prizes and awards will include products from Merrell, Salomon, Clif and National Geographic.

MAMMOTH WORLD TOUR

After a difficult week with snow, wind, and poor visibility the first contest of the Freeride World Tour, the Mammoth Challenge, was held in California on Jan. 25.

The competition was as tough as it gets. The only chance for podium was to perform impeccable runs and perfectly executed jumps. Each rider made two runs on a double face with two optional starts and many different line options, with demanding terrain and big cliff jumps. The accumulated points from both runs set the final result.

The 16 participating women went down first, alternating skiers and snowboarders, followed by 37 male riders.

The experienced and oldest skier on the World Tour, 34-year-old Seb Michaud from France, finally had two awesome runs to win, throwing off a back flip right before the finishing line. For his second run he chose an original line taking a double cliff in steep terrain. The Swedish wild card Henrik Windstedt took second place. Third place went to fellow countryman Aurélien Ducroz. Aurélien Ducroz earned third place ending one of his runs with a front flip right before the finishing line.

In the women skiers' category, American Jesse McMillan drew a straight line from the top to the bottom, never hesitating and offering the fastest run of the day in the female group putting her on the top step of the podium. She was followed in the ranking by Caroline Meynet from France and third-placed Marja Persson of Sweden had a small fall and lost some points.

On the snowboard side, local rider Steve Klassen finished in fourth place in a close competition just behind Cyril Neri from Switzerland who finished at third place. His fellow countryman Alex Coudray took most points with the two most original lines of the day winning the men's snowboard class and $10,000 in prize money. Flo Orley from Austria took second place.

Famous snowboarder Géraldine Fasnacht from Switzerland landed her first jump in such deep powder that she had to crawl out of her hole but won first place, just ahead of local snowboarder Tiffany Noel in second place. French snowboarder Bérangère Moroctook third place.

Next stop: Sochi/Krasnaya Polyana in Russia.

A LOCAL WINNER

Carson City Nevada-based New Horizons Unlimited is promoting an innovative SUNdition product - a SPF 15 sun block that is also a salon quality hair conditioner making it an effective product to use in the fight against skin cancer on the scalp and head area.

Andrew Seeley of New Horizons Unlimited said, "There are 8,000 deaths every year in the USA from skin cancer occurring on the scalp. Although your hair offers some level of protection, it also hides the early signs of skin cancer, leading to more fatalities than other cancers."

SUNdition is available in a 2-ounce spray bottle and family-sized 6-ounce bottle and features an advanced solar skin complex containing ginkgo, green tea and natural melanin extracts.

Call (888) 786 3484 or see www.sundition.com.