Posted by Curtis Fong on Dec 1, 2017
Winter Starts NOW! By: Curtis Fong – The Guy From Tahoe December 1, 2017: For over 25 years, I have had the pleasure and privilege of helping to “kick off winter” at Lake Tahoe by emceeing the annual Warren Miller Movie premier… This year, I continue to enjoy this honor. Robbie Huntoon, former Warren Miller athlete and videographer, brings the annual movie to Lake Tahoe’s North & South Shores, plus in recent years, recommended me to emcee the Reno premier that is hosted by the Reno Gazette Journal… So, I have been emceeing 5 events annually to kick off winter… Robbie Huntoon at Reno premier / Errol Kerr, Jeff Engerbretson, Robbie Huntoon The Annual Warren Miller Movie, in my opinion, IS the “Official Kick Off to Winter” and movie viewers start getting excited about them making slow motion powder turns down overflowing powder. This year’s 68th production is titled, “Line of Descent” and the movie is chock full of beautiful destinations with incredible athletes, bombing unbelievable lines down big mountains… The movie is narrated by Olympic Gold medalist, Jonny Moseley and “Line of Descent” features a segment produced at Squaw with local athletes, Errol Kerr and JT Holms carving it up at Squaw-Alpine with a fun segment skiing with Jonny and his sons. Amie Engerbretson, also from Squaw and one of most beautiful big lines female skier, is also featured with friends, McKenna Peterson and Lexi duPont. The 3 Blondes continue to have fun and ski lines of descent at Val D’Isere, the legendary resort in the French Alps. Amie Engerbretson Errol Kerr At both the Reno premier and Squaw premier, Amie & Errol joined me to help fire up the crowd and to sign posters for their fans. Jonny Moseley also attended the Squaw premier and came up at the break to talk about the Squaw segment… The Annual Warren Miller Premier on the South Shore will be at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe, December 1 & 2 and you don’t want to miss it! This year’s South Shore premier is sponsored by Sierra-at-Tahoe. You can pick up tickets in advance at Tahoe Sports Ltd and Tahoe Ski Bum will also be there… Time to get the local South Shore Tribe together and join in the fun! With the Warren Miller Movie premiers, kicking off winter, I was also able to make opening...
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Posted by Curtis Fong on Oct 9, 2017
26th ANNUAL OATBRAN SEPTEMBER 24-30, 2017 “NOTES FROM THE MOCHILA” A Mochila (Spanish, pronounced [mo-chee-lah], for “knapsack”, “pack”, “pouch”) is a removable lightweight leather cover put over a horse’s saddle. In the nineteenth century, it was used as a mail bag by the Pony Express. The eighth-of-an-inch leather cover draped over the saddle on a horse. There were slits cut into the leather which allowed the saddle horn and cantle to protrude through. Riders of the Pony Express made quick exchanges to new fresh horses, usually within a few minutes at each remount station on their route across the United States. The mochila was removed from the exhausted horse and swiftly placed over the saddle of the new fresh waiting horse that the relay station had for him. SEPT. 24: MONTBLEU CASINO, STATELINE: EVENT CHECK IN / DINNER / ORIENTATION / INTRODUCTIONS: Oatbran – Bike the West Team set up event registration & check in by 1:30pm and continued to prep all the vehicles for the tour… Participants started checking in early and all riders check in before 6:oopm, with exception of Rose (No Show) and Steve, who had emergency medical surgery issues with his wife. The remaining 27 participants will start tomorrow and Skip will join us in Austin, NV. Dinner was great food provided by Montbleu in the Convention Center Meeting room and the Chili Rellenos were to die for… Plenty of food including Tamales and Fajitas… and desert choices… Orientation went well with all participants listening attentively… 9 Multi-Bran Riders and 19 new riders… Introductions were read from their profiles followed by drawings and prize giveaways… Crew meeting to follow with assigning rest stop locations for the SAG Vehicle Teams. Reggie Peterson, Phil Alvarado, Kanan Miller, Arnold Harding, Michael Chapman & Trevor Brown… New Team members this year include James Styles, Corey Bolton & Di Bolton… The Crew headed to the HQ Bar for a cocktail and to discuss assignments. SEPT. 25: RIDE DAY #1: “A TASTE OF NEVADA” LAKE TAHOE TO FALLON Reggie Peterson set up Signage on Hwy 50 for the start and I along with Larry Burton shot photos of the group in front of the big blue bike in the Valet parking area of the Montbleu Casino… All riders got on the roadway safely… on route to Spooner Summit… Phil & Kanan at First Rest...
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Posted by Curtis Fong on Feb 19, 2017
SkIDAHO: 3 Friday, January 27, 2017: Soldier Mountain We packed up and checked out by 9:00am this morning heading to make turns at Soldier Mountain out of Fairfield, Idaho on our way to Sun Valley, Idaho… Soldier Mountain was once owned by Bruce Willis in 2012, to which I had the pleasure to ski it… If you recall, this resort was up for sale last year and a couple out of Bend Oregon, Matt & Diane McFerran, purchased it. Dan had not skied this mountain and was looking forward to checking it out. The drive from Boise to Fairfield was pretty straight forward until we entered an area where there was an inversion layer and outside temperature of -3F, Plus, total white out & fog, limiting my visibility. We also got lost, turning on a roadway that was signed Soldier Mountain Resort. Snow Covered roads and a bit higher in elevation brought us out of the fog and at a junction. We stopped a cigar-smoking guy, who was working with a plow that was clearing side roads, and asked directions to Soldier Mountain Ski Area… He pointed us further up the road another 7.3 miles… He said that sign was for Soldier Mountain Ranch Resort and is confusing and wished that he would run over that sign so as to not cause future confusion. 6 to 8 foot snow banks were on the side of this road and many cross roads were not plowed. We finally found the main junction that came out of Fairfield and headed up the road to Soldier Mountain Ski Area… We pulled into the parking lot under beautiful blue skies and an outside temperature of about 20F and noticed a couple of school buses and about 150 cars parked. We booted up in the parking lot and took or groomed snow skis to the base lodge to pick up our tickets. We met the new owner, Matt, and due to an injury; he was not able to ski with us to tour the mountain. Soldier Mountain has 2 Chairs & 1 Surface servicing 36 runs within 1180 acres of terrain offering 1400 vertical drop. An adult all day lift ticket was priced at only $40 with Half day at $34 and if only wanted to ski from 3-4pm, the last hour of the day, the lift ticket was only $12. This ski area is...
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Posted by Curtis Fong on Mar 21, 2015
AS THE BULLWHEEL TURNS MONDAY – JANUARY 26, 2015 NASAJ West at Purgatory at Durango Mountain Resort Rise & Shine! Yes another beautiful day with blue bird skies at the base of Purgatory at Durango Mountain Resort. Thank goodness for in room coffee service in the condo, but also had another cup in Purgy’s before meeting our NASJA West group and guides to tour the slopes of Purgatory. The meet time was 9:15am and we were early, so we were able to take a run and be back at the bottom and when we got back down, the groups had left. So, since Dan and I were already familiar with the mountain, we decided to have Dan lead our group and keep things small and comfortable. Long-term NASJA West members, Charlie Coane, Dino Vournas and Jerry Hoffman joined us for the morning of cruising groomers all over the mountain. The snow was in great shape and even though the spring-like weather was upon us, the snow surface was still very carve-able and super fun to ski non-stop “zoomers”… Dan has an uncanny sense of direction and has no problems interpreting trail maps and cross over’s and led our group to some familiar and also unfamiliar runs, doing laps from one side of the mountain to the other. Always great to ski with friends that can keep up, except for photographers like Dino Vournas, who seems to take forever to set up shots, but well worth the waiting as he does create great skiing images with his camera. We broke for lunch at Paradise Pizzeria & Ice Creamery in the Purgatory Village. Nice salad and Pizza Buffet bar offered that was very tasty and with great service. Always fun to compare notes with other journalists members as to where they skied and ask how those runs were, etc… We skied a few more runs after lunch and got off the hill somewhat early to be able to clean up and attend our NASJA West General membership meeting set for 5:00pm. The meeting was held in a nearby building, the Durango Mountain Institute and President, Dan Giesin opened our meeting as all our members were in attendance. Our hosts Kim Oyler & Greg Ralph from Purgatory, updated us with the future plans for the resort and Anne Klein from Durango Tourism Office also welcomed our group and gave up highlights of...
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