A cool film by Tahoe photographer/videographer Corey Rich

Click here to view the embedded video.

-M

Greetings Bacon lovers. It’s time to get back in the spirit of the bacon strip. And since it’s still not snowing, I give you: happy dudes and dudettes riding bikes. If you have a video/pic or your little shredder, post it in the comments.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This video is The Dude riding his Strider balance bike. I posted a review of this toddler bike at The Gizzard Stone.

He loves it. I can’t wait until we can make a video of him riding it on the Rim Trail!

-M

ps: I just bought him his first pair of SKIS!

heavy week for us strippers. time to decompress with this nice little ditty that Scot sent my way. Thanks! happy Friday.

The Whole Enchilada: Top to Bottom – Moab, Utah from Phil Shep on Vimeo.

Check out the Tahoe Vertical Challenge. A way to help raise money fot the  Sierra Avalanche Center. -M

 The 2011 Backcountry Vertical Challenge represents Lake Tahoe’s first ever FREE, community-wide fundraising initiative to benefit the Sierra Avalanche Center. In a quest to attain operational dollars for Lake Tahoe’s local avalanche forecasting agency, Alpenglow Sports has challenged the entire Tahoe backcountry community to a cumulative goal of 15 million vertical feet of human-powered uphill travel.

Tahoe Vertical.

Mike Colpo riding peavine at Sunrise

I knew something was wrong when I saw a short, mysterious post about him on Facebook Friday. But J.R. called with the news. Mike Colpo passed away last week, quite unexpectedly, on a run along the Truckee River on December 7th 2011.

I regret that I new Mike far less well than I would have liked. We went on a few rides, had a few beers, he made us pancakes up on the mountain once or twice. We talked about writing, and used each other for sources in articles once or twice. He was genuine, thoughtful, caring, tough, smart, funny, happy and adventurous.

Mike had the idea one year for Bike To Work Day to ride up peavine with a stove and cookware and make everyone pancakes. It was a wako idea, but also an awesome one. We road way up to the shoulder below the radio towers and he had cakes and syrup hot and waiting for us. It was awesome. And impressive. Mike hauled the stove, pans and food up on his Xtracycle bike. Which is a big load and a big ride!

Mike and TBS crew eating Peavine Pancakes.

Many close to The Bacon Strip are close to either the Nevada Wilderness Project, which Mike was quite envolved in, or Patagonia Reno, where he worked, so he had a big impact on the TBS Family and we are sad to see him go. Chances are that those who weren’t as close to him have some good memory of him. Like the pancakes. He seems to have had a way to leave a bold impression, with out much time.

Guys like Mike never just disappear though. He’ll pull away and maintain a pace you can’t quite match. You see him cresting the hill way ahead and dig deep to catch him. He’ll drop in on the pow stash and you’ll just see him, a speck on the horizon until you’re not sure he’s still there at all. But like all adventure hounds, he’s there somewhere, among the trees and tall grass, his nose to the ground, thinking and looking for something fun.

Please tell us your favorite Mike Colpo story in the comments below.

-M

Obituary: Michael Vincent Colpo

(Reno Gazette-Journal, Dec 11, 2011) Mike Colpo, 36, passed unexpectedly on December 7, 2011. Mike was born on February 1, 1975 in Wilmington, Delaware to John and Sheila Colpo. He graduated from the University of Delaware and then headed West to earn a Master’s Degree in English Literature from the University of Nevada, Reno. Mike embraced mountain living immediately, and made Nevada his home.

Mike worked for Patagonia for 11 years. He was a beautiful writer and editor. Mike also taught for the National Outdoor Leadership School and treasured his time teaching others to appreciate the mountains he loved so passionately. He learned to cook on a camp stove in the wilderness and is known for, among so many other things, his amazing culinary talent.

Mike married Elizabeth Mosco on August 20, 2011. He was a more patient and loving husband than anyone could ask for. He is also survived by his parents, John and Sheila Colpo of Maryland; sisters MaryEllen Hearn (Bob) and Patricia Anderson (Dave) of Delaware; and brother John (Kara) of Delaware. He also leaves behind 10 nieces and nephews and countless other family and friends who love and miss him dearly.

Services will be held at Mountain View Mortuary at 425 Stoker Avenue, Reno, on Wednesday, December 14, 2011 at 2pm. Mike’s kindness and love touched everyone he met. All are welcome to attend. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to The Nevada Wilderness Project (www.wildnevada.org) or The Nevada Land Conservancy (www.nvlc.org).

12/6, Snowy Range, WY…hahaha suckaz!

We use to ski at Sierra Summit near Huntington Lake out of Fresno, CA. It was once and is again called China Peak, after the highest point on the resort. At the time they had a bunch of these cheesy info signs on the (fixed grip)  lift towers like:

It can be sunny in the mountains when it’s cloudy in the valley!

and

Man made snow is real snow, it’s just mand made!

We always thought that was pretty funny to the point that we, my sisters and I, to this day spout that out at the least provocation. It’s just so obvious!

I mention this of course because man made snow is now the dominant force in Tahoe Skiing. Heavenly, Northstar and some others have been open for a few weeks hauling skiers and riders up for rip up the man made corduroy. Friday Mt. Rose is opening up a ribbon of anthropogenic crystal from top to bottom. Just the Northwest trail to Kit Carson. Unless a fad bastard dump comes through, The Chutes will not be open.

NowI don’t get that excited about man made snow, not cause it’s not fun skiing, it is, but because it traps all the skiers in the run and doesn’t give you and fun of trail stuff. Still, skiing is skiing. So I’ll shred Friday @ Rose.

Maybe we could do a biathlon on Saturday and shred Rose, then do the Dry Pond Loop on the way home!

-M

-M

The warmest weather in half a century means that many European ski resorts are without snow later in the year than any time in recent memory. Some, dedicated skiers are turning to rocks to get their fix.

via VIDEO: Snow missing from European mountains, so skiers hit the rocks | PRI.ORG.

Finally, we have both a skier and a concept that can update the James Bond classic ski chase sceen between Telly Savalas’ Goons and Geore Lazonby in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. This is Skier JP Auclair doing some street skiing in Sherpas Cinema’s new film All.ICan.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This is a really cool video. But it’s missing something. That something is the bad guys. I’m of a mind that there’s no point in skiing down stairs, roofs, ASPHAULT unless someone is chasing you. While JP does it with sick style and aplomb, I just can’t get behind the idea of skiing on shitty snow, and NON-snow surfaces. This is what bicycles are for.

What do you think? Want to see JP double for Daniel Craig in the remake of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service? I, for one, do.

-M

I have Klout, so I got some $10 discount codes to share for Liftopia. You may be wondering, What the fuck is Klout? Well I can tell you: It’s not important. What is important is skiing (should it ever snow enough to ski real snow).

To get the discount, the first three people to CLICK HERE and purchase a ticket get the discount. So have at it.

-M