Legends of Tahoe

Alex Cushing is regarded as the visionary who grasped the potential of the mountain from his first glimpse of it, but every visionary needs someone who can implement their vision. For nearly forty years, Cushing’s ideas were carried out by Hans Burkhart.

Tim Manning has been making snow at Alpine Meadows since 1990. Now the Manager of the snowmaking department, he shares his story with us, from the accident that nearly left him paralyzed to the memorable years when he made snow all the way from November to April.

Glossy photos of spread eagles, daffies, power-infused cliff drops, and powdery rooster tails have long frozen the kinetic artistry that is skiing. Tahoe skiers are some of the most artistic on the planet, but it’s the photographer who stands in the cold, balancing on the mountain’s edge, composing and then capturing the perfect millisecond moment in time. It is an art unto itself, and for the last three decades, the art of photographer Hank de Vré has helped define the ski culture of Lake Tahoe.  

This is the home mountain of Olympians, world champions, and the stars of some of your favorite ski movies. That doesn’t just happen by coincidence. There’s a measurable impact that these mountains have in the ski and snowboard community. It’s widely recognized as a badge of honor to call yourself a Palisades Tahoe skier or rider. It’s a proud, but humble claim. Because if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. This is where skiers are made. 

The 1960 Winter Olympics marked an important first: because of the Games, it was the first time Reno was integrated as a city. While the Olympic events took place here in Olympic Valley, Reno, just forty miles across the border, stood ready as the gateway city, serving as the base of operations, with an airport, abundant lodging facilities, and other amenities to cater to the thousands of spectators eager to attend the Winter Olympics.  Despite its proximity to California, where race relations were far more progressive, most cities and towns in Nevada were heavily segregated.

The construction of the Base to Base Gondola has long been a dream. For nearly a century, local resort leaders have imagined a European-style ski circus that would connect from Sugarbowl all the way to Lake Tahoe. This is a look at the history of their plans, and how pieces of it came to life.

A former freestyle skier named Troy Caldwell made history when, in the 1980s, he bought a huge chunk of rugged, mountainous terrain between Alpine Meadows and Olympic Valley, a piece of property that’s been the missing link to connect the two resorts.

In April of 2021, Olympic Valley lost one of its earliest property owners and part-time residents, Herb Magnuson. Herb ended up being a very active community member before, during, and after the Olympic Games.

Pioneering big-mountain skier Jamie Burge has never fit into any kind of box. Here, she talks about breaking down stereotypes in her sport and coming out as her true self.

“This building has the best access in the country,” Katherine Hayes Rodriguez tells me. She would know. She’s spent more than 40 years working for Achieve Tahoe in every capacity imaginable, including going to ski mountains all across the country (and even a few in other countries) to train ski instructors on how to teach adaptive lessons.