Wild Nevada

Hi, I'm Chris Orr And I'm Dave Santina. And this time on Wild Nevada, it's winter fun around the Lake Tahoe area. So whether it's on snow, on skis. On snowshoes in the back country.

Or curling. On the ice. There's so many ways to have winter fun and we're going to show you just a few. Coming up right now on Wild Nevada.

(laughing) -

Announcer

Support for Wild Nevada is provided by the William N. Pennington Foundation. -

Announcer

The Nevada Division of Tourism provides inspiration for travelers interested in creating their own Wild Nevada Adventures. More information at travelnevada.com. -

Announcer

The June S. Wisham Trust. -

Announcer

Support for Wild Nevada is proudly provided by land Rover Reno and land Rover Las Vegas. -

Announcer

Charles & Margaret Burback. -

Announcer

Millie hopper & Millard Reed. -

Announcer

And by individual members. (intro music) We're starting this Wild Nevada Adventure in California. We are actually about 30 miles South of Lake Tahoe. And we're going to take advantage of all of this beautiful snow to show you some of the winter fun that you can have in and around the Lake Tahoe area.

And to help us out. We're meeting a friend of ours, Ben Spillman. Hey Chris, how's it going? - How are you?

Hey Dave? Good to see ya. - Good to see you. So what do you have planned for us today, Ben?

Well, as you can see we're right here at Carson Pass the parking area for Carson Pass by Highway 88. And we are a couple of miles away from a place called Winnemucca Lake. It's a really scenic, nice little Lake. That's popular at summertime hike but it's also a really nice place to go in the winter time and see it when it's all under snow and ice.

You can get out very quickly through the trees here and feel like you're really out in the middle of nowhere, even though it is just a mile or two from the highway. You guys brought your snowshoes right? Yeah. - Of course.

Awesome. Then we're all good to go. We came here like Boy Scouts prepared. (laughing) Let's do it.

I think we're set. Ready to roll. We're going to be going South for about two miles generally following the route of the Pacific Crest Trail. After you.

- Thank you. I see that little blue sign with an arrow pointing to the left. I take it that's one of the Pacific Crest Trail signs? Yeah, those blazers are pretty handy and they'll kinda help us get through the forested part of the hike anyway.

You can kind of follow along you'll see little blue diamonds along the path but you should definitely have a map or a GPS or better yet both. This trail has sections that feel pretty challenging on snowshoes. And it makes me wonder about how it feels in the summer when this frozen landscape turns green and so many hikers follow the Pacific Crest Trail all the way from Mexico to Canada or vice versa. This is a true year round attraction.

We're pretty high in elevation. Aren't we? Yeah, I think we started out at about 8,600 feet and we're probably go to maybe 8,900 feet. When you're at this elevation.

You really gotta pay attention to the conditions don't you? Yeah, you do. And you can tell it's even changing as we were walking soft to firm to icy to soft. And also, if it's really powdery that means it probably snowed recently.

And so you're gonna want to be conscious of what's above you in terms of, are you walking through any avalanche terrains? One of the things you want to watch out for, like what we have here is anything where there's like a big object, like a tree or Boulder or bushes or something, and snow falls on it. You can have these air pockets underneath that are not as supportable as the snow that you're walking on. And that's just something you want to watch out for whenever you're out on the snow.

These snow wells can be pretty deep especially around standing trees. So one of those reminders that snow's fun, you just gotta be careful. That is impressive. I feel like I'm looking at the Matterhorn (laughing) There's such a temperature change between the sun and the shade, when you get it back into the trees.

I know I just bounce back and forth between roasting hot. (laughing) I'm with you. I'm ready to lose a layer myself. I have to say Ben, you take us to some pretty nice places.

Yeah this one is tough to beat. (laughing) Wow. Look at this. Oh beautiful.

Oh, it's really pretty. So here's a really good spot where we finally opens up and we can kind of look at the landscape and see where we are and see where we're going to be going. Our target is straight ahead up that rise and down to the foot of the mountain. I wonder if Snowshoe Thompson felt like this.

(laughing) He was wearing wooden tennis rackets on his feet at the time I'm sure. And had a big pack of mail. It's only a little over two miles from the parking area to Winnemucca Lake, but you'd think it was longer just because of the variety of landscapes we've seen in a short distance. Snowshoes also have a way of making a hike, feel more like an epic adventure.

We come over a rise and our destination is revealed. Here it is. Winnemucca Lake. We made it.

Yeah, it's a pretty incredible place. That's so amazing that it's right here in our backyard. This is gorgeous. What a beautiful spot.

Yeah, this is practically perfect. In every way. (laughing) This is a real winter Wonderland. It feels like you're in a movie about the Alps or something when you're out here.

Yeah. - Yeah. I mean you can see why Carson Pass was such a great destination for people out of Reno or Carson. There's just so much up here to see all year round.

Thank you for bringing us here. I want to come back in the spring or summer now and see the difference and enjoy it that way. We make the return hike to Carson Pass. And after nearly five miles on snow shoes we could all use a little relaxation.

So we drive 25 miles on Highways 88 and 89 to a very welcome site. Looking good. This is the reward, right? This is the reward.

Oh my God. Oh yeah. That's the stuff. This is what you're doing it for.

Love it. After a day on the snow there is nothing like a hot spring foot soak here at Grover Hot Springs State Park in Mark Louisville. It feels so nice. This is really, really, really comfortable.

And my feet needed it after today. You know? And it's the perfect temperature because it comes down from the spring and it feeds into the pool and it just cools enough where it's just the perfect temperature to enjoy. It feel so nice.

And we're going to need it because tomorrow we're back on some more snow. But you know, that's part of the fun of getting out and enjoying the winter is the fact that you don't have to stay inside. You can get out enjoy the snow, have little treats like hot springs afterwards. Yeah.

Perfect. Well, thank you Ben, for a great day. This has been wonderful. Yeah.

Thanks for coming out. I'm glad you guys enjoyed one of my collect. Wonderful. Beautiful.

In the morning we were on the North side of Lake Tahoe in Tahoe city, making our first visit to Tahoe Cross-Country Ski Area. Inside the lodge we meet the Executive Director, Ben Grasseschi. Morning? Good morning.

How are you guys? Good. Good. Welcome to Tahoe Cross Country.

It's our first time on cross country skis. So we're kind of uncertain what we're doing here. So thankfully, you're here to help us. What should we do first?

First thing we want to do is we'll get you some gear. We're going to come back here and grab some skis. The skis are sized by weight. So I'll need to know your weight.

I guess you expect me to be honest about that, right? We'll get you some boots. So your toes should be close to the end, but not touching. And the heel when you stand up should be snog and shouldn't lift.

The more comfortable it is the more likely you're going to spend more time out there skiing. Good. So the boots are the difference between a good day, cross country skiing and? A great day.

(laughing) It's good or great. It's good or great. Never a bad day on the snow. All right.

Good. Okay. Let's get you some poles. And poles they're sized a little longer than an Alpine pole.

So quite stick your arm out to the side and we put it right under your armpit. That looks good. There you go. All right.

Okay. Let's go on outside and you're good to go. Over here this is our lesson area. Go ahead and put your skis down.

We're just going to learn how these skis work. So on the bottom of your boot, there's this bar. So you slide your foot forward until it hits the bumper and then you press down. And when it clicks you're in.

Now using your poles to help your balance for now. Have your feet shoulder, width apart, bend your knees. All right. Now are either of you afraid of falling down?

No, at this point it's such a common activity for us. Okay. Well, let's fall over then. Okay.

- Okay. Just fall over. Go for it. Just fall down.

I'm losing stuff. (laughing) I'm going to show you how to get up. So first thing, take your poles off. Okay.

Just set them to the side. Usually when you fall though your skis aren't so nice. They're usually like this. Some twisted up here.

So the first thing to do is get your skis lined up with your feet parallel. Okay. - Okay. Usually you want to be across the hill and then what you want to do is you want to work your knees towards the tops of the skis.

Okay. And then once you get to this spot, you can roll onto the your knees, and then just slide one foot forward and then step up and then you're up. I can do it, Yay. And now we'll head over and I'll show you some tips for skiing actually.

Actually, I feel much better knowing I've already fallen. Okay. So without thinking about it too much, slide yourself over to those two grooves in the snow there. Those are our classic tracks.

Don't worry about the poles. If you start shuffling and you feel a little slipping you want to transfer your weight from one foot to the other. So it's like this. So you're actually shifting your weight and sliding.

Shift your weight and slide. Oh yeah. So now going this way, we have a slight downhill. Oh yeah.

Same as you were focused on maybe a little more weight transfer. A hundred percent on each foot as you slide through. So I'm really liking that the tracks tell me where I'm supposed to go but. Yeah.

They help keep you in. The tracks are about the end. It's about to end. Okay.

Let's turn around. So you can either match your reverse pizza or you can make pizza French fries, pizza French fries. Now remember as we go down, you're going to be facing downhill. If you need to hold yourself up, get your one foot out of the track like I am.

And wedge a little bit. Get the wedge. You're gonna get it. (laughing) It happens all the time.

Hey, that's a perfect example. Perfect example. That didn't hurt at all. Did it?

Didn't hurt at all. I landed on my butt so. Get your skis sideways across the hill. There you go.

Then roll over onto the flat ski and stand right up. Nice. - Perfect. Piece of cake.

Piece of cake. Okay. So now keep your hands in front of you and bend your knees. Get as low as you can like this.

Keep your weight on the front of the foot. There you go. Nice. Beautiful.

You guys doing great. Just follow me. We're going to go on up here to our Yellow trail. Yeah.

- This is a lot of fun. This is nice. We got a bit of a turn. Ben I'm thinking about this as I'm getting too close to the back of Chris's ski.

What, what feels too close anyway? What is the etiquette for spacing on the track like this? So it's more of a comfort. You definitely don't want to be skiing up on someone in scales and dragging.

Cause they'll catch. But whatever's comfortable. Too slow Dave. Yeah Chris send it.

Ready? Let's see if I can do it. Bend your knees and keep your hands in front of you. So how many miles of trail do you guys have out here Ben?

We have over 40 miles of trail. And we have several of them go up to a nice lake view and if you guys are ready for it, I think we should head up to one of those now. All right. - Yeah.

The view is amazing. You'll be super psyched you made it up there. Oh wow not a bad spot huh? Look at that view.

What a gorgeous lake view. You picked a great day to come up here today. It is amazing. It is really beautiful.

I now not only understand the attraction to cross country skiing this is a lot of fun, but to why you would do it here? 'Cause this view is amazing. Yeah. General rule of life.

I think when you see a sign on a path that says lake view, you better follow that. See what's at the top because this is spectacular and so worth it. I will definitely look forward to coming back again. This is a place that's worth revisiting.

That view is very worth it. I'm glad you guys took part of it. From Tahoe city we drive back into the Nevada side, about 37 miles to Stateline the home of Lake Tahoe Epic Curling. Edie and Eric Hazard welcome us.

Well, you got two newbies on your hands. Fantastic. Oh, we're looking forward to it. Yeah.

So this is our new curling club, Lake Tahoe Epic Curling. We've got a warm room, clubhouse, some changing rooms. And then we've got our two sheet curling facility out there. So it looks like a little ice cave.

I didn't know curling existed here. So this was an eye opener. Well, we started teaching some lessons in Tahoe at the hockey rink about 10 years ago. And just little by little couple people got interested.

This is the first and only dedicated curling facility in California or Nevada at this current time. So we feel very proud and very honored that that is the case. We are honored that we get to be here. So can we learn how to do it?

Can you teach us? Absolutely, we'd love to show you. Absolutely. We have special curling shoes.

We've got a gripper on each foot to get traction on the ice. As you get a little more comfortable with sliding on the ice, then we have Teflon sliders built into the shoe. Wow. So you kind of push and skate push with the grippy foot slide with the Teflon.

We couldn't ask for better instructors. Edie competed for great Britain at the Nagano Olympics. And Eric was a long time curling judge. So we are in good hands.

There's a few traditions in curling. First you start out by shaking your opponents and your teammate's hand and say, "Good curling." Good curling. Good curling Good curling Oh good curling. These are Brushes.

And these are called a hack and this is like a starting block. And then we've got a little stabilizer and a slider just to give you a little more balance. These brushes we use it to polish the ice to shape the shot a little bit. In general, sweeping will allow the rock to travel further and go straighter.

There's some advanced techniques now where you can actually bend it a little bit. Really? Would you like to start by throwing a stone? Sure.

We're going to need push off from the hack, which is our starting block. We're going to slide through the house and release it by that big black line, which is the hog line. So we put our right foot into the hack and then all we'll do is really a little one two, three, or slide the stone forward. Just a fraction to get it started.

Lift your hips in the air. So your butt goes up a bit, pull back just a little way like six inches, pull the rock back towards your foot. And then just push yourself out in a nice, easy spot. Okay.

Just like that. Easy. Sure. The Olympian says it's easy.

(laughing) Right foot here. Get your toes in the hack. Squat down. Kind of get your balance Put your left foot on the slider.

Got it. Turn the rock handle. Hold it so that it's That's it there you go. So first step is just slightly forward with the rock and your left foot there.

Hips up, everything comes back about six inches and then push forward. Put your weight on your left foot and extend your right foot. There you go. Nicely done.

Nicely done Dave. Where's my medal? Lean on left foot and extend your right leg into a runners Good job. I'll try and demonstrate step two which is where I'll actually let go of the rock and headed towards the other end.

Forward, back, up. I love it. That is really cool. That was a nice shot by the way.

Actually what I was aiming. Now we try it with a stone. There we go. Take it easy.

Take it easy. Turn it, turn it, turn it. There you go. That's it.

That's it. Good job. Very nice. Nice.

Nicely done Dave. I should have gone farther. That's okay. So this bit here is called the running band.

So this is the part that the rock travels over the ice. So you only need to sweep as far as that running band, if you're going like this, you're sweeping the ice for no reason. Okay. So grab those brushes.

Sweep sweep sweep hurry hurry. Stop. On again, keep going, keep going definitely. All the way.

That's one of the fun things of being a ski is you get to yell your head off. That's the art of sweeping. That's the goal. The only way you can score points in curling is the closest to this very center of the house are the rocks that score the points.

So I just want Eric to put the rock here if he can. Okay. This is where we're going to try in Land it. So I'm going to aim at her brush, rotate it clockwise.

And hopefully we should end up near the top of the house by the center. Sweep. Sweep. Off off off.

Off off A little bit. Just a little bit. Nice Nice sweeping. I think the sweeping did that.

I think so. I think that's what got it there. Now that we know the basics, we play a game. Eric takes two turns, throwing the rock.

Then we switch and I take my best shots. Not very good, but hey I'm in training. Good shot. Now it's my turn to throw the rock.

I need to get it down the ice and at least cross the hog line on the opposite end. Sweep in front of the rock. Sweep Wonderful. Sweep.

Go on hard hard. You've got it over. Get over that line. Yeah Good job I got across the line Wow.

Nice. Nice shot. I'm more tired now than I was before. I give you guys all the credit.

We're gonna hit something. Look at this. Wow look at this. Oh yeah.

Finally Edie shows us how it's supposed to be done. She makes it look so easy. So the weight pretty good. Sweep sweep sweep.

Sweep sweep sweep. Good good good. Stop stop. Nice.

Look at that. Nice shot. Tired and hard work. So at the end of the game we finish the same way we started you go around look people in the eye and say, "Good curling." Shake their hand.

Good curling. Good curling. Good curling. Good curling.

Good curling. Another tradition that's kind of nice is the winning team buys the losing team. The first round of drinks. A nice tradition.

I like that. So maybe we should head to the warm room. I'm all about that. Well, that was just plain fun.

Thanks to Edie and Eric. We end our visit with a new respect for this truly challenging sport. We had a lot of fun on this trip exploring some of the things you can do during the winter. Yeah.

And there's many different kinds of activities as we've seen sometimes still it's fun to go back to childhood and just get a snowy hill on a plastic disc and see what happens. If you want more information about this trip or any of our Wild Nevada Adventures visit our website at pbsreno.org. Thank you for traveling along with us and until our next trip, we're hoping that you can enjoy some Wild Nevada Adventures of your own. (laughing) (outro music) -

Announcer

Support for Wild Nevada is provided by the William N. Pennington Foundation. -

Announcer

The Nevada Division of Tourism provides inspiration for travelers interested in creating their own Wild Nevada Adventures, more information at travelnevada.com. -

Announcer

The June S. Wisham Trust -

Announcer

Support the Wild Nevada is proudly provided by land Rover, Reno and land Rover, Las Vegas. -

Announcer

Charles & Margaret Burback. -

Announcer

Millie Hopper & Miller Reed. -

Announcer

And by individual members.