Highlights, Reflections and Remembrances of the 2018 Ski for Light Event

Spirit in Action: Nearly Everything Happened at Tahoe Donner

When I arrived in Reno on the afternoon of Thursday, January 18, the temperature was 65 degrees, a warm wind was gusting and picking up steam, and I was overdressed in my jeans and winter jacket, perspiring by my overstuffed duffel and ski bags at the hotel shuttle pickup area. Of greater concern, however, was the fact that there was no snow at Tahoe Donner Ski Area. "Be prepared for everything," I kept telling myself, holding out hope that the forecasted two feet of white gold would bless the Lake Tahoe Basin overnight and would alleviate all our concerns.

Two feet of snow did not magically appear in the Sierra that evening, but between Friday and Sunday, there came just enough that the hard-working Tahoe Donner staff and groomers could coax and massage it into remarkably good skiing conditions for the start of the 43rd Ski for Light International week. For much of the week, skiing was a mix of early season and spring conditions with morning crunchiness and afternoon soupy corn snow. By midweek, the trails were showing the effects of several hundred skiing enthusiasts striding over scant snow cover, and a busload of SFL'ers ventured farther west to test out the tracks of the Auburn Ski Club. A dizzying network of trails, with sharp ascents and steep plunges, intertwined and intersected on a hillside slightly larger than a postage stamp. As dark clouds built toward the west and a chill wind picked up speed, I thought about being lost in the mountains with a storm approaching and was glad to bunch up together for a group photo in front of the clubhouse before heading east on the Nugget-bound shuttle.

Our collective patience and persistent snow dances paid off on Wednesday night, not in the form of a stack of blue chips from the Nugget casino, but, even better, with a mother lode of 15 inches of white snowflakes. As they contemplated the trek west on Thursday morning, our shuttle drivers probably did not share our enthusiasm for the bounty of new snow and promise of great tracks and good skiing, although one driver boldly proclaimed that he could chain up in less than 10 minutes. Road conditions tested the drivers' prowess as they negotiated snow-packed roads, installed chains, removed chains, unwrapped chains from axles, and crept their way toward Tahoe Donner, gingerly edging into the parking lot. The ski area's trail staff eagerly welcomed us as we clambered from the shuttles, and exquisitely manicured trails greeted us as we clicked on our skis and explored newly groomed terrain. Now I understood why so many people raved about the skiing at Tahoe Donner.

Superb conditions awaited us on Friday for our annual Olav Pedersen Race/Rally. I was grateful for the new snow that fell overnight when I spun out of control and face-planted into the trailside powder. We basked in warm temperatures and brilliant sunshine on Saturday, our final day of skiing. Spirits were high out in the tracks and around the fire pits as we logged our final kilometers for the week and shared stories and memories with new and old friends.

The prospect of skiing is what captured my imagination when I discovered Ski for Light seven years ago. What compels me to return each year is the group energy, creativity, and dedication for making the most out of our week together.

This year, more than 250 of us stuffed our ski bags and crammed our luggage full of stuff we might or might not use or wear. None of us could say with confidence that we would be able to ski all six days. The members of the event planning committee worked tirelessly before and during the event to plan for every conceivable contingency. Thankfully, enough snow fell in a timely manner, and we skied all week and did not have to test out the 75 lanes at the National Bowling Center. At the Nugget, when five of the six east tower elevators broke down one by one--the ones we used continually as that tower was where SFL was lodged--our community persuasively persuaded the Nugget that waiting for the Otis repair person to arrive the next day was not the best option; so, we finally had access to their service elevators and to the usually locked exterior stairwells thereafter.

We came prepared for nearly everything, and nearly everything happened. With characteristic Ski for Light style and verve, we skied, we danced, we sort of Sumo-wrestled and scrambled on hands and knees and unsteady feet through, over, up and down inflated Bounce House obstacles. We shared some laughs and some tears, we bid against each other for coveted Silent Auction items, and celebrated our Norwegian heritage.

It was truly a memorable event, and I am looking forward to next year's new adventures and memories at Snow Mountain Ranch, which will host our 44th Ski for Light International Week.