Skiing Anyone? Tahoe Bike Races Cancelled Due to Continued Snow We love Tahoe...in the Springtime Tuesday, June 2, 1998 While most of the country has already played a few sets or hiked a few trails, the Lake Tahoe weather gods have decided there will be no transitioning there. Forget about Spring, it's still dumping snow. The thing about Tahoe is that sometimes, like this '97-'98 season, winter holds off until January and then sticks around, in full force, until whenever. The first victim of the California arctic and its "massive snowpack" this year is the fourth round of the World Cup Mountain Biking Circuit scheduled for Squaw Valley, June 20-21. "After last week's ...foot of fresh it could easily go into July..." "In some sections of the course there is over 10 meters of snow," UCI Technical Delegate Martin Whiteley, said. Whiteley and Squaw event organizers have been pushing it around for nearly a month and decided late last week they could not "guarantee a world class course due to this historic snowfall," he said. Long term weather forecasts have also indicated it won't be letting up and there will be additional snowfall in June. And two miles down the road from Squaw, Alpine Meadows Ski Area will be running its summit chair for skiing and snowboarding daily until June 7th and will be open weekends until the mud comes through the snowpack. After last week's multiple snowfalls resulting in over a foot of fresh it could easily go into July. Squaw local, Beth Gaut, a snowboarder and climber, couldn't take it anymore. "It's crazy, the locals are sick of it..." "I had to get outta here," she said. "I went to Belize in South America for some needed sun." But leaving town didn't bring Spring and, in fact, Gaut said, "when I came back, Interstate 80 was closed. I knew it was still snowing, but I couldn't believe they had to close the Interstate in late May because of snow. It's crazy, the locals are sick of it." Squaw Valley Ski Area finally closed for the "season", but its High Camp and cable car remain in daily operation with the Mountain Bike park opening tentatively on June 27. The World Cup race will now be held at Southern California's Big Bear Mountain, which on mid-May hosted the NORBA season opener, amidst its own snowpack. — Hans Prosl, Mountain Zone Staff

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