Looking for Lessons In the Tahoe Area

Hello,

My wife and I have been cross country skiing with metal edges for years.
We're pretty good at moving on the flats but could use some help climbing.
More importantly our stopping technique consists of aiming for the smallest
tree. We'll be spending the holidays at Lake Tahoe (Incline Village) and
rather than hoping to minimize damage to the local conifers as well as
myself, I thought it might be nice to hire an instructor for a half a day
(or longer) to teach us how to do it correctly.

We generally ski with our two dogs in the Tahoe Meadows area but I'm open to
going somewhere else. If anyone can recommend an instructor, and how to
reach him or her, I'd appreciate it.

pjbphd


--
Too many spams have forced me to alter my email. If you wish to email me
directly please send messages to pjbphd at cox dot net

certified instructors at Royal Gorge should be able to help. I've
tought many of my friends the things you've mentioned, but a certified
instructor will do a better job.

Quote:
certified instructors at Royal Gorge should be able to help.

Royal Gorge rental skis are practically unskiable and would discorage
any beginner.
They are old short Fisher skis w/no camber at all.
I would sugest Tahoe Donner XC - much closer, nice beginner area,
people that are in
no way snotty, cheaper too.

I would sugest Tahoe Donner XC - much closer, nice beginner area,
people that are in
no way snotty, cheaper too.

I agree WRT to the snotty staff at RG. But Tahoe Donner is closed as of
now, with no snow in the forecast.

I am not a huge fan of RG either, but you can rent decent skis/boots
there. I rented top of the line equipment at RG when I needed it.

Too bad Donner is still down. R.G. skis that you can really ski on
are called "demo's".
I think they are somewhat more expencive to rent and should be good
enough.
You know what to rent, beginners don't.
Stay away from "off the shelf" R.G. rentals. Sierra Nordic ski shop
next door also use to rent - and top of the line Atomics and stuff,
worth finding out.

You know what to rent, beginners don't.
Stay away from "off the shelf" R.G. rentals. Sierra Nordic ski shop
next door also use to rent - and top of the line Atomics and stuff,
worth finding out.

OK, I will take a note of that.

Actually, of all XC places I've been to, I would not want ski on any of
the "off she shelf" rentals, and would not want anyone to ski on that
stuff. So, RG is not alone in that category. If TD are different in
this respect , good for them.

wrote:
Quote:
certified instructors at Royal Gorge should be able to help.

Royal Gorge rental skis are practically unskiable and would discorage
any beginner.
They are old short Fisher skis w/no camber at all.
I would sugest Tahoe Donner XC - much closer, nice beginner area,
people that are in
no way snotty, cheaper too.

Wow. We've started the RG bashing a might early in the season haven't we?

Last I looked, RG used Fischer Revolutions for their rentals: short,
stiff skis that beginners can control. No, they're not fast. So what? My
wife and I skied for several years on RG, TD, TXC and DP (RIP) rentals -
none of it as good as the TOTL gear we use now, but we had fun and we
got great instruction at RG.

TD is fine, TXC is our favorite, but RG has
1) the most reliable snow (orographic effect),
2) largest trail system (on the continent),
3) and largest instructional staff,
in the Tahoe area.
Of course they charge the highest trail fees. I've had trouble at RG
(ask me about the time I needed to rent a pilot boot for the Gold Rush
and RG wouldn't rent to me) and I can't say what the new owners will do
with the property, but they've never been "snotty" (not even about the
boot rental).

and, BTW, for you newbies: it's polite to sign your name. We'll likely
see each other on the trails this season - XC is a very small world ;-)

Bob
for those outside of California:
RG=Royal Gorge
TD=Tahoe Donner
TXC=Tahoe XC
DP=Diamond Peak (no longer exists)

Just saw this thread (and that was after seeing SkiBoyBob the past
couple of days at RG). Sorry for the delay....

I think a lot of people are working on old information regarding Royal
Gorge's rentals (and Tahoe Donner's, for that matter, who basically use
the same skis). Most of their waxless fleet are Fischer Orbiters and
Elegance, which, imho, are excellent skis for a lot of conditions.
They're called "shortcut" or Nordic Cruiser technology (164 to 184 cm),
and while they are sized a bit shorter than traditional length skis,
they're not nearly as short as the old Fischer Revolutions (147cm.).
I've found Orbiters to be pretty awesome skis, personally. The skate
skis they rent are the Pacers, which, while they aren't great, are
certainly good enough for a BEGINNER to ski. And beginners are the only
ones who should be renting skis at RG, anyway. And personally, I had no
problems with Fischer Revolutions for skating (the waxless version
sucked, though). I took 11th in the Great Race one year on Revo's, and
still use them constantly for spring crust skiing. As a matter of fact,
they're the best ski ever made for backcountry skating, again imho. But
that's a whole other topic.

Mark

Bob wrote:
wrote:
Quote:
certified instructors at Royal Gorge should be able to help.

Royal Gorge rental skis are practically unskiable and would discorage
any beginner.
They are old short Fisher skis w/no camber at all.
I would sugest Tahoe Donner XC - much closer, nice beginner area,
people that are in
no way snotty, cheaper too.

Wow. We've started the RG bashing a might early in the season haven't we?

Last I looked, RG used Fischer Revolutions for their rentals: short,
stiff skis that beginners can control. No, they're not fast. So what? My
wife and I skied for several years on RG, TD, TXC and DP (RIP) rentals -
none of it as good as the TOTL gear we use now, but we had fun and we
got great instruction at RG.

TD is fine, TXC is our favorite, but RG has
1) the most reliable snow (orographic effect),
2) largest trail system (on the continent),
3) and largest instructional staff,
in the Tahoe area.
Of course they charge the highest trail fees. I've had trouble at RG
(ask me about the time I needed to rent a pilot boot for the Gold Rush
and RG wouldn't rent to me) and I can't say what the new owners will do
with the property, but they've never been "snotty" (not even about the
boot rental).

and, BTW, for you newbies: it's polite to sign your name. We'll likely
see each other on the trails this season - XC is a very small world ;-)

Bob
for those outside of California:
RG=Royal Gorge
TD=Tahoe Donner
TXC=Tahoe XC
DP=Diamond Peak (no longer exists)