Skiing Stoke from Lake Tahoe

Month: April 2008

Eco Ship Cleans Up Ski Industry from Outside In

Greg Pronko and Mike O’ReillyGreg Pronko and Mike O’Reilly got sick of shipping snowboards and displays in oversized boxes stuffed with landfill-clogging Styrofoam peanuts. The bloated shipping costs bothered the founders of Glissade Snowboards and Bender Brothers almost as much as the destructive environmental effects. Their newest venture, Eco Ship, provides lower-volume, sustainable shipping supplies like biodegradable, corn-based polymer bags, foam and boxes. “These are the biggest materials in the garbage,” explains Pronko, “so we reached for the lowest-hanging fruit.” Pronko, who is talking with Amazon, is also working toward an discounted ski/snowboard industry prices. “Right now the bio materials are too expensive,” Pronko says, “but there will be a tipping point and we hope to be there when it tips.”

Enjoy the Spring Conditions While You Can

The birds are making noise, the snow is melting and temperatures are supposed to reach 67 degrees today in Truckee. Despite the huge snows we received in January, the snowpack has dipped slightly below average. But there’s still plenty of snow in the mountains and spring skiing is excellent: firm in the mornings, creamy from 11-1 and getting slushy in the afternoons. It was a big season for Squaw in more ways that the snow. Patrol opened more terrain in Silverado and extended the boundary in Sun Bowl. Even more terrain at a mountain that was anything but lacking terrain to begin with!

Next to powder, corn snow is the most fun to ski. So live it up this weekend because a cold front with gusty winds will likely move in on Sunday night and firm it all up.