Yay! We finally got our first storm in Reno and our daughter got to see her first snow flakes ever! It was so exciting — she couldn’t stop smiling. She had her big mouth open trying to eat the snow flakes – in case you didn’t know, everything revolves around the mouth in a 5-month-old baby!

Here’s a picture of us hiking in Galena Forest, can you believe this is just a few min from our house? This place is like heaven, I just can’t get enough of it.

On another note, our Christmas won’t be a white one this year - we are leaving to Argentina tomorrow to spend the Holidays with my family. So enjoy the slopes for me — and have a wonderful Christmas and New Year!

Here is a funny video of a beginner snowboarder who discovers the least of his problems is the low battery on his camcorder!

This video makes me itch for winter.

Every weekend I tell my hubby “this is the last weekend of skiing for us” because I am 100% convinced that it’ll warm up during the following week and the snow will be too hard for me and the belly… But it keeps snowing!

So this was another backcountry weekend, and we had to take advantage of it! How can you resist all that powder?? You simply can’t! We went to the Tahoe Meadows on Saturday and couldn’t believe how awesome the snow was. Sunday we skinned up at the bend on the road on Mt Rose Highway and went up pass Mt Rose ski resort, while it never stopped snowing. The snow was getting to be a bit more slush/mash but still soft enough for a pregnant woman.

Here’s me deciding if I should turn or not — the snow is getting heavier

Losing my balance due to baby weight (or at least that sounds like a good excuse!)

It seems like the snow just keeps getting better. With new powder coming nearly every couple of days, we headed back to Galena Creek Park, located south of Reno via the Mt. Rose Highway, for some sledding.

The snow-covered hills are packed with great white stuff, which makes it ideal for the kids to toss down a sled and let gravity do the rest.

We hiked a bit into the park and found an awesome spot that boasted lots of snow, a good incline, a previously-smoothed area for sledding, and no other people. My 18-year-old son, Hank, went first. He ran down the hill, jumped on his stomach, and began his slide. He skimmed across the slick surface like a puck on an ice hockey rink.

After a lengthy ride, he slammed into a pile of soft snow and collapsed in a laughing heap, the sled shooting off to the side.

After watching him, my 11-year-old daughter couldn’t wait for her turn. Julia climbed up the hill to a spot even higher than where my son had started. After taking a short running start, she followed his lead by jumping onto the snow on her stomach, lifting up her legs, and then taking the ride of her life down the hillside.

As she floated across the ice, her hat slid down over her eyes, but that didn’t keep her from continuing. Since she weighs less than my son, her ride was a little slower but lots longer. In the end, she slammed into the snow pile at the end of the run, flipped over, came up laughing, and was ready for more.

And on it went. I think we’re going to have to consider buying another sled since the only time they stopped sledding was when they argued about who should have the next ride. It took me about two hours to finally get them off the hill. And I had to promise them we’d head back later in the week.—-Richard Moreno

Saturday was stormy and windy so we decided to work on taxes and work out at the gym — while Sunday was a true bluebird day and we took advantage of it!

We left the house around 1:30pm and got to the Mt Rose Wilderness area shortly after that. To our surprise, we found awesome powder –yes! although it was so warm, there was still powder from the storm the day before. Some areas were a bit crusty due to the high winds the day before, but for the most part — if you stayed in the trees you got good powder! Spring skiing with powder in late March is just an amazing combo.

Here’s my six-month pregnant belly, enjoying the warm spring day:

Snowboarding at Mt. Rose

It’s been an incredible year for snowboarding. It seems like every other week brings another storm, usually during the week, that dumps fresh powder on the mountains just in time for the weekend.

With all that in mind, last weekend I took my teenage son and some of his buddies to the closest skiing to Reno, which is the Mount Rose Ski Resort, for a little snowboarding. Mt. Rose is only 25 miles southwest of Reno (via U.S. 395 and the Mount Rose Highway).

During this visit, they wanted to check out the Slide Lodge, which is a second base facility for Mt. Rose skiers and boarders located east of the Main Lodge. The Slide Lodge is the gateway to Slide Bowl, a kind of secondary skiing area at Mt. Rose.

The reason they wanted to hit Slide Bowl is that it’s the location of Mt. Rose’s two terrain parks designed specifically for boarders. The parks, called “Doubledown” and “Badlands,” offer a wide variety of boarding features including tables and rails.

“Doubledown” is designed as the primary “go big” course and has a roller, lots of rails, a couple of 40 to 45-foot step downs and a 250-foot table spine. “Badlands” has mostly medium-sized elements and consists of several rails, boxes and rollers, as well as two tables.

While I don’t board, it was fun to watch them race down the runs, goofing on the various features–and eating some snow more than a few times.

With only a brief break for lunch, my son and his pals played on the slopes for most of the day. I saw them catch a bit of air, skate down the rails more than a few times and, in general, have a great time enjoying all the snow we’ve been blessed with in recent months.

I wonder if it will last until Memorial Day?

Of course, another nice thing about Mt. Rose is that it’s affordable. The adult day rate is $54 ($44 for a half day), with the lifts running from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.—-Richard Moreno

The snow just keeps coming! Last week it was a full moon so a few of us ventured out in the backcountry up around Mt Rose Wilderness. The snow was light and deep and beautiful in the moonlight. Couple of days later it snowed again and we were right back out there touring around, dropping in, and having an absolute blast. Here are a couple of pics from Saturday.

No way!

Especially when it has been snowing non-stop for the last I don’t know how many weeks. There is powder everywhere, so getting hurt is not a concern at all!

We went backcountry to the Tamarack Peak area on Saturday and enjoyed the awesome powder. And then again on Sunday with our friends Erik and Michelle who are also expecting a baby!! The snow was a little bit crusty but we still had a blast. Check out our pictures:

The pregnant girls

The six of us

View of Washoe Lake

There are few things more exhilarating than racing around on a snowmobile—and this year’s great snow pack has produced some awesome snowmobiling conditions.

One of the best ways to enjoy snowmobiling is to take a guided tour at Zephyr Cove Snowmobile Center of Lake Tahoe. There, you can rent everything you need from the snowmobile to the helmet, gloves, boots, parka and snow bib. The company has more than 100 Ski-Doo snowmobiles.

After registering at the Zephyr Cove Resort, you’re taken by bus to a spot above Tahoe where you’re fitted onto a machine and given basic instructions about its operations.

Riding a snowmobile is easy. A button starts it up and all you have to remember is that the brake is on the left side, the gas is a thumb-lever on the right. It only takes a few minutes to get comfortable with the machine.

As with a motorcycle, the guide instructs you to lean into a turn rather than away. You’re also told how to use hand-signals to instruct other drivers of your intentions, such as slowing, turning or stopping. For safety purposes, taking your thumb off the gas immediately kills the engine.

Once you get started, you soon find yourself racing through snow-coated pines and groves of skinny, bare aspen trees sprayed with frost. The trail gradually climbs higher into the mountains, twisting and turning through the trees. Eventually, the road reaches the crest of the mountains and you’re riding parallel to the lake, enjoying one of the most magnificent views in the world.

During our tour, the guide parked at a place that allowed us to just sit on our vehicles and enjoy the bright blue sky, deep blue water, brilliant sunlight and pure white snow. Writer Mark Twain was right about Lake Tahoe—it is the fairest picture the whole earth affords.

After stopping, we began the ride back down the mountain, which was even more fun than going up. Since I’ve only ridden a handful of times, I found that the longer I rode, the more confident I became with the vehicle. In fact, I found that if I lagged back a little, I could create a gap between my vehicle and the rider ahead, then, on the straight-aways, pour on the speed to catch up.

These thing are so fun that maybe I’m going to have to buy one…..

Zephyr Cove Snowmobile Center is located 25 miles west of Carson City at the Zephyr Cove Resort, 760 U.S. 50. Guided tours are offered daily at 9:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Cost is $99 for a single rider and $145 for a double rider. Clothing rental is $15 for everything or $5 per item. For more information, call 800-23-TAHOE. A $7 discount coupon is available at www.laketahoesnowmobiles.com/coupon.php.