North Lake Tahoe, California Things to Do

Bunnies, and eggs, and chocolate, oh my! It’s tough to believe spring is already here, and Easter’s just around the corner. Even with all the Miracle March spring snow, enjoy the warming temperatures and celebrate  the holiday in a colorful and sweet way!

On-Mountain Easter Egg Hunt

Where/Where: Squaw Valley Resort at 10am

The annual on-mountain Easter egg hunt begins the moment the lifts open on Sunday. Get your Easter basket ready and hunt for colored eggs all over the mountain. This year, one lucky winner will find a GOLDEN EGG. Within the golden egg lies a 2012-13 Bronze season pass. Clues will be provided throughout the day via Twitter, the Squaw Smartphone App and Facebook.

All Mountain Easter Egg Hunt & Kids’ Easter Egg Hunt

Where/When: Alpine Meadows at 9am

Make room in that Easter basket to fit a season pass to Alpine Meadows Ski Resort! Guests will have the chance to comb the mountain for a golden egg containing a Bronze Season Pass in the free Adult Easter Egg Hunt. Hundreds of eggs will be hidden across all of Alpine’s 2400 acres, but only one will be gold. Arrive early, as this all-day hunt will commence when the lifts start moving at 9 a.m., and last until 4 p.m.

• Alpine Meadows Children’s Easter Egg Hunts:
• Children 7 and under are invited to join the Easter Egg Hunt taking place at 10:15am at the Kids Camp Magic Carpet.
• Children 8 – 13 are invited to join the Easter Egg Hunt taking place at 10:15am at the Magic Carpet located off of Subway Chair.

If you don’t want to meet the Easter Bunny or hunt for eggs, how about celebrating with family and friends at Easter Brunch? The following locations offer an Easter Brunch that is sure to leave you satisfied:

• Jake’s on the Lake, 10am-2pm. Reservations recommended. 530.583.0188
• Lone Eagle Grille, 10am-3pm. Click here for menu and pricing details!
• Resort at Squaw Creek, 10am-2pm. Make your reservation today, and visit their blog for a full menu! 530.581.6615
• River Ranch Lodge, 10am-2pm. Enjoy a table overlooking the Truckee River. For reservations, 530.583.4264.

Shane McConkey's quirky alter ego, Pain McShlonkey.

As an on and off mountain event, the Pain McShlonkey Classic is a wacky part of Tahoe culture in which all proceeds from the weekend benefit Make-A-Wish Foundation, along with environmental education programs. The event was dubbed after one of Shane’s funny alter egos, Pain McShlonkey. Hosted on March 23-24th at Squaw Valley, the McShlonkey offers the world’s top winter atheletes a chance to compete for the podium on none other than snowblades! Saturday’s on-mountain antics promise true slope-side entertainment for all ages.

“One thing about Shane is that what you saw is what he was: a man full of stoke, passion, ingenuity, humor and a zest for making your moments on this earth count,” says longtime friend Scott Gaffney. “Shane loved to laugh, play, compete against and make fun of friends and make fun of himself. The Pain McShlonkey Classic is a perfect amalgam of all of these elements that were so important to a guy who inspired us to no end.”

The Red Bull Air Force will kick off the festivities on the afternoon of Friday, March 23 as athletes like Charles Bryan, JT Holmes and Tim Dutton skydive into The Village at Squaw Valley.  Now that’s just the beginning. From there, the party rages on at Rocker@Squaw with a DJ, food and drink specials and poster signings with pro competitors.

The real throw down begins Saturday, March 24 at 9 a.m. as the athletes line up atop the legendary KT-22 chairlift for an all-out snowblade banzai. The pros will take on 30 of McConkey’s biggest fans in an anything-goes battle to the finish on Squaw’s GS Bowl. It’s a sight to see, especially the costume choices you’ll see whiz by.

To top off the weekend, don’t miss the 80’s after party at Squaw’s Olympic Village Lodge. Guests must be 21 or older to attend with valid ID required. To find out more, purchase tickets to the after party on March 24th ($25/each), or make a donation to the Shane McConkey Foundation, click here!

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An American St. Patrick's Day tradition: Chicago River dyed green.

May your thoughts be as glad as the shamrocks,
May your heart be as light as a song,
May each day bring you bright, happy hours,
That stay with you all the year long.

In Ireland most natives pin on a sprig of green, attend morning mass, and drink a pint in the afternoon or feast with family at dinner in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. Until the 1970s, St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland was a minor religious holiday. But in the United States, rivers are dyed green, there are large parades to celebrate the Irish, and millions don green for the day.

For Lake Tahoe locals and vacationers, we may have more than a sprig of green – more so a white and powdery day on the slopes! But why not capture the essence of the above Irish blessing, and grab some friends, enjoy the coming of spring, drink a pint, listen to some live tunes, dance a jig and find out how the Irish keep life so light and lively!

There are all kinds of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations happening around Lake Tahoe on Saturday, March 17^th.  The question is how do you want to celebrate? We’ve included a few choices!  Just remember to wear green, stay safe and tip your hat to St. Patrick!

Squaw Valley

Celebrate the holiday at Squaw Valley with all of your favorite Irish traditions! Ski the green slopes, hang out at the KT Base Bar for our pig roast and listen to L.A.vation, The World’s Greatest Tribute to U2 while you enjoy festive beer from Guiness, Harp and Smithwick’s. From 3pm-5pm in the Village Events Plaza, The Blarney Band will perform traditional Irish music. Catch Lenny the Leprechaun on the slopes for a special treat from his pot of gold!

Be sure to check out Auld Dubliner at Squaw if you want a taste of traditional Dublin on this Irish holiday!

Alpine Meadows

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at Alpine! Come dressed in your best St. Patrick’s Day costume for a chance to win a CamelBak full of swag! All costumes will be judged at the St. Patrick’s Day Après Ski Party taking place on the Sun Deck from 1pm to 4pm. Enjoy Irish food and drink specials and live music by the the Nibblers!

Tahoe City

The fun starts at Jake’s on the Lake with traditional Irish food all day (also serving lunch/café/dinner), Happy Hour Specials 4:30pm-6:30pm, Live Music: Mark Wilson at 6pm. The party continues at Hacienda del Lago (upstairs) with live funk “Terraplane” from 9:30pm-2am, and L.A. DJ Dre Tuna at Lakeside (next door) from 10pm-2am. Bounce around from bar to bar; Bushmills Girls, music and drink specials all night at all three venues!

What’s your favorite way to spend St. Patrick’s Day?

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Who ever said urban and rural life couldn’t intersect seamlessly? You can enjoy Lake Tahoe’s breathtaking great outdoors, tucker yourself out on the slopes all day, and still get your fill of a city-center cultural favorite: ballet.

There is a company of young dance students in the Lake Tahoe area who are devoted to bringing new life to the cultural fabric of the region. Tahoe Youth Ballet presents “Dancing Women, Then and Now” on March 9th and 10th at 7pm at Cal Neva Resort.  “Dancing Women, Then and Now” features Act II of Giselle and the premiere of Into the Trees. The gala opening night tickets ($55) include admission with preferred seating, a semi-formal post-show party and two raffle tickets.

General admission tickets are also available at both performances: Adults, $20; Students/Seniors $10.  For more information about Tahoe Youth Ballet, performance dates, and a sneak peek of Into the Trees, click here.

What do you think of seeing a professional level ballet performance in Tahoe?

It’s the fifth anniversary of Uncorked at Squaw Valley and they are celebrating big time! Join others on Friday, February 10^th from 5pm – 8pm for an outdoor event of winter warming proportions. Purchase your ticket ($40) and delight in wine tasting from Uncorked’s ten favorite wineries, a commemorative wine glass , lamb stew from Soupa, live music from Jazz Mafia, a massage tent, and fire pits!

Bundle up in a beanie and puffy, and mingle on First Street in the Village at Squaw with other wine connoisseurs.  Your ticket also goes to a great cause, benefiting High Fives Foundation: a local non-profit dedicated to raising money and awareness for athletes that suffer a life altering injury while pursuing their dream in the winter action sports community.

Buy your ticket now before sell out!

(Fun fact! Uncorked at Squaw will serve mimosas at noon on Saturday, February 11th as their “recovery party” from Friday night’s festivities!)  

Marcus Strickland

Due to the lack of arts and music programming in schools today, there are organizations throughout the United States that have devoted themselves to the education of young audiences in this medium.  One of these non-profit organizations, JazzReach,  ”has developed a unique and diverse repertoire of substantive, high quality live educational programs for young audiences that are especially tailored to elucidate the art form and complement a broad range of students’ everyday classroom curriculum.”  Their multi-media programs are highly interactive, entertaining, yet informative.

On February 3rd, both young and old will have the opportunity to enjoy a remarkable evening of jazz, sponsored by the Cal Neva Resort.  This immersive, globally themed main-stage program features performances of all new commissions by prominent, internationally recognized jazz composers hailing from countries as diverse as, West Africa (Lionel Loueke), Israel (Omer Avital), Cuba (Yosvany Terry), Puerto Rico (Miguel Zenon), India (Rudresh Mahanthappa) and the United States (Marcus Strickland).

35 local jazz musicians from Incline Village, North Lake Tahoe and Truckee have trained with these renowned musicians and will perform in the opening piece of the show.  The history of jazz will certainly come alive in the local Lake Tahoe community!

For further information and to purchase tickets, please visit Arts For the Schools!

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If you want to return to the 80′s for just a moment, or relive your prom days (no matter the era), dig out your most authentic attempt at an 80′s costume, find a date (or go stag) and party down with other prom-goers on February 25th at the Squaw Valley Prom!

All proceeds benefit High Fives Non-Profit Foundation.  High Fives Non-Profit Foundation is a Tahoe-based 501.c.3 non-profit organization dedicated to raising money and awareness for athletes who have suffered a life-altering injury while pursuing their dream in the winter action sports community.

To keep the party going, DJ Solomon will headline, with guest DJ Trick Master Fly  and special guest DJ Silver Boombox Theif.  Prom runs from 8pm-2am at the Squaw Valley Olympic House, so you’ll have plenty of time to compete for the top three prizes:

• Best 80’s Music Costume
• Best 80’s Movie Costume
• Best 80’s Pop Icon Costume

Click here for ticket information and further details!