El Dorado County Sports Digest

Northstar California and Heavenly Mountain Resort will each receive new high-speed chairlifts as part of Vail Resorts’ $320 million capital investment plan for 2022. The company will install 19 new lifts across its 14 resorts.

Hundreds of bike enthusiasts will compete Sept. 25 in the first-ever Heart of Gold, a 55-mile gravel course race through the Gold Country aimed at raising awareness and funds for mental wellness programs for youth in Nevada County. The race, which begins in Nevada City, should draw as many as 400 racers from around the state.

James Savage, a 14-year-old from Los Banos, has became the youngest person to earn Lake Tahoe’s Triple Crown by swimming the length of Lake Tahoe—a 12-hour swim from Camp Richardson in South Lake Tahoe to the Hyatt Regency in Incline Village.

In the male-dominated world of fly fishing, trekking out to the river can be intimidating for some women. This is why local fly fisher Amy McCormick and Alpine Fly Fishing have added classes specifically aimed at women.

After several years of hard work by local disc golf enthusiasts, a new course has opened at Tahoe Paradise Park in Meyers. The project got a lot of local support, including help from the Meyers Community Foundation, Tahoe Wellness Center, Meek’s Lumber, and Tahoe Sand and Gravel.

After more than three years of diligent work, the Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association, in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, has completed the Stanford Rock Trail on the west shore of Lake Tahoe. The project increases trail access for mountain bikers, hikers and equestrians.

El Dorado Hills native Bryce Mefford will swim in the Tokyo Olympic Games beginning on July 28. The semifinals are the following day and the finals July 30. He will be the first Oak Ridge Trojan to compete in the Olympics.

Many Sacramento-area locals are going for gold in the Olympics this summer, including a Granite Bay swimmer and an Orangevale softball player. These are just a few of the athletes hailing from this region of Northern California.

El Dorado Hills Chamber of Commerce recognized its 2020 Business of the Year Award winners at an event that also featured a presentation by District 1 Supervisor John Hidahl, who honored Olympic swimmer Bryce Mefford and New Orleans Saints draft-pick Ian Book—both 2016 graduates of Oak Ridge High School.

Closed last summer due to the pandemic, Bijou Golf Course in South Lake Tahoe will not open this summer either. Now city officials are discussing its future, and they’re looking for input from residents.

Forward Leah Marino, 20, has been drafted by the National Women’s Hockey League, making her the youngest hockey player in the history of the league.

In 1983, writes Matthew Renda in the Tahoe Quarterly, Max Jones was testing out his new off-road bike on the Tunnel Creek Trail near Incline Village. He began the laborious process of clearing fallen trees and other debris from the scenic ridgeline route.

A pandemic-driven surge in fly-fishing has created an opportunity in the Tahoe area, but more fishermen put more pressure on local waters.

Alterra Mountain Company, Boyne Resorts, POWDR and Vail Resorts have announced the Climate Collaborative Charter, the ski industry’s first unified effort to address climate change.

As the snow-sports season comes to a close, resort officials reflect on how they fared during the pandemic.

The hill where it all started didn’t provide what most people today recognize as skiing.

Vail Resorts’ trio of ski areas in the Lake Tahoe Basin have extended the season into April.