100+ Months of Skiing | The Fish Family | E60
Few families in the Lake Tahoe region have had more of a positive impact on recreation than the Fish family. Ben and Amy revived the Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association (TAMBA) in 2010, and started both the 60-mile Rose to Toads epic and Corral Night Ride. Their son Max, about the same age as TAMBA, grew up alongside the organization, and as soon as he could walk, he was on two wheels in dirt, two sticks on snow and a trail tool in hand working last year as a paid employee at Bijou Bike Park, a park designed by Ben. Since November 2016, Ben and Max have skied and snowboarded every month through pow, ice, corn, sun cups, rocks, man-made snow and even the Caldor Fire, reaching 100 consecutive months in February. On Episode 60, the Fish family talks all about TAMBA, the process of their 100-month snow adventure, the importance of bike parks and adventuring together as a family.
Checkers or Wreckers | Molly Armanino | E51
Pull up any social media feed on big line skiing and there’s a good chance you’ll see Molly Armanino stomping a serious cliff drop. There’s also a good chance you’ll see her tomahawking. In her rookie year on the 2023 Freeride World Tour, Molly’s checkers or wreckers approach – skiing lines no other woman dare ski – landed her a 2nd place finish. Perfecting her art of the send at Kirkwood amidst its treacherous volcanic “death rocks”, Molly’s fearless approach has inspired all skiers, regardless of gender. Equally inspiring is Molly’s perseverance in the face of unimaginable loss, opening up about the accident that took her brother Sam’s life just as she was finding closure after losing her best friend in a car accident. Molly talks about the therapeutic healing the outdoors brings her and also shares the story of losing her big toe to frostbite while skiing in Montana. Lots of laughs mixed with heavy emotion in this episode. See an advance screening of her first feature film, “Slopes of Change”, at 8PM on December 19 at Alibi Ale Works in Truckee!
Trails are the Dopamine | Chris McNamara | E40
In the world of big wall climbing and wingsuit BASE jumping, Chris McNamara was a leader and innovator, claiming the first wingsuit BASE jump of the Grand Canyon (where he almost died twice in the same jump) and one of the youngest people to ever climb the West Face of El Capitan. As the founder of Supertopo, which evolved into GearLab, McNamara’s interests also evolved beyond climbing and the dangers of BASE jumping. It was when he moved to Lake Tahoe over a decade ago and discovered trails, mountain biking and specifically TAMBA, where he found his new passion. Always the dopamine-fueled thinker and dreamer obsessed with first ascents, “BushwhackNamara” immediately started asking “what if”? What if there was a mountain bike singletrack around Lake Tahoe? What if there was a trail from Susanville to Mammoth called Sierra Camino? What if there was a mountain bike trail from Canada to Cabo called Orogenesis? The dopamine was flooding his brain with possibilities, and a decade later, Chris and his wife Tor have been instrumental in funding the trails renaissance happening in Lake Tahoe.
Saving South Lake Tahoe from the Caldor Fire | Todd Woodward | E12
In August 2021, the Caldor Fire came dangerously close to burning the entire city of South Lake Tahoe. In those critical moments when the fire crested Echo Summit, hotshot wildland firefighter Todd Woodward (@thefirenomad) was at his home in Meyers ready for its arrival despite the entire town having been evacuated. Although he was on injury leave from work after a serious mountain bike accident, Todd saw there were no resources yet dedicated to the fire, took initiative, put on his firefighting gear, jumped on a tiny Kawasaki KLX 110, and rallied the dirt bike around his backyard near the Corral Trail, flagging miles of dozer line in the middle of the night as crown fires were raging around him. When bulldozers arrived to cut line, during the most critical time of the fire, Todd ran point on the entire operation, directing 10 dozers and 3 masticators from the seat of a little dirt bike.