Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Summer 2012 - (Page 78)

outdoors BY WING AND BY WATER SUM MER IS T HE SE A SON FOR HIGH - FLY ING A DV EN T UR E S ON L A K E TA HOE. AU T HOR T EDDY WAY NE TA K E S OFF GRE AT L AKE At 1,645 feet, Tahoe is the second deepest lake in the U.S. Above, the author and his girlfriend, Jenna, survey a portion of this lake that stretches between Nevada and California. 78 w w w. r i t z c a r lt o n . c o m CloCkwise from left: teddy wayne; north shore Parasail; teddy wayne; Phil sChermeister/CorBis L Lake Tahoe remains the American West’s glittering, aqueous jewel, a body of water of many superlatives. The freshwater lake has 192 square miles of surface area straddling Nevada and California, making it the perfect spot for water sports, while its temperate summer climate and easy access to the Sierra Nevada mountain range lend themselves to allseason resort activities. With notions of an outdoorsy summer vacation in mind, my girlfriend, Jenna, and I visited The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe for a slate of adrenaline-charged activities to knock us out of our East Coast complacency. About 2 to 3 million years ago, tectonic shifts and volcanic activity formed the Lake Tahoe Basin; today’s lake was formed 10,000 years ago during the Great Ice Age. Washoe Indians lived in the area for thousands of years before the American explorer John C. Frémont sighted it in 1844. The region became an important hub in the Gold Rush of the 1850s, and by the end of the century had turned into a vacation destination for affluent San Franciscans. Its international reputation for cold-weather sports was cemented when Squaw Valley, Calif., on the lake’s North Shore, hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics. The first impressions one has of Lake Tahoe fall into classic Western rustic categories: tall pine-tree woods, the breathtakingly jagged mountains and, of course, the bounteous lake itself. The hushed woods and crisp mountain air enfold you. While there are myriad recreational Tahoe activities, Jenna and I had decided on two that made use of water and air: a glider-plane ride and parasailing. Both seemed promising, but I was most looking forward to the weightless sensation of parasailing. First up was a tandem ride in an engineless glider plane. Tahoe is renowned for superb flying and attracts accomplished pilots from all over the world. Soar Truckee, at the small Truckee Airport in a valley of the Sierras, offers three http://WWW.RITZCARLTON.COM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Summer 2012

Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Summer 2012
Table of Contents
Contributors
Editor’s Letter
President’s Letter
Falling in Love With ... Boston
Technology
Design
On the Boulevards
Shopping
Jewelry
Watches
Family Travel
Wellness
Outdoors
Barcelona
Istanbul
Fashion
Culinary
Let Us Stay With You
Heritage

Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Summer 2012