Vancouver Olympics Trucks in Snow, While Tahoe Trucks it Out

They're trucking snow into Whistler for the Vancouver Olympic Games, but here at Tahoe the stuff is piling up everywhere. As Squaw Valley celebrates the 50th anniversary of the 1960 Winter Olympic Games, Tahoe is hoping to carry America's bid for the 2022 Winter Games.

With 19 ski areas in close proximity, and a wealth of accomodations just minutes away in Reno, the Lake Tahoe area is uniquely set-up to host another Winter Games. Interstate 80, which was finished over Donner Pass for the 1960 Games, is the major east-west link, but another Games would also likely utilize the Union Pacific railway that links California and Nevada over Donner Pass.

The Olympic ice stadium no longer stands at the entrance to Squaw Valley, but those events could easily be held at Lawlor Arena in Reno, or preliminary hockey matches might even be farmed out to Arco Arena in Sacramento, only 80 miles from Donner Pass.

Nordic skiiers can once again enjoy the West Shore Lake Tahoe trail used during the 1960 games. The route has recently been restored, and offers one of the most stunningly scenic winter cross-country trails known.

By housing visitors in Reno, and establishing an efficient shuttle service to Olympic venues, the traffic impact on winding mountain roads could be minimized. This is one of the concerns of those who question placing another Olympics in Tahoe. With multiple ferries across Lake Tahoe, and traffic around the Lake itself limited to shuttles and local vehicles, a truly green transportation system could enhance the Tahoe experience and have benefits for decades to come.

Everyone hopes a big dump of snow will hit British Colombia in the next week, but the El Nino weather pattern has pushed a lot of the Pacific storms further south than usual, hence the fierce storms of December and January that blanketed the Sierra Nevada range.

Exclusive video footage on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKbDDOiVdc0

Sierra snow : http://www.sacbee.com/ourregion/story/2490083.html