Snowman Contest 2013

Those of you fortunate enough to visit Fjeldheim this winter will have plenty of snow, and with snow comes children—add snow and children together, and you get snowmen!  Shoot photos of the happy process, and of the finished products, and aim your camera in such a way that folks can tell you made those snowmen somewhere at Fjeldheim.  Submit your photos to our Flickr photostream, “Tahoe Fjeldheim”. And ask Josh to come over and take a look too, he loves snowmen.

Our panel of judges (in this case, it's just Josh and me) will announce the winning snowmen on or before June 1^st.  Snow could fall in any month of the year at Fjeldheim, though, so late entrants are welcome and can also win prizes!

Photo Contest: “Best Winter Photo"

This is shaping up to be an amazing winter in Tahoe, and we want to showcase your best photos of it on our website! We have recruited six professional photographers to serve as judges, so send us your best work, in any or all of these categories: 

Landscape          Macro          Artsy

Please note that “Wildlife” is not a category. We do not want you to disturb wildlife that’s trying to make it through the winter—allow them to do so without your help or harm.

Brief guidelines: Except for the Artsy category, no obvious digital alteration of photos is permitted. Submit your photos to our Flickr photostream, “Tahoe Fjeldheim”. A First Place, Second Place, and Runner-Up will be awarded in each category, and a single Grand Prize photo will be chosen as well. 

All entrants will receive a 20% discount on any purchase of Fjeldheim mugs, ski hats, or other Fjeldheim merchandise. In addition, all winning entrants receive: 

• ⇒ Glory! Your winning photo will be featured on our website Media page, with your name and a link to your website. We will gush about how much we love your photo, and add comments from the judges about what set your work apart from the crowd.
• ⇒ Schwag! We’ll send you a Fjeldheim mug, and a certificate suitable for framing, or for posting on your Facebook page. (You’ll print the certificate yourself)

Second-Place winners also receive a $20 coupon towards your next Fjeldheim stay.

First-Place winners receive all that and a top-quality Fjeldheim polo shirt.

The Grand Prize winner receives all that, plus an opportunity to have lunch with one of our judges the next time you are in Tahoe!*

If you need to read the fine print before you're ready to participate, email me at Nic@TahoeMountainHome.com or leave a comment. Otherwise, enjoy your winter visit at Fjeldheim and upload your photos here!

(*or an additional $100 coupon towards your next Fjeldheim stay) 

Celebrating 2013 all year long!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  

South Lake Tahoe's celebrations for the New Year are legendary, and the legends are (mostly) good ones.  The parties have wound down and cleaned up, though, and the focus shifts to how much energy folks are willing to invest in carrying out their New Year's resolutions. Some of those "resolutions" haven't endured past the party clean-up process, but a lot of folks are enthusiastically plugging away at those positive things they have resolved to do-- and more power to you!

As for Fjeldheim, we have a particularly happy resolution, one we can't keep quietly to ourselves. Although this is the 35th year of Fjeldheim's existence, it is only our tenth year of running it as a business, and we hope to make it our best year yet.  We will, in our modest way, celebrate our "Tenth Anniversary" this entire year, and we welcome you to join us!

Every month here on our blog we will announce some sort of contest or competition, or share an inside story with you about Fjeldheim, or introduce to you one of our remarkable local friends.  There will be opportunities to win some new Fjeldheim stuff, to show off your own creativity, and perhaps learn more about our cozy mountain home and the unique Sierra setting it enjoys.

Subscribe to the blog, Friend us on Facebook, love us on Yelp if you've been here yourself, and have a fantastic 2013!

Winter has arrived-- make sure you do, too

Many of Fjeldheim's fans believe it is at its most beautiful when blanketed with fresh snow and festooned with icicles.  If you haven't stayed with us during the ski season yet, this looks like the year to do so (and if the perfect dates for your family are taken, book them for 2014 now)!  But getting up to the house in normal midwinter conditions can be challenging, when local roads and our steep driveway are covered with snow or slush, or enameled with ice.

Fortunately, Josh Lufkin has lived all his life in the Northeast and in the Tahoe Basin, and can coach you through the toughest winter driving conditions. Here are his top four tips for winter driving:

1. Know the weather forecast and road conditions before you begin your trip.

     Weather.com is good; "Weather Underground" (wunderground.com) is even better, but more technical.  Use our ZIP code, 89449, to find out the current weather conditions and the ten-day forecast. 

     To find out road conditions, plan your route, then check the state Departments of Transportation websites: they will usually have up-to-date information on road conditions and storm closures (if any).

     Best of all, just call Josh and ask him. He always knows local road and highway conditions and will give you the best information and advice about the Tahoe/Reno/Minden/Meyers area.

2. Know your vehicle, and prepare it as best you can.

     If you are driving your own vehicle, carry snow chains that fit your vehicle's tires well. Practice putting them on at home when the pavement is dry. 

     Before you leave for Fjeldheim, have a mechanic check your suspension, steering, brakes, and tires. If anything else might be an issue, get that checked too.  You don't want your transmission failing on a steep mountain grade, or a tire that's wrapped in snow chains going flat on you.  Mountain driving involves more mechanical stresses than normal driving. Make sure your car is up to it.

     If you are renting a vehicle, we strongly recommend choosing four-wheel drive. The extra expense is well worth the infinitely better traction, not to mention saving you time, hassle, and inconvenience--  you'll never have to put on chains!

3. Adapt your driving habits to road conditions.  

     If the road is wet, snowy, or icy, SLOW DOWN. Change speed gradually: brake early when you must slow or stop; downshift to maintain a lower downhill speed, rather than riding your brakes; accelerate gradually; take turns at a speed that won't make your rearview mirror's fuzzy dice swing at all.  Imagine you have a glass of milk perched on your dashboard, full to the brim: now drive in a way that the milk won't ever spill.  Do this and you may never notice how little traction you have, in ice and snow, because you'll avoid generating the lateral forces that overcome that traction and make you skid and slide.

     Josh emphasizes, "If you do begin to slide, take your foot off the brake (or accelerator) for a moment. Chances are, that's what began your slide in the first place."

4. If your vehicle begins to slide sideways in a forward skid, turn your front wheels in the direction the car is moving, not the direction it's pointed, or the direction you want it to go. 

     This will help your front wheels, at least, regain traction with the road-- which they will do when they are turning at the same speed, and in the same direction, that the road surface is moving past you.

     The same principle is true for braking and accelerating: if your tires lock up when braking, or spin out when accelerating, allow them to match the speed of the road beneath you to regain their grip, so that you can use whatever grip you can maintain to help you slow down (or accelerate).

     Nothing creates and maintains that grip like new mud-and-snow-rated radial tires. Or a great set of snow chains that fit your tire well.  Choosing the best chains for your vehicle is a whole 'nother topic though...

Please, drive safely, arrive safely!  We hope to see you here soon, while the snow is fresh and deep.

Winter didn't come through this time; Summer always does

In retrospect (and it's already in the rearview mirror), winter 2012 did not follow through on its promise of abundant snow.  Those who visited us can tell stories of golfing at Edgewood in February, as well as great groomer-run skiing at Heavenly, which clearly established itself this year as the dominant snowmaking force in the Tahoe Basin. While other resorts never really opened at all, or struggled to keep snow conditions skiable, Heavenly's "overinvestment" in snowmaking equipment paid off this year. Heavenly boasted eerily lovely spring-skiing conditions on nearly 100% of its slopes all winter long, while its tree-filled glades and steep open bowls were usually 100% scrub brush, bare rocks, and dry pine-needle-clad soil. What a weird winter. Glad it's behind us.

Tahoe's summers always fulfill the promise of cooler-than-your-city temps, sunny days, open trails, and fun by (and on!) the Lake itself.  Our summer weekends are almost all booked up, so call Josh now if you hope to enjoy a Fjeldheim vacation this summer.

775-588-4112

Patience, skiers, we're only halfway through December!

Hmm, not much snow just yet, but hang on... hear that distant beeping sound? That's La Niña, slowly backing up to the Tahoe basin, to dump a huge load of snow on us. The problem is the bothersome high-pressure system sitting over the Pacific, keeping those arctic-circle storm systems from making it all the way down the Pacific jet stream to the Tahoe area.  All that lovely precipitation is being wasted as rain in the Pacific Northwest.

And secondly, my local pessimist reminds me, it is "only" a La Niña year, not an El Niño. So there won't be as much snow as last year-- that was an exceptional year for Tahoe. But there will be more snow than usual, and Tahoe's "usual" is pretty exceptional by any normal alpine standard.

So on your way to Tahoe this Christmas, enjoy the clear highways and the sunny chilly weather. Soon enough the snow will come. That distant haunting beeping sound is happy powder days backing slowly down the jet stream...

Is it your turn to celebrate Thanksgiving at Fjeldheim?

We love getting together with extended family for Thanksgiving, but it is often hard to get the whole clan all in one place.  Especially with three generations spanning more than 80 years in age difference.  The Nelsons' first Thanksgiving at Fjeldheim was in 1980, around 30 of us: sleeping accommodations were no trouble, but we had to add a couple of tables to the long heavy one in the dining room, to seat us all at once.  My mom cut long sprigs from the dogwood & willow that nearly choked the creek that year. She put them in vases with warm water as soon as we arrived, adorning them with pinecones and Christmas ribbon. By Thanksgiving Thursday the once-bare branches had budded, reminding us that no matter how barren things might look, new life will emerge in the spring-- another thing to inspire Thanksgiving gratitude!

How was your Thanksgiving? It might be even better at Fjeldheim next year! 

Thanksgiving is a popular week here at the Tahoe Mountain Home: the aspens are turning gold, the creek is burbling merrily with the last of the snowmelt (the Sierra snowpack never quite melts away completely), the roads and trails are still clear, and the approach of winter brings a crisp alpine chill to the breeze.  Fjeldheim's decor is already conducive to autumn celebration-- just a few decorative touches like my mom's centerpieces, and our autumnal placemats (or bring your own), and the whole house evokes the Thanksgiving spirit!

We can also help you plan-- and even prepare and serve-- your Thanksgiving feast.  Kerry Hawk of Blue Sky Events can handle the entire thing for you, literally from soup to nuts, or Fjeldheim owners Nic and Kathryn Nelson can offer lots of suggestions if you want to go it alone.

Call us at 775-588-4112 to reserve Thanksgiving 2012 now. Don't miss this opportunity to create lifelong happy memories with your entire family!