Spa Membership Program - The Ritz-Carlton Highlands, Lake Tahoe

This is a fantastic perk for property owners in the area...

The Ritz-Carlton Highlands, Lake Tahoe Spa is offering a "Spa Membership Program". There are different levels of Membership Classification (Single membership, Couples membership + Additional Family members) and there is an annual fee and a monthly fee, or you could just pay a one time annual fee. For example:

Single Membership: $750/year annual fee + $100/month OR One time annual of $1,755

Other benefits include:

• Complimentary valet parking


• Unlimited access to wellness center equipment


• Complimentary equipment orientation + nutritional consultation


• Unlimited access to regularly scheduled fitness classes (Yoga, Pilates, Spin, etc...) and spa pool classes


• Unlimited use of spa lap pool, locker rooms, steam, sauna, whirlpool, verandas, relaxation areas

Additional benefits include:

• 20% discount on regularly priced spa services Sunday-Thursday


• 10% discount on retail merchandise in the spa boutique


• 20% off personal training sessions


• One complimentary 50-minute treatment of choice per year


• 2 complimentary physical fitness evaluations and personal training sessions per year


• Specially priced guest facility fees for non-members guests of $20 (+tax), members must accompany guest


• 1 night complimentary stay at The Ritz-Carlton Highlands, Lake Tahoe (subject to availability)

This is a phenomenal way to take advantage of the luxurious Ritz-Carlton spa as a property owner in the area without having to stay at the property or own one of the condos there. I am sure that this is a limited opportunity, as I think many people will sign up for this program.

See you there! I'll be the one with the cucumbers on my eyes, so you may not recognize me at first.

Ski Swap info...

With the first snow of the season, I wanted to make sure and let you know about the ski & Snowboard swaps, where you are able to get some great deals! Mammoth Mountain opened October 16th this year!!! It has only opened this early once before. El Nino!!!

Ski Swaps :

October 25 - North Tahoe Ski & Snowboard Swap, Tahoe City 9am to 3pm at the North Tahoe Middle & High School Gyms in Tahoe City. The 44th annual Ski & Snowboard Swap is your ticket to affordable ski and snowboard gear. This huge ski swap offers loads of gear, including new and used skis, snowboards, boots and poles, clothing, helmets, goggles, kid’s stuff and much more. For more information, please call (530) 581-7070 x4344.

November 7 - Truckee Ski Swap11am to 4pm at the Truckee Community Center, Church Street. Great deals on downhill, cross country and snowboarding equipment for the entire family. http://www.tdrpd.com/ or 530-582-7720.

This info thanks to Jessica Pyne, one of my colleagues. Thanks Jess!

California Dreamin? Wild weather...

There has been some wild weather these past few weeks! This will be my 6th winter here, and I have not seen such a long "cold" snap that I can remember in October. I took this lovely photo of the first snow on Northstar the other day on my way to work.

Check out this blog from Porters about the waves on Tahoe the other day. 2 boats capsized and there is a guy surfing!
http://www.porterstahoe.com/2009/10/surfs-up-on-lake-tahoe.asp

And, we can't talk about the weather without some commentary from Weather Vane Brad...

Nice warming trend in our area will continue through the weekend. Nice cold mountain nights and crisp, slightly cool fall days with the warmest temps just shy of 65 degrees and bright sunny skies.

Everything changes dramatically Tuesday or Tuesday night. The models are still very inconsistent. Lots of disturbances in the Pacific due to the remnants of an Asian Typhoon. Many of the models have the high pressure staying in place and pushing all systems and moisture just to our North giving us nothing more than increased cloud cover and some stiff breeze.

Some, however, have the ridge flattening out which would allow the moisture to hit us dead on. The first system is fueled by the old Typhoon with two large sub tropical moisture plumes. Because of where the moisture is coming from (the tropics) and lack of a cold front snow levels would remain very high. My best guess would be 8000 feet. We are talking inches of rain with this baby and feet of snow above 8000 feet. Some websites are predicting 4 inches of precipitation!

I always like to stay somewhere in-between. I would be happy with a couple inches of rain and maybe a quick shot of snow on the end if we can get lucky with a late arriving cold front.
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This would be a great start to our water year as October is the first month for the 2010 water year. A nice heavy rain would knock down all the dust in the basin making it ready for a good heavy blanket of winter snow and in the mean time our trails would become hard and tacky rather than slippery and dusty as they are now. Great for mountain biking until the first big snow does come.

El Nino is still fizzling. Don’t get overly excited about this.

(I thought we were supposed to get 800 inches of snow?!?)

OK. So let's be honest, the weather is still beautiful, this is perfect hiking and mountain biking weather, and I am just complaining that the nights are getting a little chilly...Undoubtedly, snow is on the way and we are all very excited for a big winter...start those ski conditioning classes now!