1977 - 1988:

Mountain Golf Course

IVGID initiated its first cross-country ski program under the name of Tahoe Ridge Cross Country from 1977/78 through 1985/86.  It operated the program through a series of concession contracts.  The first operator was Jim Willis, dba Incline Nordic, Inc.  The agreement with IVGID specified the use of the Mountain Golf Course and Clubhouse for cross-skiing, equipment rentals and instruction.  After two seasons, Al Lazzareschi took over the management of Incline Nordic, Inc., running it for three more seasons. 

For the 1982/83 and 1983/84 seasons, IVGID rebid the Tahoe Ridge Cross Country contract, choosing Ski Etude to provide the management.  The final two seasons of Tahoe Ridge Cross Country, 1984/85 and 1985/86, went to Max Jones, who eventually became the owner and operator of Spooner Nordic Center.  Max Jones managed the program as Incline Cross Country Ski Center. 

When no proposals were received to operate the cross country ski center for the 1986/87 season, IVGID’s Parks and Recreation Department changed the name of the operation to Incline Cross Country Ski Center and began managing the Mountain ski center as an in-house operation. IVGID ran the program at the Mountain Golf Course for two seasons 1986/87 and 1987/88, at which point it decided that the Mountain Golf Course was not working.  The Mountain [Golf] Course location presented all operators with the following problems:

  • lack of adequate snow due to relatively low elevation and southern sun exposures and relatively low elevation

  • limitations on the overall length of trails due to public streets and golf course bridges

  • presence of radical grade changes, making it difficult for beginners

  • difficulty in maintaining a quality, groomed trail system (a snowmobile with sled was the only viable means of grooming the [course])

  • limited on-site parking (the parking area was difficult to plow).

Added to this was the damage realized by the District to the golf course and golf clubhouse that resulted from winter operation[s].  In the clubhouse the storage and rental of cross-country equipment (skis, boots and poles), and continued tracking of snow caused damage to the carpet, walls and furniture.  On the course itself there were a myriad of problems because of trail construction.

Although the ski center’s location was convenient for some community members, it proved to be a cash drain for all operators, including the District (IVGID).  Skier-visit activity for many of those years was directly correlated to snowfall accumulation and skiing conditions.  Equipment rentals consistently were sought by almost half of the daily trail pass purchasers.  Ski lessons were approximately ten to fifteen percent of trail pass purchasers.  A five-year user history matrix of the last years of Tahoe Ridge Cross Country/Incline Cross Country Ski Center at the Mountain Golf Course would show:

 

1983/84        1984/85        1985/86        1986/87        1987/88

Trail Pass                     2,822             3,326                850            1,327            1,152

Operating Days        90 days          112 days        50 days          69 days         57 days

S-V/ Day                      31.4                 29.7               17.0              19.2            20.2

 

1988/89:

Master Plan

A March 18, 1988 in-house Feasibility Report from the IVGID Department of Parks and Recreation to the IVGID Board of Directors succinctly stated:[i]

“…the staff of the Incline Cross Country Ski Center… has attempted to offer a quality skiing experience with limited resources.  Obviously, the most limiting has been the lack of snow.  The relatively low elevation location has been handicapped with very little snow accumulation.  This, coupled with the fact that most of the trails have a southern exposure to the sun, has placed a heavy burden on staff to market and operate an area that can too easily destroyed by mother nature.

Using these facts as a yardstick, the financial success of operating a cross country center at this particular site will be totally dependent upon the weather.  Given adequate snow coverage – it will profit.  In a marginal or drought winter – it will not profit.

Financial results are not the only criteria for judging the success of this type of operation.  Other considerations should include the quality and range of winter recreational programming available to residents; the ability of the facility to attract visitors to the community; and whether the cross-country center adequately meets the community’s recreation needs.” (Doolittle, Douglas A., Director of Parks and Recreation, Feasibility Report to IVGID BOD 1988).

That same Feasibility Report stated in clear terms the problems associated with remaining at the current location at the Mountain Golf Course: the need to move to a higher location for more snowfall, availability of additional kilometers of trails, exponentially better snowfall retention, adequate parking, better grooming and facilities.

Based on the report, IVGID founded Diamond Peak Cross Country Ski to provide quality cross-country skiing experiences to its residents and to its visitors.  To that end, IVGID’s Parks and Recreation Department proposed to the IVGID Board of Directors a “strategy to operate Tahoe Ridge Cross Country Ski Center as a temporary facility…”[ii]  The Parks and Recreation Department recommended that the operation be managed as a no-frill, temporary facility on a shoestring budget.

Diamond Peak XC Center was to be a temporary enterprise (not more than 3 years) to test the site for the feasibility of business operations on SR 431 compared to operating a ski center at the Mountain Golf Course.  Being situated at a higher elevation, with greater exposure to traffic, easier parking, far more kilometers of varying terrain, Diamond Peak XC would build sufficient skier-bases to warrant moving to a more permanent site – the desired permanent site being located further up the highway on an Incline Lake Corporation’s privately-owned parcel. Establishing a permanent facility on a privately-owned, inholding was the master plan.

Though the cross-country enterprise was owned and operated by IVGID, government agency requirements turned out to be daunting as permits had to be applied for and official requirements included inspection of food services and sanitation, as well as safe entry and exit to parking facilities:

  • The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit required a three-year (renewable each year) temporary permit for 2500 acres. 

  • TRPA required a three-year (renewable each year) temporary permit. 

  • Washoe County Planning Dept. and Building Departments permitted the placement of trailers.   

  • Washoe County Health required inspection of food services and sanitation. 

  • Nevada DOT required safe entry and exit to parking on SR 431 and at the ski center.

  • Sierra Pacific Power Company permitted electrical service.

  • TRPA and USFS required cultural, biological, heritage, flora, fauna, and endangered species surveys.

[i] Doolittle, Douglas A.  Director of Parks and Recreation, Feasibility Report to IVGID BOD                      3/18/1988 (Introduction)

[ii] Doolittle, Douglas A.  Director of Parks and Recreation, Feasibility Report to IVGID BOD  3/18/1988    (Introduction)

 

1989 - 1999:

Diamond XC

IVGID operated Diamond Peak XC from 1989/90 until 1998/1999.  Diamond Peak Cross Country Ski built a consistent skier base.  By providing well groomed trails and a bone-fide outdoor skiing experience to its customers, Diamond Peak XC succeeded beyond original expectations:[i]



Year 1989/90 1990/91 1991/1992 1992/93 1993/94 1994/95 1995/96 1996/97 1997/98 1998/99 

Passes 2174 2388 4290 4787 5516 6219 5942 4900 4885 5784

Over the 10-year period, Diamond Peak Cross Country on SR 431 had 46,885 skier-visits, yielded a revenue per skier visit of $15.49.  Net from Operations (EBIT) yielded $2.19 per skier-visit. Diamond Peak XC met its objectives.  It rounded out IVGID’s winter recreational program for residents and visitors and did so on a shoe-string budget that did not pose a cash drain on IVGID taxpayers or other programs. 

By the sixth extension of permits, IVGID received notice that extension(s) beyond the 1999/2000 season would not be provided to Diamond Peak Cross Country Ski Center and that relocation efforts were to be finalized or abandoned.

Talks with Incline Lake Corp. began in the fall of 1994.  Original discussions centered on leasing the 120 acre parcel,[i] but failed to garner sufficient interest from Incline Lake Corp. IVGID offered to purchase the property, but “it became obvious that what ILC wanted for the property exceed what we [IVGID] could pay and achieve an acceptable return on our investment.”[ii]  Negotiations at that time were unsuccessful.  There were additional negotiations with ILC on leasing property for a xc venue in exchange for facilitating sewer connections for ILC.  Those negotiations also failed.

In 1996, Incline Lakes Corp agreed to sell its 120 acres to the USFS.  Prior to the sale, it offered IVGID a five acre in-holding to use for a cross-country and multi-season venue.  The decision to purchase the property was hotly debated at the time.  Many Incline Village residents were opposed to any recreation fee increases for property they considered divorced from Incline Village.  The IVGID Board narrowly approved the purchase after presentations on how IVGID would be able to construct a facility to use in the winter for cross-country skiing and snow play activities and in the off season for hiking, biking, environmental programs, and children’s outdoor summer camps.

After approving the purchase, IVGID raised grant funding to make the one-million-dollar payment, sparing Incline Village residents any financial assessments or fees.  While IVGID owns the property, progress on developing it has been delayed for several reasons: Final USFS purchase of the 777 acres went into a legal morass.  On both the IVGID and the USFS side, staff shortages and funding restrictions placed the development of the five acres at the bottom of staff assignments. Finally, the USFS LTBMU has been unwilling to consider any applications for winter grooming of xc ski trails until it has finished its Winter Use (Transportation) Plan.

[i] Letter from Ned Stark  Ski Resort Mgr. to Norm Nash  Incline Lake Corporation  May 11, 1995

[ii] Stock, Ned  Ski Resort Manager, Letter to Pat Finnegan  General Manager  Diamond Peak Cross Country and Snowshoe Center Relocation Facts  August 22, 1997

 

2015 - Current:

Nevada Nordic

In 2015, a group of cross-country skiers formed Nevada Nordic, originally Incline Meadows XC, to bring xc skiing back to the Mt Rose Area, and work with IVGID to establish a permanent venue on its five acre in-holding.  Nevada Nordic, operating on a shoe-string budget, raised funding to purchase two used snow-cats, which have been used to groom community xc ski trails at Spooner State Park under Nevada State Park’s Volunteer in Parks Program and in the Mt Rose Area from a base location on Old Mt. Rose Highway with a seasonal permit from Nevada Department of Transportation. 

Nevada Nordic is an active stakeholder in promoting the return of an expanded version Diamond Peak XC as a key element of the USFS LTBMU’s winter planning exercise.