First Descents
Photo essay by Makaela Herran, Brand Creative Director at Alps & Meters
My first trip to Lake Tahoe was SPECTACULAR! Growing up as a skier and mountain biker in Utah, I had always wanted to experience the Tahoe area to see what it was all about, and finally, it happened. Grant and I flew in for a two-day mission to work directly with Travis Ganong and his fiancée Marie Michèle-Gagnon in our newest Mountain Memories collection (arriving May 31st on our website).
I don’t think many people can say they got the Grand Tour of Tahoe from Travis Ganong. It was unreal. We had a small idea of what was on the agenda, but we let Travis guide us and show us what his hometown really meant to him. The latter part of our second day is where this story begins…
After a fun morning of cruising around Palisades, where Travis grew up skiing, we ventured to a small, private area called White Wolf Tahoe nestled inbetween Alpine Meadows and Palisades. As we pulled up the gate, Travis hopping out of his truck, motioning us through and up a skinny dirt road. As we rounded the corner on the road, we were awstruck with the untouched snow on the surrounding mountains. It was pristine, like the snowy backdrops in car commercials, except it is the actual property that most winter car commercials are filmed on. Flawless, and we had it all to ourselves.
Travis, Marie, Grant and I enjoyed a small lunch and conversation with Troy, the owner of White Wolf. He’s in his sixties and wears a welcoming, laid-back smile, excited to share his bit of the Sierra Nevada paradise with us. Any friend of Travis is a friend of his.
Troy started up his snow-cat and pulled it forward so we could all jump in the back. My first car ride, and it was even better than I could’ve imagined. Troy drove the four of us up a steep, cliffside road overlooking some of his property. This must’ve been the road that those car commercials were filmed on. Facing backwards, Grant and I didn’t know where we would end up, but knew it would be beautiful judging by the giant moss-covered pines and granite terrain surrounding us.
We pulled up near a small cabin in the middle of a mountain valley. Again untouched, and ours to explore. Travis and Marie put their skins on their skis as they reminisced about the Olympic ski season and travels racing the World Cup circuit, explaining how backcountry ski outings such as this is what keeps them happy and refreshed during their busy race season.
“Most of our amazing memories we’ve shared together these that 12/13 years racing on the world cup has been the time between the races where we’d meet up in italy, or austria, or switzerland and have a couple days off together to go on a quick adventure. Ski tour, hike, find a hut, having some amazing meals.”
Skins on a boots in walk mode, they picked out their route and made their way up the mountain between the granite rocks. We watched from below as Troy kept us company, telling us the story of how he gained this 460 acre property from the Southern Pacific railroad in the 80s. Originally only wanting to purchase five acres of it, he found out the land couldn’t be subdivided and the railroad granted him all of the acreage. The land includes the iconic KT-22 mountain at Palisades at the chairlift that sits on it. Score!
The shadows were long and sharp from the late afternoon sun. It wasn’t fresh powder, but it was that iconic corn snow that the Tahoe area is known from; perfect Spring skiing. The warmth from the sun quickly melted the snow, and the water trickled down the rock faces. A few bird soared above, and the silence reminded us that we are the only ones out here. I can’t really explain how special it felt to find pure solitude in an are that can be so populated.
“This terrain speaks for itself being so steep, demanding, and challenging which has lead me down this career path I’ve been able to pave after all these years. this is my happy place.”
Once near the top, Travis and Marie chose a fun, mellow chute to ski back down to us. Marie first, and Travis near behind, they descended the chute making perfect turns and leaving figure-8 tracks on the untouched slope. Their smiles were huge as they skied right up to us, ultimately deciding to give it another go!
They took the same route as before, but continued uphill after the passed their original descent line. Through a few more rock faces and around a corner, they approached the top of a more technical chute, of which they decided would be another fun descent. They switched into ski mode and Travis popped on his Mountain Memories Anorak. Both picked out the best descent lines from above. Marie started down the slope first, veering skiers-left of a small rock drop and back down to us. Travis followed, only to ski over the drop catching a bit of air. Once they met up with us at the bottom, Troy was so excited about the two skiing those lines on his property, he named the two chutes “Ganong and Gagnon,” after the Travis and Marie. Not only did we make some memories that day, but they made history and we were happy to have the opportunity to document it.
“Tahoe is an insanely special place. There’s not many places where you can ski, bike, even have lakefront beaches right in your backdoor. I love it here... There’s just a really special community where the lake draws everybody together. We call it the spiritual center of this whole zone . We’re all skiers, paddleboarders, hikers, sailers, and outdoor enthusiasts.
It’s truly paradise.”
