Lake Tahoe Ice Caves

Last week my good buddies Greg Lindsey, George Hjelte, Cody Townsend, and Myself went out on a little mission to find the hidden Ice Caves of North Lake Tahoe. Greg had been showed them last summer & was our navigator for the afternoon. The rest of us had never been up to the caves before. Explaining how to get to these caves would not be possible. Greg our fearless leader had plenty of trouble finding them even after he had been to the caves several times before. So, anybody who reads this post and has the desire to explore the mysterious ice caves of Lake Tahoe, I would highly recommend finding somebody who has been to them before to show you the way.

As you can see from the pictures below these caves are a bit intimidating. Basically you crawl your way down narrow dark canals of slippery cold rock. We probably crawled our way down 150ft - 200ft of ice cave. I would not recommend this adventure to anybody who is slightly claustrophobic. We explored 3 or 4 different labyrinth style rooms carved out in the earth. We stumbled across another entrance to what seemed to be fairly unexplored territory. Unfortunately, we were running short on time due to the fact the several of us had to make it to work on time. We had a blast & I'm looking forward to heading back to the caves for some more exciting exploration.


Cody getting ready to take the plunge!


Getting cold & scary!


One of the Labyrinth style room carved out in the Caves. Notice the ice formed all over the rock walls.


An extended exposure deep in the cavity of the ice caves.


Our leader Greg Lindsey exiting the Ice Caves.

POWDER MAGAZINE NAKED SPREAD EAGLE PHOTO

My first published photo in POWDER magazine. Even though it's of a naked man spreading his legs on skis. I couldn't be more proud & psyched! Check out the last page in the December issue of POWDER.

GREG LINDSEY SHREDS FULLY CHUBBED!

Greg Lindsey is another one of my favorite people to ski with. Gregger quietly assassinates Squallywood's terrain on a regular basis. Born and raised in Tahoe, Greg is a true California kid. You can count on Greg winning the race to fingers on a powder day even if he's 4 chairs back from the front.

(Greg sending waterfall on an early Silverado morning)

A go to route for Greg to win the fingers race goes a little something like this. A hard skate off the chair, from the patrol shack a straight line traverse to coleman's railroad. With no hesitation, he'll punch Coleman's railroad. Done right this gives you a straight shot to the start tree and generally gives you more than enough speed to pass several, if not all the skiers that got a head start on you. From here you can bet on Greg either going directly for main air or maybe the box chute. Either way it's almost a guarantee that he'll flash his line and stomp it clean. Once he arrives back at KT line Gregger will give you one of his classic lines. Most likely, he'll look at you stoked as can be an say "fully chubbed bro, fully chubbed".

Greg is easily one of the best skiers at Squaw today. He's another one of the many silent assassins that shreds Squaw for nothing more than the thrill and stoke of all the greatness Squaw Valley USA has to offer. He grew up skiing with Cody Townsend, George Hjelte, & Kyle O'neal. These guys know Squaw like the back of their hands. Growing up chasing around Shane McConkey, JT Holmes, Kent Kreitler, Scott Gaffney, & Robb Gaffney teaches you how to shred.

So if your ever out at Squaw look for Greg. He's hard to miss, as an official member of team tie die you might find him wearing his tie die hoody. He also likes to sport the purple people eater Salomon one piece. Whatever attire you find him in let him know if your having a good day. And if you are, make sure you let him know that your "fully chubbed". He'll be psyched.

(Dawn Patrol back side of Squaw. Check out munchkins in the background)

(Punching the Lounge Chair pioneered and named by Greg Lindsey)

(Surfing Pow on an epic powder morning)

(One of the cleanest 35 ft 360's off a cliff you'll ever see. Stomped the shit out of it)