South Lake Tahoe, the tight-knit ski community big on Olympic athletes will honor its three USA team members in a city-wide celebration, Saturday, March 15.
Jamie Anderson, Maddie Bowman, who won gold for snowboarding slopestyle and freeskiing halfpipe respectively, and Hannah Teter who placed fourth in snowboarding halfpipe, will be lauded at Sierra-at-Tahoe Resort.
A procession will take the Olympians via fire truck from South Tahoe High School, onto Highway 50, past the airport and through the town of Meyers, concluding at Sierra Resort. Community members can line Highway 50 along the route and cheer the Olympian procession as it drives by.
Attending the festivities will be California state Sen. Ted Gaines, El Dorado County supervisors and South Lake Tahoe City Councilmembers with proclamations for the three Olympians. The party will include autograph signings, live music, food and drink specials, prizes and a raffle with proceeds to the Sierra Foundation, which grooms future world class athletes.
The South Tahoe High School marching band will greet the Olympians at Sierra-at-Tahoe’s new Solstice Plaza at 1:40 p.m. The National Anthem by the South Tahoe High School Choir will be followed by an introduction from Sierra-at-Tahoe’s General Manager John Rice.
Meyers, Calif., residents Anderson, Bowman, and Teter may have put the tiny town of 3,000 just west of South Lake Tahoe on the international map as having the most gold medals per capita.
Jamie Anderson, 23, won her Olympic gold medal in the women’s inaugural snowboard slopestyle competition at Sochi. She also won four Winter X Games gold medals in 2007, 2008, 2012 and 2013.
Maddie Bowman, 20, struck gold in the women’s freestyle skiing halfpipe competition at Sochi, also her first. The skier also brought home gold at the Winter X Games in 2013 and 2014 in the superpipe division.
Hannah Teter, 27, was a 2006 Olympic gold and 2010 Olympic silver medalist in the women’s snowboarding halfpipe. Teter finished fourth at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in the halfpipe event. She was a 2003 Winter X Games gold medal winner and 5-time bronze medalist.
Well-wishers and partygoers are encouraged to board buses or carpool to the resort as parking will be limited. The athletes will depart from South Tahoe High School at 1 p.m. Bus schedules, times as well as all event details will be available at www.sierraattahoe.com.
The welcome home celebration for the Olympians at the country’s “Best Ski Destination” (USA Today, Jan. 2014) is sponsored by Sierra-at-Tahoe Resort, the City of South Lake Tahoe, Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority, El Dorado County, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, Barton Health, Tahoe Center for Orthopedic, and the Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce.
Updated Free Shuttle information: The resort’s parking lots are expected to fill to capacity and there are no overflow lots. Shuttle service to the ski resort is being offered from three locations: Meyers Downtown Café, the Lake Tahoe Environmental Magnet School at 1095 East San Bernardino Ave. and the Lake Tahoe Airport. Shuttles will start at 10 a.m. and continue until 2 p.m. Buses will be running on a firstcome, first-served basis. Heavy traffic is expected, which could impact bus routes and times, so getting on early buses is recommended.
If you do choose to drive to the resort, be advised that the parking lots are expected to fill up early in the morning. Carpooling is encouraged and people must observe all signs and laws when parking. People cannot park in fire lanes or tow-away zones or block resident driveways.
Return bus service from Sierra-at-Tahoe Resort will start at 3:30 p.m.
