In the late 1880s, for instance, well-meaning souls introduced mackinaw trout to Lake Tahoe to help boost fishing. The new species, however, overwhelmed native inhabitants. Oops. Seven endemic species remain in the lake along with 10 non-natives, which include, alas, goldfish. After “winning” our spirited battle with the brown trout, we set out down the rushing river to find Bennett’s father, Stan, who did not share our luck this early May evening along the old California trail that brought pioneers west decades before the railroad. Ruminating about wagon trains that rumbled past here eons ago, we hike up and down the river searching for opportunity. In the past four years, Bryce Bennett has scouted every section of the river from Tahoe City, miles from where he stood casting a line as gracefully as a ballet dancer. Which is an odd image, come to think of it. Bennett, 22, is the 2014 U.S. downhill champion, the latest member of the great Tahoe skiers populating the national team roster. He’s a 6‑foot‑7-inch approximation of a speeding missile when strapping on skis. Fly-fishing might seem contrary to an adrenaline junkie, but Bennett finds parallels in his twin passions. “I found it challenging,” he says of fishing. “There is so much technique involved. Then, you have to learn the river, what bugs are hatching and what the fish are eating. It’s similar to skiing, because the conditions are always changing.” Bennett’s promising ski career can be
traced to another historical monument to the region. The first recorded organized ski race in U.S. history took place in 1867 northwest of Tahoe in the Gold Rush town of LaPorte, where miners used long wooden planks to see who got down the hill the fastest. What else were they going to do when maritime storms covered their minefields with cottony flakes? The Squaw Valley Ski Resort, outside of Tahoe City, opened in the 1940s, like many of the lake’s famed slopes. But it was Squaw Valley that put Tahoe on the skiing map by playing host to the 1960 Winter Olympics. Other than the athletic center, now called the Olympic House, most of the games’ structures no longer exist at Squaw Valley, which has since merged with a neighboring ski resort and is one of America’s largest ski areas. Two years ago, folks in Tahoe City opened the cozy Museum of Sierra Ski History and 1960 Winter Olympics on the second floor of The Boatworks Mall. Among the famed Tahoe residents spotlighted is Tamara McKinney, a three-time Olympic skier who in 1983 became the first American woman to win the overall World Cup title, a feat not duplicated until Lindsey Vonn came along 25 years later. McKinney, 51, is a successful real estate agent these days, but she continues to help groom the next generation of Squaw Valley ski racers, including Francesca, her engaging teenage daughter, and their friend Bryce Bennett. Tamara and Francesca live above Olympic Valley, Bryce Bennett checks his line while fishing on the Little Truckee River. Bennett, a 22-year-old U.S. downhill champion, likens fishing to skiing: “The conditions are always changing.”
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