Hometown Hero Travis Ganong Previews Upcoming Palisades Tahoe Cup

Today, Olympian skier Travis Ganong "takes us through a morning of training with Team Palisades Tahoe on the renowned Red Dog course."

Why? Because The Stifel Palisades Tahoe Cup returns to Palisades February 23-25, 2024!

Who is Travis Ganong to me, an unknown but perpetually stoked Tahoe skier? My gym inspiration. His photo hangs on the wall above the free weights at the gym I hit on the way home from the hill.

To the rest of Tahoe, Travis Ganong is equally (if not even more) special: the Olympian and Palisades Tahoe athlete has skied all around the globe, bringing home wins on the FIS Alpine World Cup Tour circuit. (Oh yeah, that's why he's up there!)

Travis explains that what helped him compete was skiing "the gnarliest terrain in the world, right here at Palisades Tahoe."

"Having the World Cup here is a really great opportunity for all the local kids and the community to see the best skiers in the world ski on a hill that they train on every day or get to ski on themselves."

For several weeks this year earlier in the season, Red Dog was just about the only lift open at Palisades Tahoe, and it was well loved for those few weeks.

Now, getting to see the World Cup racers bomb the slopes below Red Dog will be nothing short of insane.

Last year, the event went off "really well, considering the conditions," which were gnarly, to say the least.

Last time around, a storm dumped two feet of fresh powder on Palisades Tahoe Friday, and the conditions on Saturday were simply fantastic for guests of the resort: Palisades saw a proper powder day, but race courses need to be firm and fast (sometimes officials will even hose down courses to ice them over)!

The snow prompted the course workers to work all night to get the famed Red Dog hill ready for the GS racers the following morning.

Luckily, event attendees enjoyed warm temps that weekend, and the race "went off without a hitch."

Watch footage from last year's Stifel Palisades Tahoe Cup below. 

Marco Schwarz of Austria won the race in a thrilling fashion, with 2022 overall World Cup winner and first run winner Marco Odermatt just missing a victory by .03 seconds and finishing second. Rasmus Windingstad of Norway was third.

This year, hopefully we won't see a crazy storm the night before, but we will experience all the action.

Palisades urges resort goers to "check out the action from the base area, cheer on the world’s best athletes, catch outdoor concerts, fireworks, sponsor activations and more" that weekend.

Tickets are on sale now, and can be purchased at www.palisadestahoecup.com.

I'll be there... I wouldn't miss it for the world. See you next month!

Related: Palisades Tahoe Celebrates Employees For Opening More Terrain

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