About Snowpals

Tahoe Snow Sports Expert & Chief Community Moderator. Randy Salzman is a lifelong skier, a Certified Professional Ski and Snowboard Instructor at Alpine Meadows, a Snowpals enthusiast since its inception in 1999, and a prodigious waster of time on the internet reading all things ski-related. Randy grew up skiing and racing on the Ice Coast (CT, and then NH), but really earned his ski-addiction credentials in a 12-step process known as ski-bumming/guiding in the French Alps. Randy moved to California in 1999 and quickly fell in love with Tahoe. While raising two ripping snow-shredders (one ski, one snowboard), Randy also qualified for the National Ski Patrol and Professional Ski Instructors of America, and volunteered as a patroller at Alpine before switching to part-time instruction a few years ago while also working as a Sales Consultant at Peninsula Infiniti in Redwood City so if you’re in the market for a new car or Certified Pre-Owned vehicle, Randy will be happy to offer a discount to SnowPals’ members on any AWD, snow-worthy vehicle. He is Snowpals’ North Lake Tahoe expert. Contact randy [at] snowpals.org

 Tim is our Chief Fun Officer (CFO) as he is the primary engine of SnowPals and a dedicated community organizer. He has a background in environmental chemistry/engineering and exercise physiology with side study in search engine optimization(SEO). When Tim isn’t managing the inner workings of SnowPals(creating and maintaining SnowPals front-end and back-end) he works as a corporate wellness and stress management professional and an outdoors adventure guide. Tim’s life motto (opens in a new window). Wellness tip: implement this daily; with our busy lives, it’s easy to forget to set aside at least 30 min to tend to our wellness to get grounded; when we are grounded and happy, it takes less effort to channel that energy to the people who are important to us. On another note, do you believe in serendipity? here’s an invite to challenge yourself to a 10 day silent meditation retreat. Who will benefit from this retreat the most? Those who are Type A personality of nonstop ‘go, go, go’ mindset; up for it?” Read up on the benefits of Vipassana meditation. On the fun-side, Tim is best known for his ‘Mad-Summer-of-Trails’ where he moonlights as a wilderness backcountry hiking guide leading twelve consecutive Yosemite Half-Dome summit hikes (a scenic 17 miles hike with 4,800 feet of elevation gain), half are night hikes, with a hike start time of sunset and Half Dome cable climb summit time at midnight to star gaze and sleep under the blanket of stars.

If you haven’t hiked Half Dome yet, I highly recommend it; definitely a bucket list to do.

What drives him? You’d likely find him skiing & riding at Palisades Tahoe, Alpine Meadows, Homewood, Heavenly and Kirkwood. In his spare time, aside from skiing/riding, he enjoys mountain biking, hiking, surfing, meditation, tai chai, qigong, yoga and traveling the world with a goal of checking off a new travel destination once a year at minimum. His favorite travel destination is a small beach town ‘off-the-beaten-track” in Thailand. His two fave ski/ride movies are “Alignment” and “GoPro: Chasing AdVANture with Chris Benchetler“. Find him on Twitter at @SnowPalsDotOrg 🙂 Contact tim [at] snowpals.org

Website Tech Guru. Evan Goldin is a Bay Area native and avid snowboarder. A big fan of Tahoe-winter ski lease life, Evan has had a ski lease for more than four years, and has managed another successful ski lease since 2009.  He has been designing websites and web apps for more than a decade. Evan worked with Tim to develop the backend of SnowPals website. His favorite resort is Kirkwood, unless  Hwy 88 is closed, then Heavenly moves up the ranks. Evan [at] snowpals.org

Resident Snow Sports Gear Tester & Columnist. Joseph Woo is a ski enthusiast. He is a gold medal winning triathlete, tournament winning scratch golfer and one of the top State Farm Insurance Agents based in Kentfield, Marin County. He is passionate about skiing, golf and insurance.Joe is excited to bring his perspective to you on various topics this season. Think about him as your guinea pig before you take the plunge. If you’re thinking about taking a plunge, maybe Joe did it before you and you can learn something from that. Joe has done lots of things on leaps of faith and he hopes that his experience can help so that you don’t have to.If there are any subjects or topics you’d like Joe to “guinea pig” for you, and we’ll see if we can get it into the mix. If you have a specific question or comment for Joe, contact him at joe [at] snowpals.org

Reporter and Proofreader.  Vicki Olds began skiing Lake Tahoe Basin slopes when she was twelve years old, and was #52 out of a 54-line of ski instructors at Heavenly Valley before she was old enough to drink (meaning that there were only two other instructors on the hill that skied worse than she–but don’t tell anybody). She has traveled throughout California, Colorado, Canada, Switzerland, Austria, France and Argentina, with her favorite alpine ski experiences being the uncrowded, off-piste rabbit runs, or the wide, pristine pow of Alta (Utah), Sunshine (Alberta, Canada) and the glaciers of Mont Blanc, Chamonix (France) … and, of course, CALIFORNIA!  “We live in an amazing, beautiful place!  Living in San Francisco I am just three hours from the slopes to the ocean.  I love covering the diverse and unique lifestyles that Bay Area snow enthusiasts enjoy.” Look for her occasional, exclusive Snowpals reports.  If you have topic ideas, please feel free to share with Vicki at shibumi [at] snowpals.org.

Newsletter Contributor. Desiree Holroyde is a snowboarder living in Santa Cruz, CA. She learned to snowboard at Homewood Resort during her first trip to Lake Tahoe and moved to the mountains less than a year later in 2003. She had a ski lease in Huckleberry Canyon for her last season of riding while living in the Tahoe Basin, better known as the backside of Sierra-at-Tahoe Resort, where she worked mountain safety. Desiree exchanged the mountains for the beach in January of 2009 to pursue a degree in graphic design at San Jose State University. Desiree is an avid music enthusiast who enjoys dancing and camping at music festivals, in addition to art, hiking, cooking, poi and hula hooping. Contact desiree [at] snowpals.org

  Contributor-at-Large. Andrew is a professional writer and tropical tumbleweed who returns to Tahoe every winter to get his snow fixes. He enjoys alpine and cross-country skiing. In the other seasons, he writes books, travels, and leads bicycle tours in Southeast Asia. He has been a regular contributor and volunteer for Snowpals since its inception. You’ll likely to find him skiing wherever there is a good lift deal. Read more about Andrew at www.andrewxpham.com.  Contact andrew [at] snowpals.org

  Event Coordinator. MaryEllen Rhyins, (a.k.a. Melle), is an alpine skier who, just to shake things up, occasionally attempts to telemark and nordic ski, and enjoys snowshoeing too. Although she enjoys skiing just about anywhere as long as she’s with pals, her favorite resorts are Alpine, Squaw, Kirkwood and Sugar Bowl. Melle is a freelance marketing professional, has a passion for getting folks connected and has enjoyed hosting many events for snowpals over the years. Contact melle [at] snowpals.org

Partnership Relations Advisor. Kurt Huy enjoys skiing, hiking, and international travel. Kurt’s favorite Tahoe resorts are Heavenly, Sugar Bowl and Mt Rose. He went to U.C. Berkeley for undergraduate and grad school.  In his spare time, he games on the Xbox 360. Contact kurt [at] snowpals.org

Community Relations. Fa Wansawat is Snowpals’ friendly community and functions organizer. She is a skier and an expert cook in freezing conditions. She combs the web for Lake Tahoe deals and promotions for our members. She likes to snowboard at Diamond Peak–(a North Lake Tahoe, family-oriented resort).
Contact office[at] snowpals.org

Outreach Intern. 

May Wansawat is the Snowpals Community Outreach Intern. She’s a university senior majoring in business marketing. She’s a fan of winter fashion and a novice snowboarder; she looks foward to shredding the diamond slopes at Heavenly ski resort. Contact office[at] snowpals.org