The Lost Sierra Hoedown: A Shared Passion For Music And Snow

I know, some of you are getting tired of hearing about this event, and we promise, this will be the last post on the subject for a while. We knew there was something special about the event when we threw in our support as a sponsor last spring. It turns out we were right. Other local sites simply posted pictures of new snowfall this weekend. We’re claiming some credit for making it happen. Surely the shared passion for snow by the estimated 500 in attendance at the Lost Sierra Hoedown had something to do with bringing out the best of Mother Nature and Ullr.

The music was an awesome blend of local talent and headline acts that kept the audience on their feet and echoed off of Eureka Peak. Newcomers to the music scene Miner backed up their debut at the High Sierra Festival with an even stronger performance at the Lost Sierra. People who were unfamiliar with the band were stunned by the beautiful duets by Justin and Kate Miner, and tickled by their cover of Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky.” The Dead Winter Carpenters then took the stage and played a nearly three hour set that included the usual heaters and slow jams, as well as several new songs from their upcoming EP.

Saturday got off to a gloomy start. The forecast chance of showers had turned in to a deluge of rain and wind, with a firehose of moisture parked right over Johnsville Ski Bowl. There was even talk of cancellation, until local favorites Penny, Benny & Dude set up the EZ-Up next to the campfire and started playing an acoustic set in the rain. Soon enough, the powers that be relented and allowed the musicians and audience to move into the beautiful Johnsville Ski Lodge. The lodge was literally packed to the walls with hoedown mayhem all afternoon and evening, requiring a one goes out and one goes in rotation to accommodate the crowd. Fortunately, repeated trips to the bathroom and beer stand kept people moving in and out pretty freely. There was too much great music to list on Saturday.The Hoedown ended on a very solid rowdy note with a fantastic set from The Good Luck Thrift Store Outfit. I wouldn’t be lying if I said it was better than a powder day, and that means a lot coming from me!

The thing is, I remember seeing the lodge equally crowded on storm days skiing Johnsville back in the late 1980’s. It was fantastic to see it fully in use again. There were so many people with a passion for skiing and riding in attendance last weekend, including many that got their start skiing there, long before snowboards hit the scene.

Because I was in charge of shirt and hoody sales, I got to talk to a lot of people this weekend. I had a chance to ask many about their home mountain. Of course, I recognized a lot of faces from Alpine Meadows: patrollers, ex-patrollers, instructors and more. But many other people told me that Alpine Meadows was their home mountain. Take a note here Andy Wirth and KSL investors…not one person I questioned this weekend said they were from Squaw Valley. Yep, we are a different breed over here at Alpine Meadows and we like it that way.

I was curious if people attended from Alpine Meadows only because it was so heavily promoted here…but that was not the case, as many of the Alpine Meadows people had not even heard of UnofficialAlpine and were unaware of ads or articles posted here.

Kudos to Azariah Reynolds, Dan Gallagher, Drew Fisher, Cody Wilkins and Rachel Blum for your work in making the Lost Sierra Hoedown such an amazing event. We’ll be happy to throw our support behind the 2nd Annual Lost Sierra Hoedown in 2014.

The LSH Venue just before “go time” Friday afternoon.

The Lost Sierra Ramblers got the show started while many people were still setting up campsites.

If you have not found out about Miner yet, it’s time to listen to them. ThisIsMiner.com

The Dead Winter Carpenters are always a local favorite and this show was no different, other than staying on stage nearly three hours.

Penny, Benny and Due take the newly improvised stage in the Historic Johnsville Ski Lodge.

The Johnsville ski lodge is what every modern ski lodge tries to emulate. It was a perfect venure for a hoedown, lacking a barn.

Coach Laura H and Coach Drew F were found making breakfast on a rainy Saturday morning.

Local boy becomes a star…Robbie Moen covered banjo, harmonica and mini-piano for the group Theodore Lovely

Willie Tea Taylor, lead man for the Good Luck Thrift Store Outfit on harmonica. You have to love a venue where you can high five the performers after each song.

Volunteers made a huge effort to sort event waste into recyclables, compost and trash, resulting in less trash from the festival than some families put out each Thursday in my neighborhood.

SNC student organizers Drew Fisher, Rachel Blum and Cody Wilkins breathe a sigh of relief on Sunday.

A return trip on Gold Lake Road Sunday morning revealed the Sierra Buttes with a fresh coating of snow.

Everyone received a stainless pint cup from Klean Kanteen and Sierra Nevada College. In one day, my cup contained coffee, beers, kombucha, lemonade and miso soup. The end result was beautiful…no heaps of trash to pick up and a quick clean up Sunday morning. Kudos to event organizers!