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Giant and LIV are hosting 2 demo days this weekend, the perfect chance to try out 2015 Giant and LIV mountain bikes and road bikes before they're in stock at the Start Haus next spring!

The Giant and LIV (Giant's women's bicycle line) demo fleets will be at Spooner Lake on Saturday, September 20th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and at Sky Tavern on Mt. Rose above Reno on Sunday, from noon to 4 p.m.

We're extremely excited to go and check out the new bikes for 2015 that we'll be bringing into the Start Haus next spring, and we hope you join us.

Saturday:
Spooner Lake - park entrance fees apply.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Sunday:
Sky Tavern, Mt. Rose.
Hours: Noon to 4 p.m.

More info here.

For three years the Lange RS 140 has been firmly at the top of the heap. Sporting great fit and function the Lange RS 140 has routinely received top marks from boot testers as a great skiing boot with a great fit as well.

What is it about the RS 140 that makes it so good?  Good stance and balance?  Great fit? Good responsive plastic? Yes, yes, yes, and definitely yes. Lange obviously hasn’t wanted to mess up a good thing, and thank goodness for that. The RS 140 rolled out three years ago and nothing on the shell has changed, save the graphic. For 2015 Lange has given the boot an all new race liner to give the RS 140 even more control and precision. The lace-up race liner is truly high quality and is the main fit difference between the RS 130 and the RS 140 reviewed here.

The performance characteristics of the RS 140 are off the charts. The turn is lightning quick and smooth; the plastic is dynamic, it responds and moves with the leg courteously and concisely.  It was a top pick of

One of the skis generating the most excitement for 2015 is the new Blizzard Spur, an advanced big mountain powder ski designed for hard charging skiers, but great for a wide range of capable skiers who want a wide powder ski that isn't a noodle.

What immediately grabs you, aside from the great looking graphics, is the wide (125 mm underfoot) construction and long yet subtle rocker with taper in the tip and tail that screams powder performance.

And in our testing in powder, they lived up to their looks, floating, slashing and drifting in the soft stuff effortlessly. Breaking free of a turn shape at any point was easy for long drifting turns in deep powder.

But we don't always get perfect powder days, and even after a big dump, we all inevitably find ourselves also contending with cut up bumps and groomer run outs as part of resort skiing - and here's where this ski surprised. Credit likely goes to the Blizzard Flipcore design for holding and edge and blasting through crud, as well as the

One of the coolest trails we have in the Truckee-Tahoe area is the 165 mile long Tahoe Rim Trail, looping around Lake Tahoe, with the majority open to mountain bikes.

Charlie took on a 20 mile section going from Mount Rose to Chimney Beach on Tahoe's east shore.

Here's a snapshot of his Strava page from the ride:

This length of this stretch of the Tahoe Rim Trail is 20.3 miles with 2,327 feet of elevation, with amazing views both of Lake Tahoe and the Carson Valley. The first 9 miles are only open to bikes on even days of the month (the 2nd, 4th, 10th, etc), so plan accordingly. This is a shuttle ride as Charlie and friends pedaled it, with one car on the Mt. Rose Highway and one at Chimney Beach.

Learn more at the Tahoe Rim Trail Association Website.

Stay tuned as the Start Haus staff continues to tackle area trails with videos, photos and more.

None of us - ski bums who live in the mountains, weekend warriors who only get a few trips a year, even professional skiers - get enough time on the hill.

We all want more - more runs, more turns, more powder, more fun.

So why waste your time on the wrong skis with a bad tune or waste a powder day in painful boots?

At the Start Haus - we have one goal: to make your time skiing better. Your times on the race course faster. Your bell-to-bell days, from first chair to last run, more comfortable.

We do that with an unflinching dedication to the best equipment and the best service. Walk into the shop or browse around our site, and you'll see an extensive selection of skis, boots, bindings, accessories and clothing hand picked by industry veterans to give you the best selection so you get the right piece of equipment. Equipment we'd ski ourselves, because we do.

Our ski tuners are sought out by World Cup ski racers, and they can insure your day isn't ruined by bad edges or sticky bases, so you

James and Charlie took on one of Lake Tahoe's legendary mountain bike rides: Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Known for its technical downhill above South Lake Tahoe, this is a trail you want to tackle with a capable rig:

The route they chose took 16.3 miles with 2,052 feet of elevation, check out the route here.

Our riders started on the Tahoe Rim Trail from Fountain Place Road, climbing to beautiful views and rolling trail, before plunging into a sustained, rocky and technical downhill ride back down to a lower spot on Fountain Place Road, shuttling back up to the first car.

Because Mr. Toads connects to the Tahoe Rim Trail and is in the same area as Connector and Corral Trails, you have virtually unlimited options for ride variations, with hard core riders starting 60 plus miles north on the Tahoe Rim Trail at Mount Rose for what TAMBA (Tahoe Area Mountain Bike Association) calls the "Uber Punisher."

We recommend long travel dual suspension bikes for this trail. Stay tuned here for more trail

It's that time of year, time for serious savings on stand up paddleboards! We have all our boards discounted 10 to 20 percent, which adds up to hundreds of dollars in savings.

You can get a board, paddle, leash and fin all for just $559 with the Boardworks Jetty, or save on race paddleboards, inflatable paddleboards or surf paddleboards, whatever you're looking for to get out on the water.

Our demo paddleboard fleet is also on sale for even deeper discounts, swing by the Start Haus to see what's available.

And while you're in most of our summer clothing is up to 40% off, so stock up on board shorts, bikinis, rash guards and more for Tahoe's Indian Summer and beyond.

The race to build the perfect narrow lasted boot is a tight one these days.  Most manufacturers have a superb option and selecting the one that’s right for you can be a tall order. Nordica’s Dobermann Pro EDT 130 has been a contender in the category for years and is unchanged for the 2015 season.

Affectionately referred to as the “Dobie,” Nordica has produced a boot that is stiff and mean, with plenty of snarl and bite, but is well trained. Two years ago Nordica opened up the last and instep making the boot accessible to many more skiers than previous iterations of the boot without involving countless hours of fit work.

Start Haus staff has headed south to South Lake Tahoe to check out mountain bike trails at that end of the lake, and one of our favorites is Corral Trail.

Tied into a great network of trails, including Armstrong Connector (also in the video), Sidewinder, Cedar, Powerline, Railroad Grade and even Mr. Toads, the Tahoe Area Mountain Bike Association (TAMBA) recently put some serious work into the singletrack, and it shows.

Really fun trail with great banked turns and a fun jump line stand out, and the ability to shuttle using a paved road lets you take the easy way up when you want.

The variety of trails really lets you pick your own adventure for the day, with different trails to climb, descent, connect and lap for anything from a quick afternoon ride to an all-day session. The views higher up on Armstrong Connector can't be beat either.

If you don't have a lot of suspension travel on your mountain bike, we recommend Sidewinder Trail for the first half, reconnecting to lower Corral Trail

Don't miss out on the last Free Fun Paddleboard Race this Friday! Come on down to the Donner Lake West End Beach starting at 5 p.m. to check out our demo boards for free, then join in on a fun race starting at 6 p.m.

We'll be raffling off a lot of great stuff too - with clothing, paddling gear and two grand prizes - a Nordica Vagabond Blem ski and a 3G Cruiser Bike!

Here's a video of the first Free Fun Paddleboard Race of the season:

It's a great way to try out new boards, check out paddleboarding and get your feet wet in SUP racing in a fun, friendly environment that's not overly competitive.

On Saturday after the final race our demo paddleboards will go on sale. These are in high demand and will be at low prices, so they're going to go fast - don't miss out!

The Nordica Vagabond is a new ski for the 2013-14 season and is one of many new skis from several makers in the 105-108mm width range.

The Vagabond shares the construction that has become the standard classic from Nordica on such highly successful skis as the Steadfast and Hell and Back. This is a wood/glass/carbon layup ski with a lightweight composite stringer down the center of the core to reduce weight.

The 2015 Volkl Mantra came as a surprise, reinventing one of the most popular all mountain skis in the industry - but its a rebuild in-line with Volkl's design philosophy - and after extensive testing - we think a really great ski for the right skier.

The old Volkl Mantra, 98 underfoot, cambered, with tip rocker and a stiff flex, was a Tahoe go-to for hard charging skiers who wanted a do-it-all ski for the various conditions we get out west. The stiff flex, especially in the tail, made it less accessible to some skiers though.

Enter the 2015 Mantra - Volkl upped the waist width to 100 mm and flipped it to full rocker, what they call ELP (extended low profile) tip to tail, much like the Gotama or the RTM series. It keeps metal laminate construction and a fairly stiff flex (though less so than previous generations).