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If you're new to stand up paddleboarding, getting up and getting off your paddleboard can be some of the most intimidating parts of the experience. But with the right board and a few pointers, it's really easy. Check out Jared in this week's instructional video:

Still feeling unsteady? We offer private lessons by appointment, or you can swing by our Free Friday Night Fun Races at Donner Lake's West End Beach starting June 13 and work with our experts in a fun, no-pressure environment perfect for learning. More information here.

The Boardworks Sirena Paddleboard is a 12'6" displacement hulled women's specific stand up paddle board.

Jared takes it out for a spin on Donner Lake:

The Serena is a versatile board that's great for a lot of paddlers. The displacement hull (pointy, boat-shaped nose, rather than a surfboard style nose) means it's faster and more efficient, great in flat and choppy water.

The pull-out handle makes it easy to get to and from the water, and its light weight means you won't mind hauling it around.

It's got a long deck pad, perfect for bringing along a kid or dog, or even doing some stand up paddle board yoga. Deck bungees also make it easy to stash a PFD, drybag or other gear for a day on the water or longer tours.

This is a great board for people getting into stand up paddleboarding because it's stable and versatile - whether you decide you're into yoga, maybe want to start racing or take longer tours - the Sirena will work well for you.

Questions? Shoot us an email, give us a call or swing

Start Haus rental and demo boards are in stock and ready to go! Swing by and check out the latest and greatest boards, or just go take an early season paddle to get ready for summer.

Our Free Friday Night Fun Races run June 13 through August 22 (excluding 4th of July) so swing by the West End Beach on Donner Lake to join in on the fun!

(Thanks to Lauren at Shearermedia.com for designing our flyers!)

If you're looking at the skis in our Nordica Blem Ski Sale, but you're still not sure about the whole blemished ski idea, we've collected emails, forum posts and Facebook comments from our customers describing their experiences with the blems, in the hopes that it'll help you out.

We also have in-depth ski reviews of all the skis in the blem sale from Sierra Jim to help you pick the right model, click here.

Here's what others have to say about the blem skis they've received:

"My Hell's Belles came today.  I couldn't see the blemish.  Of course, I only got a quick peek.  Since I had informed my hubby that he bought them for me as a birthday present, he grabbed them and hid them away until August!" Mustski on epicski.com

"Just received the Hell& Backs blems  Cant find the blem. I love them!" - Greg, via email.

"My Vagabonds arrived today and giving them a quick once over, I do not see the blemish.  Really stoked on this purchase. The Vagabond reminds me a lot of some Praxis Back Country's I had, that I should not of sold.  I like the lower tip rocker as compared to my TST's.  This was a great buy and should be a solid touring ski for me.  Thanks Start Haus." - Liv2 ski on epicski.com

The big batch of Nordica blemished skis arrived early this year!

If you don't know the drill, the Start Haus gets Nordica's cosmetically blemished skis each year to sell at crazy low prices, which in our opinion is the best deal going in the industry.

A blemished ski has a small cosmetic defect - like a dimple or scratch in the top sheet, that does not affect performance, still caries a normal warranty, and in most cases isn't even noticeable!

If you've been around for one of our blemish ski sales before, you know they go fast. Really fast. Like 500 skis gone in a month fast. So don't wait and miss out on the best deal around.

Need help picking? Our very own Sierra Jim reviews each ski in the new Nordica blem batch below:

Today the Start Haus covers the whole range of the skiing world, from powder skis to frontside rippers - but our roots are in ski racing.

One of the services we provide as a part of our ski racing community is a wax call for all the ski races happening in and around the Lake Tahoe area, giving Jim Schaffner's (a World Cup ski technician and owner of the Start Haus) expert advice on how to get the most performance out of your skis for a given race.

Some of you have been following our wax calls for years. But if you haven't we have two videos explaining the process, and how to best utilize the information we put out each week.

First, the selection process of waxes for a given race, based on wax hardness, flouro content and the use of anti-stat:

And second, what to do with that information - properly waxing your skis with the suggested waxes, anti-stats and overlays:

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to shoot us an email at online@starthaus.com, or call us at (530) 582-5781.

Looking for a narrow ski boot that steers like a Porsche? The Atomic Redster Pro 110 may just be the boot you have been looking for. From fit to function the Redster is a full package aggressive all-mountain ski boot.

Atomic gave the Redster the exact same look as its narrower, more aggressive cousin; the Redster World Cup. The wider pro is a lot friendlier to get in and may have been misappropriated as a “race boot” by fitters and skiing public alike. However, the Redster Pro has a way more mellow fit, but still skis like a boot made by a top racing brand.

The Head Adapt Edge LTD is a fairly wide-fitting ski 110 flex boot that will stand up to the advanced skier. At the Start Haus, the Adapt Edge LTD has become a go-to boot for those with wide feet and a high instep, or both.

The last couple of years the Adapt Edge has earned a valued spot in our boot stable as a got to fit option for those truly high volume feet, with a caveat; this boot skis well also.

When We first got on the Salomon Quest 98, we couldn't believe Salomon was selling it for $200 less than comparable skis. That sounds like a line, but it's true.

Now it's not going to be all things to all people, but if you're looking for a light, lively all mountain ski that's easy to drive and lots of fun, this ski is certainly worth a close look.

If you're looking for a hard-charging, straight-lining burly metal ski, look elsewhere. You can see how the Salomon stack sup against other skis in the category in our all mountain ski comparison here.

A lot of news outlets are spouting doom and gloom when it comes to Sierra Snow - and to be sure, there isn't a lot. But what there is is great - fun groomers at every resort around Tahoe. But instead of telling you, we thought we'd show you - we spent some time on Jan 16 & 17 at Sugar Bowl and Alpine Meadows and had a blast, check it out:

As long as you have the right skis for the job, you can have a blast at any of Tahoe's resorts. Right now we have great groomer carving skis on sale starting at $149, so there's no excuse not to get out and carve. Shop here.

Look up at the hill here in Tahoe and you will see snow, and all the resorts are doing a fantastic job making that snow ski great.

But its not the snow for the fat powder skis you bought a few winters back, it's time for skinny skis.

We've got the perfect skis for the conditions at the Start Haus - new Nordica blemished skis starting at $149 with bindings!

These factory blemish skis - with small cosmetic imperfections that don't affect performance - are the perfect tools for the snow we've got, great at carving the man-made and old snow.

They're the perfect addition to your quiver so you don't stress about a scratch in the base of your high-end skis, and can fill in a hole in your lineup without breaking the bank.

Rock skis shouldn't be the worst skis on your wall - you still want to be able to carve and have precise control on the groomers, and these Nordicas are tailor made for that purpose.

Swing by the store or shop our complete blem ski inventory here.

We recommend the Nordica Sport

Testing powder skis for our 2014 buy was challenging in several respects. First, it’s best to test them in powder with some depth to it, and last year, we didn’t have many opportunities.

The second challenge was that the market is changing and consumer preferences are ahead of the manufacturers in what they seem to be looking for. These days, the skier is saying they want a powder ski but they are starting to ask about non-powder performance more than they have in the past.

The result is that the skier is likely to be looking for a somewhat narrower ski than in the past and sales of skis over 120mm in waist width have slowed dramatically in the last year.  In fact, the more popular powder skis currently seem to be in the 112-118mm range, and many of the skis in this width range have toned down the amounts of rocker and taper from what they might have had in the past.