Mind the Track

His co-workers know him as Gordon, but when he’s not working – which is often – his secret alter ego is Gordo, and all Gordo wants to be is outside. Whether it’s sailing, surfing, foiling, skiing, running, biking, swimming 22 miles from Catalina to San Pedro or hiking 2600 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, Gordo Clute has never in his life worked more than he can play. Over a successful 30 year career in shipping sales, Gordo elaborately lived a lie, being perceived as a dedicated hardworking employee when he was instead outside playing, his real dedication focused on finding the flow sta...

The pollen is thick, kids are out of school, the tourists have invaded Tahoe and temperatures are soaring, which means only one thing – summer is here. In Episode 89, Trail Whisperer recaps a mountain bike road trip out to the California coastal town of Eureka while Pow Bot fun hogs on Lake Tahoe with his wing foil. The boys stand corrected by listeners about their Strava rant, California considers instating an official Bruce Lee Day, people are dying from foraged mushroom poisoning, the Ice Cream Man is back again, and TW recommends seeing Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience. The boys...

Amidst the best spring ever, in episode 88 the boys recap Memorial Day weekend filled with skiing Lassen and Shasta, riding moto out in the Toiyabe and Toquima ranges of central Nevada and digging dirt with the Truckee Dirt Union. Memorial Day was also highlighted by stupid people doing stupid things, including a grown man taking his 18-month old son on an ebike ride that ended at 10,000 feet in snow, darkness and a helicopter rescue. The boys also make a huge announcement – their first sponsorship with a local business, the Start Haus in Truckee! To celebrate, the first three people to...

Since 2016, more than two million acres of Northern California have been torched by devastating wildfires, leaving vast tracts of previously forested land nothing but black matchsticks. As the landscape recovers, efforts are being made to ensure forests regenerate so massive brush fields don’t take the place of trees. As staff chief for CalFire’s Wildfire Resilience Program, Stew McMorrow has more than 30 years experience climbing trees, falling trees, planting trees, funding agencies in reforestation, as well as working as a Registered Professional Forester (RPF). McMorrow is also an avid outdoorsman and mountain biker, and understands the value of bala...

Spring is in full swing and Tahoe trails are opening for business quickly. In Episode 86, as the snow vaporizes, the boys chat about a bunch of trail tales, some funny, others concerning. After an extended Rumspringa on the ebike, Pow Bot returns to the traditional “Amish” mountain bike, but will he be Sin Bot for still occasionally riding his ebike? The boys share four-wheeling stories with their in-laws, talk about new trails being built, trails north of Truckee being closed for the season and some trails in burn zones being sprayed by the Tahoe and Lassen National Forest with glyp...

Twenty miles east of Lake Tahoe, high up in the Virginia Range at 6,500 feet elevation is one of the best preserved Old West towns in America, Virginia City. Known to locals as VC, in the 1860s, it was once the richest city in the world, home to the Comstock Lode, one of the largest silver strikes in history. In fact, the gold and silver from VC in the 1860s built all of San Francisco. Today, VC still has wooden boardwalks on C Street, ornate Victorian-era homes, two dozen saloons, a cemetery almost as large as the town itself and...

With five feet of new snow on the Sierra Crest in April, Tahoe is finally getting the snow we should have gotten in March. As a result, the boys are back to skiing, with a couple days at the resort and a backcountry mission to the Eastern Sierra for the annual Green Creek Chute-Out. The boys talk about the concept of hallowed ground – places with spiritual significance and importance, and how social media has led the charge in exploiting these places, resulting in “hollowed ground”. The concept of gatekeeping is also discussed, and asking, is gatekeeping actually a bad thing...

After two weeks of bi-polar weather in Canada chasing pow and getting rained on, aka a “dog’s breakfast”, the boys recount the trip to Ice Creek Lodge and the wisdom gained from the jedi master of snow, Russell Hulbert. Meanwhile, back home in the Sierra, a dismal March left zero inches of snow on Donner Summit, the first time in recorded history, capping off a Winter to forget. Moving on to Spring things, the boys chat about a variety of topics including DOPE or DERPs on 32” mountain bike wheels, uphill or downhill traffic having the right of way on trail...

On February 17, nine backcountry skiers were taken by an avalanche at Frog Lake, in the Northern Sierra Nevada near Truckee, California. Since then, the sense of loss and confusion over what happened has been overwhelming. This accident has impacted everyone in the Truckee and Lake Tahoe community on some level. Because of pending investigations, there are so many unanswered questions that will remain unanswered for a long time.

As the community struggles to understand, people around the world continue to die in avalanches, including our friend, Stratton Matteson, who was taken by an avalanche in British Columbia...

Amidst a sudden return to winter with 5 to 8 feet of new snow after a 5 week dry spell, on this two-part episode, in the first half the boys cover the start of the 2026 Winter Olympics, seeing a Lake Tahoe Knight Monsters hockey game and field some listener calls on the COR LORD hotline. With big avalanches a near certainty, Pow Bot advises people to be smart during this stormy period, give the snowpack time to heal and abide the F.A.C.E.T.S. snow safety acronym. The second half is a discussion with Christopher Brown and Rick Reed...

In this how-to episode, the Professori of the Pow, Mr. Dr. Pow Bot teaches Trail Whisperer how to set up his new Jones splitboard. Never having snowboarded in the backcountry before, Trail Whisperer learns a lot about proper body positioning, stance, and the finer details of making sure your split board is dialed. So if you’re new to the backcountry and wondering if your split board is set up correctly, this episode is 100 percent for you! We will return next week with our somewhat-regularly scheduled programming, but in the meantime, enjoy this tutorial on proper split board setup. AN...

As a dirty high pressure ridge sits over the West, sending all the cold and snow to the east coast, the boys recount the past month and how it feels like an entire ski season has transpired. A grab bag of topics is covered this week including a Downieville mountain biker somehow getting lost on an out-and-back, the dying dream of the ski bum and instead take up wind sports in Florida, I-80 from San Francisco to Nevada ranking as the 8th most deadly highway in America and the ski patrol strike in Telluride ending with a whimper. Pow...

In today’s world of the mega pass like Epic and Ikon, small independent ski resorts are struggling to survive. But one of the oldest ski resorts in America – in one of the snowiest places on Earth – is thriving. Founded in 1939 by Hannes Schroll and funded by Walt Disney, Sugar Bowl Resort on Donner Summit has welcomed both families and hardcore skiers for generations, offering a friendly, laid back vibe and expert terrain. In Episode 78, we spin yarns with Sugar Bowl CEO, Bridget Legnavsky – a CEO who absolutely shreds on skis – discussing a recent $100 million investment, helping “The Bowl” stay competiti...

After a month of being ridged with displeasure and no snow, a series of atmospheric rivers dumps buckets of rain before changing to snow, finally delivering major dumpage to Tahoe just in time for Christmas. In the final episode of Mind the Track’s third season, in Episode 77 the boys recap a month of inversions, brown pow and Tule Fog, contemplate chasing snow up into Canada, shout out the core lords for their 10th Shredmandment recommendations and DOPE or DERP making sound effects when riding your bike or filling uncomfortable silences. Pow Bot gives a gray wolf update, SKI BO...

There may be no other person in Northern California more in touch with the behavior of wildlife than the award-winning nature photographer Randy Robbins. Based in Susanville, Robbins’ images of bald eagles, mountain lions, bears, bobcats, foxes, and hundreds of other species have helped both the public, and wildlife biologists, better understand the animals in our own backyards that we never see. Robbins snapped the very first high resolution photo of a Lassen Pack Wolf in 2021 in the ashes of the Dixie Fire, captured the first known image of the rare and endangered Sierra Nevada Red Fox and was th...

Highlighting the abysmal start to ski season in the American West, the boys record outdoors at 6,500 feet elevation near the Sierra Crest wearing t-shirts. Even the mountains above Las Vegas have more snow than Tahoe! Episode 75 covers a range of Core Lord Call-Ins including discussion around the rules of Finders Keepers, ASMR and Misophonia, and a shout out to @nick_russelll @slushthemagazine feature on backcountry splitboarding rules and its relation to the 10 Shredmandments from @pow_bot . We do our first live, impromtu phone call with Marc Cosbey’s childhood friend Randy, sharing some Captain Cozmo stories.  There’s also some...

Halfway through November and there’s no sign of Old Man Winter in Lake Tahoe. As the boys await a proper early season dump to whiten the mountains, they catch up on life and a bunch of listener feedback. Topics of discussion include what activities do you do in the transition between fall riding and winter skiing, what is the single best sport in the Tahoe region, helicopter skiing in the Sweetwater range, Jim Morrison’s historic first ski descent on the north face of Mount Everest, listener feedback on rescinding the Roadless Rule, are blue square flow trails DOPE...

In the third installment of the Cosbey Chronicles, the boys sit down with Coz at his caretaker’s quarters on the shore of Gold Lake and dive deep into trails. Raised as a Mormon, by age 12, Coz knew organized religion wasn’t for him. At that same age, he rode a Honda Trail 90 motorcycle for the first time, and it was the beginning of the rest of his life. His religion became exploration on two wheels in the outdoors. Coz talks about the three years he spent laying out and building Mills Peak trail in Graeagle, as well as work...

After a mid-October Tahoe snowstorm, the boys catch up on life for the first time since August, recapping the incredible Fall season so far, rich with brilliant colors and hero dirt. Featuring an intro by the eponymous Snack Man, topics of banter include wing foiling, the earliest fall day PowBot ever skied pow in Tahoe, favorite snack they eat in the track, fire lookout tower trails, DOPE or DERPs including the new Class 3 mode on the Gen 4 Specialized Turbo Levo, front disc brake rotor covers, Palisades Tahoe releasing the ‘Black Pass’ and the concept of Finders Keepers. The boys shou...

Imagine being the mayor of a mountain town during the height of COVID. For Dave Polivy, owner of Tahoe Mountain Sports, being a COVID mayor became his reality after being elected onto Truckee town council in 2018. For better or worse, Dave’s tenure during COVID cemented his nickname in the community as “Mayor Dave”, even though he’s no longer mayor. He’s also Kurt’s doppelganger, giving him another nickname; “Doppelganger Dave”. In Episode 71, we chat with Dave about how he landed in Truckee on September 11, 2001, and his path to business ownership, community building, keeping the ski bum dream alive and...

In Part II of the Cosbey Chronicles, Uncle Coz recounts more boat adventures, working for Raul Gardini – the richest man in Italy – and his Americas Cup team, building the very first carbon composite racing boats, and after a brief stint working in Japan, returning to the US to work on the AmericaOne team. We dive into Marc’s love for music, seeing iconic bands in the 1970s like Zeppelin, Marley, The Who, Van Halen, The Doors, Pink Floyd and, of course, the Grateful Dead. Cosbey’s most memorable show? Midnight Oil in Australia. Tom and Coz discover they were at the s...

For the third August in a row, heavy rain has blessed the northern Sierra Nevada. Amidst the best brown pow cycle of the summer, on episode 69, Pow Bot and Trail Whisperer froth over the fresh rainfall while burners out on the playa get mud plugged and hit with haboobs. TW also froths over his new Ibis Ripley and PB over his recent progress on the wing foil. Other topics include Old Farmer’s Almanac predictions on winter, differing opinions on vacationing in Santa Cruz, the expense of bike racks, and on a musical note, The Scientist’s dub reggae, St...

On Episode 68 we introduce the first installment of the Cosbey Chronicles. Marc Cosbey, aka Uncle Coz, Cozmo, Sharkey, is the kindred spirit of the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship, and one of its co-founders. Born in the early 1950’s, Coz left home at 17 years old and never looked back, living a free-spirited life of adventure from exploring the American West to sailing around the world on everything from old pirate ships to the most advanced Americas Cup racing boats. In this first episode of a multi-part series with Coz, we chat about his youth in Southern California during the birth of...

The first live recorded show of Mind the Track was at last weekend’s grand opening of the brand new Start Haus bike and ski shop in Truckee next to the “mouse hole” on Highway 89, the only shop Pow Bot will take his splitboard. Considered by many to be the best bike and ski shop in Tahoe, Start Haus has a core lord crew of ace mechanics, including one of today’s guests, co-owner Gregg “Stubby” Stone, a recovering singlespeeder who can fix your bike almost as fast as a rides downhill. The boys also chat with OG mountain bike legend...

In the hazy aftermath of 4th of July, thankfully Tahoe didn’t burn down but tragically the North Rim Grand Canyon Lodge did. On Episode 66, the boys chat about how they spent the holiday, their favorite fireworks stories, announce the closure of all Sierra Pacific Industries lands to recreation until further notice due to wildfire risk and rant about kids terrorizing neighborhoods on electric motorcycles and the threat to mountain biking. Trail Whisperer cites a recent study about what traits constitute a “cool” person, Pow Bot gives hot purchasing tips on where to buy outdoor gear for less, some core l...

Recorded deep in the Toiyabe Range of central Nevada far from civilization, the guys talk about the Toiyabe Crest Trail project and the tumultuous arrival of summer in Lake Tahoe, where 11 people perished in a couple days due to a boating accident and hikers drowning in a swimming hole. The boys discuss complacency in the mountains and how it can be deadly, Trail Whisperer recaps his Wilderness First Aid training experience with Bliss Wilderness, Spooner Lake State Park puts out a survey for a new master plan, core lords call in to ask how you recover from a mountain...

As summer riding season settles in amidst massive plumes of tree pollen and afternoon thunderstorms creating hero dirt conditions, the boys discuss a bunch of random topics from 888 COR LORD listener call-ins, emails and messages. The boys dope or derp a variety of topics from petunias and the wind to dogs on leashes, UGG boots, bike racks on motorcycles and flat versus clipless MTB pedals. The boys also draw parallels between all you can eat sushi and ski resort season passes, contemplate being struck by lightning while riding an e-bike and Trail Whisperer recaps his failed Mount Shasta ski...

Along one of the best stretches of the Truckee River for fishing, a private landowner in Hirschdale has been blocking legal public access by placing no trespassing signs below the high water mark of the river. Longtime Hirschdale resident Matt “Gilligan” Koles, who’s been a fly fishing guide on the Truckee River for more than two decades, has been fighting these illegally placed signs, as well as dealing with aggressive intimidation tactics involving drawn firearms by the landowner. The Truckee is considered a navigable river, meaning the public has legal access to the river below the high water mark...

In an age where local journalism is struggling to survive, Lake Tahoe is fortunate to have Julie Brown Davis, a West Shore native and staff writer for SFGATE who exclusively covers Lake Tahoe. As the daughter of ski bums who moved to Tahoe in the 1970s, Julie grew up skiing Homewood and Alpine Meadows, worked her first journalism gig at the Sierra Sun and eventually became managing editor of Powder Magazine. After a handful of years as a freelancer, Julie has returned to her journalism roots as a staff reporter, and she isn’t afraid to take on the bi...

The 888 COR LORD phone line has lit up the last couple of weeks, and the boys address numerous calls from listeners with questions about backcountry skiing, DOPE or DERPs including wearing full Lycra while mountain biking in the backcountry, riding a splitboard inbounds at a ski resort, blasting music on a Bluetooth speaker while riding and tracking vert skied at a resort and posting to Strava. The boys also talk about the recent closure of all trails in and around Marlette Lake and Spooner Lake State Park for the next two summers and beating the tariff price increases coming...

Few families in the Lake Tahoe region have had more of a positive impact on recreation than the Fish family. Ben and Amy revived the Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association (TAMBA) in 2010, and started both the 60-mile Rose to Toads epic and Corral Night Ride. Their son Max, about the same age as TAMBA, grew up alongside the organization, and as soon as he could walk, he was on two wheels in dirt, two sticks on snow and a trail tool in hand working last year as a paid employee at Bijou Bike Park, a park designed by Ben...

BAM! KERPOW! From winter to spring in a matter of a couple days, the boys chase the change in season with an East Side pow mission and new trail construction on Mount Hough. Pow Bot laments the “get off my wave” localism culture of surfing that’s creeping into splitboarding, Trail Whisperer ASS rants about @sugarbowl opening Palisades to only elite athletes in a competition and the disdain he has for National Parks, a listener critiques Pow Bot for using “jazz hands” while snowboarding and Trail Whisperer gets his very first splitboard after being a lifelong skier. The boys chat more...

April arrives with 3 feet of new snow in Lake Tahoe, making it feel more like January than spring. PowBot recaps his best tour of the year at Lassen National Park while Trail Whisperer breaks his snowmobile. The boys give some listener shout outs and play some 888 COR LORD call-ins, diving deeper into whether or not solo backcountry skiing is dope or derp and if a van is better suited for adventures than a pickup with 4 Wheel Camper. They also discuss the show’s intro and outro songs and where all the sound bites came from, decide which of the fi...

Recapping a polarizing winter that has been “clear and still” – either literally clear with no snow and still with no wind, or snow clear up to your ass and still snowing, the boys catch up on a number of topics including PowBot’s surf trip to Costa Rica, Trail Whisperer’s Death Valley four wheeling adventure and helicopter skiing, the sketchy last month of avalanches and the lack of stoke for resort skiing. The boys DERP local ski resorts for their season pass money grab of selling next years pass in March, they also DERP @palisadestahoe for leaning on local law...

With a focus on simplicity, minimalism and human-powered adventure, Nick Russell embodies what it is to be a free-spirited, big line splitboarder while making a living at it. Russell has eschewed guidebooks for true adventure, hunting for big lines and pow based more on a feeling than a calculation. This organic approach to becoming an expert in the backcountry takes years and more than a couple sandbag missions, but in the process creates a deeper connection with the land and with his comrades. Russell’s most recent mission, captured in the Patagonia Films feature Papsura – Peak of Evil, along with...

After a weeks-long dry spell in January, the first day of February bring a week-long series of atmospheric river storms to the Lake Tahoe region, with a foot of rain, multiple feet of snow and hurricane force winds. PowBot recaps his Canadian hut trip, giving kudos to Big Sky resort and reminisces on atmospheric river storms of the past while Trail Whisperer rants about tire chains and the evil empire of Amazon. Al Powcino makes his return with another Powderiffic Snow Report, the boys are compared to Statler and Waldorf from the Muppet Show, TW raves about a George...

Two weeks into his Powder Highway road trip, PowBot calls in from Revelstoke, British Columbia to chat about life on the road in the new van, the differences between the U.S. and Canada when it comes to snow and ski culture, hiring a ski guide in Whistler to go big in the Blackcomb backcountry and interviewing “Trailhead Tim” Gibson, who PowBot met at the trailhead and suddenly became his backcountry partner in bagging the Aussie Couloir in Joffre Lakes Provincial Park. Also, the boys Dope or Derp snow stake cams, backcountry skiing solo, the magnetic Snow Strip product and...

In the final episode of 2024, the boys catch up on a variety of topics just before PowBot hits the road for a month-long ski adventure on the Powder Highway of Canada, including Trail Whisperer’s story of driving the Powder Highway right as COVID hit in early 2020. The new snow reporter, Al Powcino, makes his debut with a wet and soggy forecast, Trail Whisperer presents the most compelling evidence yet that the Hunga Tonga volcanic eruption is linked to the last two years of record-breaking global warming, the boys discuss the 2024 word of the year, “Brain Rot”, and Trail Whispe...

In the last couple years of record-breaking snowfalls, budget shortfalls, staffing shortages and lack of affordable housing for CalTrans road crew workers, plowed parking areas for backcountry access are no longer a given. The Tahoe Backcountry Alliance is working with community leaders to help address these issues, focused on expanding winter access for all non-motorized users. Since 2015, TBA has expanded access for motorized and non-motorized use in Johnson Canyon, created a plowed parking lot on the west end of Donner Lake, is about to open a new lot for Tallac access and created a free SnoPark pass system for...

Pull up any social media feed on big line skiing and there’s a good chance you’ll see Molly Armanino stomping a serious cliff drop. There’s also a good chance you’ll see her tomahawking. In her rookie year on the 2023 Freeride World Tour, Molly’s checkers or wreckers approach – skiing lines no other woman dare ski – landed her a 2nd place finish. Perfecting her art of the send at Kirkwood amidst its treacherous volcanic “death rocks”, Molly’s fearless approach has inspired all skiers, regardless of gender. Equally inspiring is Molly’s perseverance in the face of unimaginable loss...