By Scott Oxarart, Reno Gazette-Journal
When Brennan Lagasse is out on the water, people stop their cars and pull out their cameras. They watch in awe from Lake Tahoe?s north shores, wondering just what the heck he?s doing.
He usually just laughs and gives a friendly smile.
Lagasse is one of a handful of locals who love surfing so much, and are just crazy enough, to ride waves in Lake Tahoe in the fall, winter and early spring months in near-hypothermic water temperatures.
You can insist he?s nuts, but he?ll tell you he?s opportunistic.
?It?s the funniest thing. Every time I surf Tahoe, there?s one or two random people that show up,? said Lagasse, a professor at Sierra Nevada College, freelance writer and ski guide in Lake Tahoe and Alaska. ?People take pictures in disbelief, but it?s true: Many people surf Lake Tahoe.?
Well, it is one of the less typical activities to do in the winter.
Armed with a neoprene dry suit, booties, gloves and a hood, Lagasse takes his 9-foot Verner longboard and catches waist-high waves, some 6 feet or higher, along the north shore between Tahoe Vista and Sand Harbor when the weather is right.
Water temperature is at its warmest in the fall, near 50 or 60 degrees, after a full summer of heat. Lagasse surfed the first week of January and has gone 10 times in the past three months, when the water temperature has been around 40 degrees and the air anywhere from the high 20s to low 40s.
Still, the 32-year-old jumps from a dock into the water, surfs for an hour if the conditions are right and rides waves just like he did when he first started surfing in Australia in 2001.
He knows the dangers, but prepares accordingly ? he?s used to cold temperatures as a Lake Tahoe resident and ski guide. Lagasse keeps a few thermoses of hot water waiting for when he gets out, which he uses mainly on his hands and feet to get the blood flowing.
He also makes sure his car is nearby. He blasts the heat and changes into warm, dry clothes.
?If there?s a big storm, there can be pretty big waves,? said Ferrell Hapgood, who works at Tahoe Dave?s Skis & Boards. ?I?ve seen many people with dry suits out there. It has to be a gnarly storm, but it does happen.?
Lagasse follows the weather closely. The hours before a storm blows in are ideal surfing conditions. He said winds need to be blowing at least 25 mph, with gusts of at least 40 mph. He?s also surfed the west shore during uncommon east winds.
?It?s very fickle,? said Lagasse, who was interviewed for an ESPN story about surfing Lake Tahoe. ?There have been times when I got out to surf and it just didn?t work out. Other times, where you think you?re going to get sandbagged, and all of a sudden you get some good gusts.?
Surfing is just one winter sport that many might consider bizarre because of the cold weather.
Many people like to disc golf at North Tahoe Regional Park in the snow.
Ice camping is also catching on, according to Anne Sutterfield of the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority. The Tahoe Rim Trail group teaches a course on snow camping.
Todd Shimkus, of Tahoe Mountain Sports, said snow running is getting bigger. It?s similar to snowshoeing, but the shoes have a smaller surface area and are lighter so you can run instead of walk for better exercise.
But the most bizarre is surfing Lake Tahoe. And it?s catching on, too.
?When you?re riding a really good wave, you really don?t feel that cold,? Lagasse said. ?You catch a few waves, and it?s always worth it.?
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