SPOONER LAKE, Nev. – In 2016, the League to Save Lake Tahoe, known as Keep Tahoe Blue, identified the unofficial sled hill at Spooner Summit as a trash hotspot, and over the next four years the problem grew exponentially.  

According to KTB’s Policy Director, Gavin Feiger, sometime after 2020 the location popped up on Google maps in sled hill searches and the trash issue “got really bad”. 

“The two main issues are litter and safety,” said Feiger.

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Sledding is nothing new. Feiger added the public lands by Spooner Summit that house the watercraft station have turned into sledding hills as soon as the snow flies for decades.

In 2020, KTB’s Blue Crews, a program launched at the end of 2019 to empower and give tools to everyday people to pick up litter in hot spots they’ve identified, were also rapidly growing in popularity 

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Individuals and small groups, though they tried, were unable to handle the problem alone.

Blue Crew Team “Uppaway” is led by Nevada Resident, Ongkar Khalsa, who lives near the sled hill. 

Khalsa adopted the sled hill with “Team Uppaway” in 2021 removing over 2,000 pounds of trash that had compacted over the years. An additional 1,000 pounds were recovered from Clean Tahoe the same year. 

“Through the grand reveal of the snowmelt they pulled out 3,000 lbs total,” said. Feiger.

He reviewed the history of the sled hill with the Tribune and shared that the scale of the problem needed to be coupled with persistence from the League and it was going to take more than the teams of volunteers.

Through trial and error, and a budget of $5,000, the League found a surefire way to decrease the trash left behind.

“Tahoe is for everyone and snowplay is a cheap/free thing to do so, we wanted to come up with a solution to allow people to have fun while providing the opportunity to do the right thing [with their trash].” 

“Pack it in, Pack it out,” is a year round saying but not all parties participate all the time.

During the winter of 2021/2022 NDOT issued a temporary use permit and the League outfitted the parking lot by the sled hill with a dumpster and two port-a-potties along with servicing and educational signage asking people to do the right thing with their trash. 

“We found that it worked,” Feiger said the dumpster would be serviced once a month and the port-a-potties were serviced twice a week, at the beginning and end of every weekend. 

The first year after installation Team Uppaway only picked up 126 lbs of trash vs the 2,000 the year without the accommodations and signage.

Feiger told the Tribune the League went back to NDOT with all the facts and were still unable to convince them to participate in the solution. 

“They wanted to help – they saw the problem, they just don’t have the resources,” Feiger said the Leauge decided to do it again.

Another $5,000 was spent through the winter of 2022/2023 there was far less than expected as the snow melted.

What was expected was a trash lasagna of ‘hibernating’ trash; previously broken plastic, cans, human waste in and out of diapers, and food containers would be left behind and more would be revealed through the transition to warmer weather.

Even after the snow melted less trash was found than expected.

“We made the case that it was a proven solution and convinced them to do it. Through water quality funds NDOT is paying Clean Tahoe to clean up more frequently and providing a dumpster and two portable toilets, for the next two winters,”  Feiger said. 

The League hopes the future NDOT plans for the State Route 28 corridor and installation of a new permit water clean and inspection station will provide a safe replacement across from the Spooner state park. 

The plans for the station include a new parking lot with 250 spaces.

“While we led the effort, nothing happens in Tahoe without partners and it did take some persistence but NDOT was very responsive and supportive of finding solutions,” the policy director expressed sincere gratitude for the volunteers, agencies and KTB team for levying resources to protect the treasure of Lake Tahoe.

“I kind of look at this as a reverse treasure hunt,” said Ongkar Khalsa, leader of Team Uppaway, a Tahoe Blue Crew. “I look at this Tahoe area, Lake Tahoe, as a treasure. And so, when I go out picking up trash, it’s like I’m leaving a treasure behind.”

In response to questions about the dumpster and port-a-potties NDOT said, “As stewards of our transportation network, we are dedicated to preserving the stormwater runoff and natural environment of our highway roadsides,”

NDOT Public Information officer Meg Ragonese added “Packing out what you pack in not only helps preserve our Tahoe environment, it also helps ensure that our fellow recreationists and drivers have safe and clean areas to visit and travel.”