According to National Geographic, Geotourism is “tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place—its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents.”

Geotourism, is a form of “sustainable travel”, which entails cultural tourism, ecotourism, agritourism, culinary tourism, and others on a growing list of niche tourism segments.

Moving beyond the definitions, the why should we care about Geotourism? There are two main reasons:

1.Geotourism attracts a different kind of tourist: someone who stays longer, spends more money, likes to patronize the “local” places and is more interesting in leaving a positive impact. Geotourists are often interested in local culture, wildlife, outdoor activities, museums, volunteering (a.k.a. “voluntourism”), local entertainment and history.

2.There is a geotourism project underway in the Sierra Nevada region RIGHT NOW! In fact, now is the time to nominate Geotourism assets in the “Tahoe-Emigrant Corridor” phase of the project. Yes, you guessed it: this area includes Lake Tahoe, the “jewel of the Sierra” according to Mark Twain. “Geotourism assets” are anything authentic, distinctive and sustainable about a destination, and may include trails, historic landmarks, parks, geological features, green businesses, cultural assets, events, stories or even living people.

Washoe grinding stones at Meeks Bay, Lake Tahoe west shore

You can find out more about Geotourism in the Sierra Nevada and nominate your favorite spots at SierraNevadaGeotourism.com.

As a local contributor to the project, I help to decide whether geotourism assets are appropriate as they are nominated…and feel free to discuss your geotourism nominations, whether in Lake Tahoe, the Sierra Nevada, or in your home town, right here on ecomentum.com!

Fallen Leaf Lake, near Tahoe's South Shore, is a beautiful local spot and a filming location for the movie "City of Angels"

It’s been too long since we updated the blog here. Winter in Tahoe just gets busy – shoveling, skiing, waiting for the tourists to come….

Normally this time of year, the snow melt has begun, and we’re talking about the great spring corn skiing and polishing up and tuning the mountain bikes. Not so this year. El Nino has hit the Lake Tahoe region with a series of powdery, mid-winter storms….and we’re loving it! We’re creeping on mid-April and have received 2 major winter storms over the past week – with depths in some areas topping 6 feet of new fresh powder. I must admit to playing hookey with my son Tyler twice in the last week, enjoying 2 epic days at Kirkwood.

Ty enjoying a snowday from school in some glorious spring powder in Tahoe

For those of you more interested in the backcountry action, I don’t think I’m spoiling any secrets by recommending Waterhouse Peak (aka South Tahoe’s “backcountry resort”) located at the top of Luther Pass at Grass Lake. You’ll be sure to see the cars and the packed trail – perfect for Telemarkers and Alpine Touring (some call it AT or Randonnee). Yes, you can snow shoe it too – but please mind the “skin track” as people can get cranky. Topping out at close to 10,000 feet, Waterhouse offers some great northern exposure tree skiing and often keeps powder stashes up to a week after a storm. Other great areas nearby, for more advanced skiers, include Hope Valley’s peaks like Red Lake, Stevens, and Roundtop, and of course Mt. Tallac, towering over South Lake Tahoe.

The author's self portrait iphone photo atop Waterhouse Peak in Lake Tahoe

Get out there and enjoy. We’ll be ordering up a side of spring corn skiing and melting snow soon enough.

2009 has certainly been an exciting year around here, Tahoe Paddle Fest in August, the El Dorado County Geotourism Project this summer, and wrapping up the entire year with the Ecotourism roadtrip of a lifetime to Central America from Lake Tahoe, California (with a focus on Cultural, Adventure and Sustainable Tourism for Destinations).

Unfortunately, due to a web hosting mishap, our website was deleted, including 2 years of blog entries. But fortunately, we got lots of new material for you. And now that the Tahoe winter is setting in quickly (it’s 3 degrees and dumping snow as I write this in Meyers – South Lake Tahoe), we’ll have something to do besides drink stiff eggnog while huddled around the fireplace.

Mexico's beautiful Michocan Coast

Over 7 weeks, the Subaru Forester covered some serious ground: Mexico, Belize (Responsible Tourism Conference), Guatemala (Tikal & Chichicastenango’s market), Honduras (Copan Mayan ruins & Gracias colonial country), El Salvador and Nicaragua (honestly, mostly surfing there , and much more. I stayed with Mayan villagers in remote Belize, visited the 2nd largest barrier reef in the world, climbed the Mayan skyscrapers of Tikal, Pelenque, Copan, Caracol & Chichen Itza, went on a tour of an organic chocolate farm and even ate some spicy grasshoppers and participated in a human rights march in Oaxaca. Who says all the action happened in the 60’s?!

Volcano between Tepic and Guadalajara, Mexico

Stay tuned for more as we repopulate this blog and add some new Sustainable Tourism (including Ecotourism, Geotourism, Adventure, Agritourism & Cultural Tourism) resources to the site, along with new blog entries.

Mayan family selling textiles under "the arch" in Antigua, Guatemala

Enjoy the pictures for now and our social media sites:
• Flickr
• http://twitter.com/ecomentum
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  ]]> http://ecomentum.com/ecotourism/ecotourism-road-trip-tahoe-to-nicaragua-and-back/feed/ 1 http://ecomentum.com/ecotourism/tom-pohaku-stone-tahoe-paddle-fest-event-blessing/ http://ecomentum.com/ecotourism/tom-pohaku-stone-tahoe-paddle-fest-event-blessing/#comments Mon, 03 Aug 2009 22:32:09 +0000 pgbrumis http://ecomentum.com/?p=41 Tom “Pohaku” Stone @ Tahoe Paddle Fest (Event Opening Blessing)

  In their native tongues, Hawaiian and Washoe, respectively, Tom “Pohaku” Stone (Hawaiian) and Renee Smokey (Washoe & Paiute), ushered in a new age in the Lake Tahoe basin. In a place inhabited by native people for over ten thousand years, there has been scant evidence or recognition of the rich indigenous history in Lake Tahoe.