“Where have all the goofy people gone?” – asked @trail_whisperer to Episode 38 guest, Taylor Carlton. As a lifelong snowboarder who emigrated to Truckee from Michigan in 2005 after almost moving to Colorado, Carlton has witnessed the changes in Truckee firsthand working as a real estate agent through the wild times of COVID when “everyone bought everything”. Most of Truckee’s new residents bring a more serious and competitive personality, displacing many of the core lord, ski bum types who never took themselves too seriously, just like Carlton. Despite this changing of local culture, Carlton holds on to his goofy snowboarder roots, chief among them is being the co-founder and ringleader of the Rally for Rocker backcountry slalom competition-slash-party held every April on Donner Summit, a fundraiser for the future Rocker Memorial Skate Park; an event he was mistakenly arrested for by federal law enforcement in its second year, one of many funny stories Carlton shares with listeners.

2:00 – Introducing Taylor Carlton, organizer of Rally for Rocker.

6:00 – The story of skiing into Frog Lake Huts during the tail end of a big storm.

12:00 – How did Taylor end up in Tahoe coming from Michigan?

15:30 – Michigan has roots in snowboarding – the Snurfer, Jake Burton, Brett Kobernick

19:30 – The transition from park and slopestyle riding to backcountry snowboarding

21:00 – The insane progression of snowboarding and crazy tricks in events like XGames

22:00 – Athleticism, relatability and inspiration. Crazy tricks are not relatable to the average rider.

25:00 – Warp Wave film era – Aurora Boardealis and A Place Called Kookabunga – Gray Thompson and Eric Messier.

30:00 – Truckee since COVID – Taylor’s perspective as a real estate agent in Truckee and the seriousness of new residents.

36:00 – The insanity of the real estate market in Truckee during COVID – Everybody bought everything.

40:50 – Taylor’s roof on his house had an ice dam and it turned into a leak that destroyed part of his house with water damage.

47:00 – Jeff Brown of Tahoe Mountain Realty – did an analysis about value of Tahoe homes compared to other mountain towns across the list – maybe Truckee was extremely undervalued.

52:30 – May 5th Snowstorm – Craziness at Palisades Tahoe – mayhem in the parking lot.

57:30 – Witnessing backcountry skiers in steep terrain with no avalanche safety gear.

59:45 – All about Rally for Rocker, in memory of Steve “Rocker” Anderson.

1:05:00 – Taylor’s story about getting arrested by U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement.

1:12:00 – Story of Mike D, flying his airplane over the event and dropping money.

1:19:20 – Why does Truckee need another skate park? The one Truckee has is incredibly dangerous. Shout out to Colin Robinson for planning Rocker Memorial Skate Park.

1:23:00 – Donate to Rocker Memorial Skate Park – rockermemorialskatepark.org

1:26:15 – What does Mind the Track mean to you?

1:30:00 – Find Taylor Carlton – tahoemountainrealty.com - @shadtothebone