Steve Maher

Ridge coach Yamamoto chosen for top award

WENATCHEE — Longtime Mission Ridge Ski Team coach Claudia Yamamoto was named the Pacific Northwest Ski Association’s coach of the year during ceremonies Saturday evening. Yamamoto is only the second woman to win the award in the ski association’s history. The Quincy resident has served as a coach for more than 30 years at Mission Ridge, 49 Degrees North near Spokane and at Alta, Utah. During her racing days, she competed in Northwest Cups, U.S. Nationals, Can Ams, and the Western Region Elite Spring Series.

Best bet: Dig the river

Want fast? Try the Wenatchee River Festival on Friday and Saturday in Cashmere, where kayakers will take to the torrent to race and to show off some tricks. Much of the activity will center around the Riverside Center in town.

Reader scrapbook: The motion of cycling

Wenatchee photographer Frank Cone captured a cyclist racing in the Ted Finegold Memorial Criterium in downtown Wenatchee on May 14. Using a technique called panning, in which he fires his Nikon D7000 at a slow shutter speed while following the cyclist along his path, Cone snapped this shot from the corner of Orondo and Columbia streets. Cone’s camera shoots five to six frames per second, and he says once in a while he hits on an image like this one, where the subject is in focus with a blurry background.

Reader scrapbook: Shimmer in the blue water

Adult Canadian geese watch over their goslings at Walla Walla Point Park in Wenatchee on May 13.

Ride ‘n’ run

WENATCHEE — Get in the community groove by taking part in this Saturday’s Apple Century Bike Ride, a Wenatchee Sunrise Rotary event that raises money for college scholarships. In a departure from past years, this Century Bike Ride is taking cyclists up the Wenatchee Valley. The 50-mile ride travels from Wenatchee to Leavenworth and back, while the 100-mile ride goes from Wenatchee to Nason Creek and back. For more:www.applebikeride.com If bike riding isn’t your thing — and you prefer a grueling trail run to cap off your weekend — try Sunday’s inaugural Red Devil Challenge above Cashmere. The 20-kilometer run and relay, which begins and ends at the Devil’s Gulch/Red Devil trailhead, features 3,000 foot elevation gain. Shuttles will take participants from Cashmere to the trailhead. For more: www.runwenatchee.com

Out There: Calendar

May 24: Wenatchee Valley Trail Run Series, Leavenworth Ski Hill trails, fun run, no timing, refreshments at end, www.runwenatchee.com

Your task: Run trail, eat pancakes

MAZAMA — Here’s a good deal: Run (or walk) through meadows and fields to your heart’s content and then fill up on pancakes to your stomach’s pleasure. That you can do at this Saturday’s Mazama Fun Run.

This spot has it all

Wildlife, flowers, basalt formations up Swakane way

Access: From the north end of Wenatchee, drive north five miles on Highway 97A, turn left onto Forest Service Road No. 7415 into Swakane Canyon. Continue up the canyon three miles to Rattlesnake Springs Forest Service Road No. 5215 and park. Do not block road access. Fees: None

That’s mine

A group from the Tri-Tech Skills Center’s early childhood education program watch earlier this month as chunky rainbow trout plummet from a state Department of Fish and Wildlife transport truck into the Columbia Park Fishing Pond in Kennewick. The delivery was part of an effort to stock fish for a Kids Fishing Day program.

Best bets: Two races geared for kids

Do one or do both. The Junior Ridge to River Relay takes place Saturday morning at Walla Walla Park Point, followed by the new Live4Adventure race at the Apple Bowl.

Reader scrapbook: The foothills beckon

Saddle Rock in the spring is a glorious sight as this photo by Wenatchee’s Terry Finn attests.

Ettinger excels in Europe

WENATCHEE — Cashmere’s Stephen Ettinger had two strong showings in professional mountain bike races in Europe this past weekend. On Saturday, he came in 12th in the Swiss Racer Bikes Cup in Solothurn, Switzerland, in a tough field. He was the top American finisher and second among U23 (under 23 years of age) riders. The race was won by pro Nino Schurter of Switzerland.

Trail work parties slated for Wenatchee/Leavenworth

WENATCHEE — The Chelan-Douglas Land Trust is seeking volunteers to repair trails in the Wenatchee foothills every Tuesday from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. through the month of June. Participants should wear sturdy shoes or boots and protective clothing, and bring drinking water, gloves and any hand tools (such as shovels, rakes, Pulaskis) they own. Land Trust coordinators will provide a safety briefing, instruction on how to use tools, and help for those who’ve never done trail work before.

Best bets I: Time for that ‘bikeumentary’

What: “Pedal Driven” film showing

Jewel of the foothills

Homestead Trail opens northwest of the city

WENATCHEE — The battle for the hearts and tread and pedal of the Wenatchee foothills trail user has begun. The new Homestead Trail opened May 1 on the Horse Lake Preserve northwest of the city, and over the weekend dozens of people were spotted biking, hiking, running or otherwise checking out the five-mile-long loop path.

Out There: Calendar

April 21-24: Northwest Crank, long-distance bicycle rides beginning in the Wenatchee area to Quincy, Douglas County, Lake Chelan, www.northwestcrank.com

Red Devil trail run quite the challenge

CASHMERE — Joel Rhyner was looking for something challenging. Yet not too far away. He believes he’s found it in the hills above Cashmere.

Reader scrapbook: Urban & Wild

Wenatchee is full of city. It also is full of outdoors, as our readers document in these revealing photos.

Nancy Doerr captured this photo of a young deer in January — just outside her kitchen window at her home near the foothills west of Wenatchee. “We joke about how expensive it gets this time of year to feed the birds ...” she wrote in an e-mail.

Duathlon starts at 10

WENATCHEE — The Apple Capital Spring Duathlon begins at 10 a.m. this Saturday at Wenatchee Confluence State Park. A story on Page B1 in Tuesday’s paper incorrectly stated the start time for the 11th-annual race.

Farrar crashes in Europe

SCHOTEN, Belgium — Wenatchee’s Tyler Farrar crashed near the finish in today’s Grand Prix l’Escaut as rival Mark Cavendish of Britain broke free to claim his third career victory in the event. Cavendish, a 15-time stage winner on the Tour de France, was able to avoid trouble in the crash-marred finale to finish ahead of Russia’s Denis Galimzyanov and Belarussian Yauheni Hutarovich.

Ridge team second in overall standings

WENATCHEE — The Mission Ridge Ski Team posted top finishes this past weekend during the Northwest Cup Finals at the ski area. The Northwest Cup, overseen by the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association, attracts the top junior skiers in the region.

Spring birding at Horse Lake Ranch

WENATCHEE — Local experts David and Beth St. George lead a fun hike through Horse Lake ranch searching for migratory songbirds and other species from 6:30 to 9:45 a.m. May 21. The Chelan-Douglas Land Trust event is limited to 15 people and is open to the public.

Foothills are beckoning

Sage Hills system reopens to trail users

WENATCHEE — After a four-month hiatus, the Sage Hills trail system north of Fifth Street welcomed back hikers, runners and bikers on Friday. Each year, the trail system closes in December to protect mule deer habitat and reopens on April 1.

Reader scrapbook: Springing right along

A buttercup blooms on Saddle Rock west of Wenatchee during the last week of March. A late spring means many wildflowers are just coming into their own in the Cascade foothills.

Reader scrapbook: Wink, wink, I’m over here

Ardenvoir’s Tim Olinghouse was walking home from Cooper’s Store on Nov. 29 when this northern pygmy owl landed on a bush about 10 feet from the road. Writes Olinghouse: “My camera was in my backpack. I couldn’t believe I was able to retrieve my camera and take a few shots of this little bird. It was no bigger than a robin. The left eye looks damaged but zero in close and you will see the eye is OK, just the lid is shutting.”

Reader scrapbook

A couple antlerless mule deer glance the way of Cashmere’s Steve Godfrey in the foothills of the Cascades.

Recreational sports calendar

Recreational sports schedule through May

Softball preview: CWAC (Quincy and Ephrata) and NCW 2B league

League capsules for Quincy and Ephrata

Reader scrapbook: Watery glide across the canvas

Wenatchee’s Lance Stegemann came across these geese skimming along the surface of the Columbia River earlier this month.

Saluting wintertime

We live in an extraordinary, yet diverse, place. Mountains and rivers. Warm and cold. City life and wildlife.

Scoreboard: Prep sports

State tournament box scores

Scoreboard: Basketball

State tourney basketball brackets for 1A, 2B

Scoreboard: Prep sports

Prep tournament scores and schedules

State tourney basketball brackets for 1A, 2B

Prep tournament brackets for Class 1A and 2B boys and 2B girls

Scoreboard: Prep sports

Prep state tournament brackets

Scoreboard: Prep sports

Prep tournament brackets

State basketball tourney brackets

Class 1A boys, Class 2B boys and Class 2B girls

Reader scrapbook: Best snowshoe forward

A group of Quincy area residents got together for some snowshoeing on Feb. 19 at the Leavenworth Fish Hatchery grounds.

Scoreboard: Prep sports

State tournament scores and schedules

Basketball scores

Basketball BOYS

Scoreboard: Prep sports

State tournament schedules

Scoreboard: Prep sports

State tournament schedules

Scoreboard: Prep sports

Prep tournament scores and schedules

Scoreboard: Prep sports

State tournament brackets

Reader scrapbook: Those deep, deep days ...

George Casey and Cameron Jackson of Wenatchee did some snowmobiling near the towers at Mission Ridge on Feb. 17 and ran into all kinds of deep powder, great views and snow ghosts. “It was pure ice for about three miles getting up there, but once you got up there there was plenty of snow,” said Casey, noting that the duo travelled past Clear and Lily lakes on their trip up. “There was like four inches of fresh snow and nobody was up there. It’s been so icy I don’t think anybody wanted to be up there, not that I blame them.”

Stories by Steve

Wildlife, flowers, basalt formations up Swakane way

Homestead Trail opens northwest of the city

Wenatchee is full of city. It also is full of outdoors, as our readers document in these revealing photos.

Sage Hills system reopens to trail users