Storm of the century buries media tour

"Thank you everything was fabulous, and I love your area!" That message, sent back via email from the East Coast by Connie Long,who trades on her cachet as the skiing White House reporter, is the positive spin tourist agencies hope to see in print.

Reports posted on Long's Web site, www.dcski.com, tell the true story: "We have not yet been able to see the legendary Lake Tahoe, although it is right outside our door ... The wind is ruthless.

Squaw Valley recorded winds of 163 mph! ... Lord knows if we will ever get out of here."

Journalists from across the nation visited northern Nevada 10 days ago, on site to report the record-setting snowstorm that blew their carefully-planned itinerary to tatters.

"Sometimes they got on the bus not knowing where they were going next," said Ronele Klingensmith of RKPR, the agency that arranged activities for the five-day visit."But the journalists were most understanding of all the changes."

Thirty-six travel writers flew in Jan.

6 to sample the cities, scenery and snow pack of northern Nevada.

If all of them publish and broadcast their adventures,millions of people could hear of the drama and drawbacks of a visit here.

The media familiarization tours are a product of the Regional Marketing Committee, a consortium of travel and tourism concerns.

Their goal is to bring in targeted media from new key air destinations Atlanta, Phoenix, New York and California served by the Reno/Tahoe International Airport, said Candace Duncan, tourism committee chair.

The payoff comes when the writers' stories appear in print.

To track the results in dollar terms, the committee plans to track the total inches of print and minutes of airtime produced by the writers in each tour, said Erin Wallace, public relations coordinator at the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority.

The totals will be priced at standard advertising rates to calculate the economic impact of the tour.

The long weekend began on Thursday in Reno with a redevelopment tour that had writers talking about the train trench during a Reno Events Center reception to showcase casino properties.

The Friday itinerary included snowmobile rides and dog-sled runs at Little Truckee Summit plus skiing at Squaw Valley.

However, the blowing storm cut the fun short.

During the Saturday afternoon blizzard at Mount Rose ski hill, the bus driver said he couldn't make the trip back to Incline.

So an abrupt change in plans brought the tour back to Reno-Sparks.

But not before Connie Long, the skiing White House reporter, called in a live radio broadcast to USA Radio News about "the storm of the century" to one million listeners, said Klingensmith.

The blizzard blew away Saturday plans for spa treatments at the Hyatt Lake Tahoe and a dinner with a Frank Sinatra theme at the Stateline Cal Neva.

It buried Sunday plans at South Lake Tahoe: Harvey's, Llewellyn's and Heavenly.Monday's Carson City tour of the State Capitol and museums drifted away.

"The goal is to provide the journalists with stories," said Klingensmith."We were able, at least, to talk about the places they wanted to go.We sent them information on the places they want to write about.

They still plan to write their stories."

Meanwhile, the journalists were treated to substitute activities.A redevelopment tour of the Truckee River in Reno and Victorian Square in Sparks replaced cruising on the M.S.

Dixie II.

Two nights at the Silver Legacy replaced scenic Lake Tahoe lodgings.

Comedy club shows replaced recorded crooning by Frank Sinatra.

Beer at Great Basin Brewery replaced apres-ski receptions.

"Some of it was frustrating,"Klingensmith admitted.