All Images: John Lejins
After ten long years, the Rahlves Bonzai Tour made a much-anticipated return at Palisades Tahoe last week. An open-registration, proper ski and snowboard-cross race with a course blended throughout the whole mountain, the Rahlves Bonzai Tour asks for nothing but bucknasty speed and offers eternal glory, bragging rights and cold hard cash in return.
Contestants poured in despite near whiteout conditions and what ensued was nothing short of a legendary weekend. With four riders entering the start gate at a time, things heated up quickly. The storm dropped over 3 feet of snow on Palisades in total, with snow falling throughout the event. But as is par for an event started by Daron Rahlves, the show must go on, no matter what.
The stakes were high, with both men's and women's fields in skiing and snowboarding receiving $2,500 for first place, $1,000 for second place and $650 for third place. That's over $16,000 in cash for the victors. After the qualifier day weeded out the cream of the crop, the finals showdown was set.
"Finals day two of [the Rahlves Bonzai Tour] presented challenges with snow, wind and difficult visibility," said Rahlves on Instagram. "But with a can-do attitude and a collective positive energy among the competitors, race department, event crew and mountain ops, the event prevailed!" Check out a few shots from the competition in the full photo gallery below, and keep an eye out for more recap videos from the 2026 Rahlves Bonzai Tour coming soon.
Plus, the recent storm has given Palisades Tahoe a proper spring reset. With no closing day listed, spring skiing around Lake Tahoe is looking really good.
Rahlves Bonzai Tour 2026 women's (left) and men's (right) ski podiums
