The Reluctant Alpinist

The Trans Tahoe Relay starts at Sand Harbor and ends 11.5 miles later at Skylandia, near Tahoe City. In between is a whole lot of very cold, very deep, very blue water, and on this particular day, six of my friends took turns swimming through it while I captained the boat alongside them. No wetsuits allowed. The format: each swimmer does a 30 minute swim followed by 10-minute legs, tagging in and out until the team reaches the finish. We had a cowbell on board to ring at each