SAM Magazine--April 5, 2012--Fifty-two years after the Olympic flame was first ignited in the Tahoe region, California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom and Nevada Lieutenant Governor Brian Krolicki announced the formation of the Lake Tahoe Winter Games Exploratory Committee (LTWGEC) today, a new joint California Nevada initiative to develop an Olympic Bid for the 2022 Winter Games.

The new committee, LTWGEC, is an entity created by the leadership of two separate organizations that were set up to explore a potential bid for the Tahoe Region. The two organizations-the Reno Tahoe Winter Games Coalition and the California Winter Games Committee-joined by the Bay Area Sports Organizing Committee, will now be committing their significant resources to the LTWGEC.

The Lake Tahoe Winter Games Exploratory Committee will be tasked with creating a group of business, civic and political leaders that will work to explore the benefits and impacts of hosting the Olympic Games in the Lake Tahoe Region. According to Krolicki and Newsom, the new group's leadership will be announced in the coming weeks-including an environmental leadership team. Andy Wirth, CEO and president at Squaw Valley, will serve as interim chair of the committee. \