Lake Tahoe female winter athletes moonlight as models

Pick up a copy of Title Nine — the iconic women’s activewear catalog, not the sports equality legislation — and it’s full of fit females well-outfitted in recreational clothing. If any of these energetic ladies look familiar, it’s because several models have been gleaned from Lake Tahoe’s sporty melting pot.

As far back as 2007, Tahoe ski pro Robin Barnes started modeling for the catalog.

“I worked with them at least three different years,” she said. “There was one shot of me in workout wear standing on a balance ball, which was fun. The first time something was published, it was like posting something on Facebook. There were so many old friends getting in touch, saying they’d seen me in the T9 catalog.”

Barnes, who is on the US Demo Team and is ski school director in Portillo, Chile, is by no means a professional model, due to her day job. But her athletic abilities and bright smile have led her to gigs with other brands like Nordica, Spyder and Head.

Melanie Garcia has been in Tahoe all her life and co-owns Moxy Fitness with her sister, Erica. Just another example of someone living the healthy mountain lifestyle, Melanie was on the cover of T9’s recent winter issue.

“I originally started with (photographer) Justin Bailey,” Garcia said. “A friend at Moxy said I should model for him and it was initially just stock things, like running with my dogs. But then one of those shots was used by Backpacker magazine. Then I did a few things with Corey (Rich) which included ads for Polartec and Canon.

“Since it’s action and sports, it suits me. For the Canon ad, I was climbing at Pie Shop. If I had to sit in one spot and stare at the camera, it wouldn’t work! It’s a lot of fun working with Title Nine for the same reasons and the clothes are always fun. I have to say, I’m a tomboy and sometimes there’s stuff I wouldn’t typically pick out. One time I was in an outfit and my boyfriend said ‘Hey, you’re in a dress!’ which I don’t normally wear. But in general they have great clothing and if it looks good, it’s fine with me.”

Part of the glue holding these photo shoots together is Rich, the photography.

His resume includes...

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