JP DONOVAN & BELINDA QUENÉ Tahoe Multisport

By Kayla Anderson

The snow melted and the chickadees are singing, marking the time for residents and visitors alike to come out of their dens and start enjoying the outdoors. But there is so much to do between biking, kayaking, and paddleboarding…where to start?

It usually depends on what kind of equipment you have, who you’re with, and the easiest/safest way to get to the beach.

Fortunately, Tahoe Multisport is a small locally owned business located in the upper corner of the Upper Village Center (on 797 Southwood Boulevard Unit #10 next to Tahoe Family Solutions in Incline Village) run by JP Donovan and Belinda Quené. They are both passionate about the outdoors, extremely knowledgeable about the East Shore (and greater Truckee/Tahoe basin) and are open year-round to ensure that you and your friends have a good time.

On a warm sunny afternoon, Quené is outside rearranging their quiver of kayaks and paddleboards. Inside is an inviting reception area and rooms of equipment including cross-country skis, poles, boots, paddles, and e-Bikes.

young, then moved to Lake Tahoe in 2014 after college when she got a job at Northstar California.

“I came here to ski, and liked the idea of living by a lake,” she says. After that first winter season, she stayed in the area and continued working seasonal jobs until she met Donovan at the climbing gym the following year.

Before Donovan met Quené, he was renting out paddleboards as a side job, storing them at his house, and delivering them to customers when they booked the gear online. As his side hustle grew, he acquired more SUPs and eventually needed more space to store them all.

“Then we started doing this full time,” he says. Seeing what Backroads was doing, Donovan also had the goal of hosting tours and needed gear to do that. At that time, stand-up paddleboarding began taking off and he responded to the growing trend by investing in some inflatable ones.

“The equipment has gotten better in the last 10 years and there are a lot of advantages to paddleboarding- it’s easier to get on the water and you’re able to see down to the bottom of the lake. I also saw the advantages to inflatables- I like that you can take them in a backpack and not have to get one only on a beach,” Donovan adds