49er girls pose in Incline

There's gold in them thar hills. (Sorry, but had to "go there" for this story.)

That's right... Incline residents and visitors strolling through the sands of the Hyatt Beach or Sand Harbor Tuesday were (depending on your demographic) "treated" to an inordinate number of scantily clad, nubile beauties surrounded by lights, cameras and - plenty of "handlers."

Is this Cabo San Lucas? Maui? The Cayman Islands? Barbados?

"No, this is Tahoe, and we love it," said a San Francisco 49er Gold Rush Girl who simply goes by the name of Jordan. "Shooting our calendar here this year, well - it's so close to home and so beautiful, what's not to love?"

Jordan, caked in enough "shoot-ready" make-up before 8 a.m. to make Andrew Lloyd Webber wince, wrapped herself up in a blue hoody and camouflage culottes. She shivered and shook as the early morning basin sun crept over the still snow splotched east slope.

Pawing through a box of Cheezits with fellow calendar girls, "Cori" and "Claudia", also of the single-name ilk, Jordan smiled and waited for the OK from legendary Sports Illustrated photographer Heinz Klutmeier.

The professional cheerleaders turned swimsuit models/pin-up girls, who will elicit many a Pavlovian response from armchair quarterbacks each fall, while waiting to don their suits and have the lights shine bright, shared thoughts, opinions, aspirations, and a taste of life beyond the sidelines and - all with a sense of humor - who would've guessed?

"Well... most of us, we see this as a good way to reach out to the community," Gold Rush "rookie" Cori explained.

Community? Really? From a swimsuit calendar?

"Actually, you'd be surprised," said director of the Gold Rush Girls (and former NBA cheerleader) Erin Olmstead. "The number of public appearances they do, the amount of charity work - it's pretty astounding.

"People have a hard time believing (it), but most of the (cheerleaders) are students or have full-time jobs. But this is a full-time commitment and it goes far beyond Sundays."

Indeed, the 49ers Foundation raised and distributed more than $1 million to nonprofits throughout the Bay Area in 2005 alone; the Gold Rush girls (along with the players themselves) are "key" to the success of events and fundraisers Olmstead said.

"It's a year-round job," she noted. "Yes, the ability to do a calendar is one 'perk' but it's also a lot of work."

How hard can it be? Make-up, swimsuits, exotic locales....

"Um, we've been up everyday at 5 a.m. and (gotten) to bed shortly after midnight," said Kristen Chew, spokeswoman for Palo Alto-based E2k Sports, the company that trains and manages the Gold Rush Girls. "Are we tired? Yes? Are the girls tired? You bet. But, it's all worth it."

The cheerleaders concurred, even as a slight breeze blew a tiny dust storm on the shoreline causing some make-up retouches, lighting changes and ...more delays.

"The calendar shoots are long days," Chew said. "But, we're going to (feature) all 40 (Gold Rush Girls) in the calendar - and that's pretty unique."

As the photogs began to motion for the first model to ready for her shoot, Gold Rush Girl, Claudia, a five-year veteran and the elder stateswoman of those at the Hyatt Beach shoot, brushed crumbs off her fingers, flipped her hair and glanced out over the blue of the lake whispering in the ear of Denver native Cori.

"I just said, we've been to lots of exotic places in the past," Caludia beamed. "But, you know, nothing beats Tahoe."