Squaw Valley is a California ski resort of
legends, home of the world’s first double chair in 1949, host of the 1960 Winter
Olympics, and training ground to pro skiers like Scot Schmidt, Jonny Moseley,
Julia Mancuso, and the sadly deceased skiers Shane McConkey and CR Johnson.
This 4,000 acre winter playground has an especially long season since Lake Tahoe
ski resorts receive over 400 inches of snow annually, and the bonus of 300 days
of sunshine. Squaw is the largest Tahoe ski area with a funitel and tram from
the Squaw Village to 8,200-foot High Camp where skiers find an Olympic ice
skating rink, heated pool, hot tub and huge lodge overlooking the slopes and
Lake Tahoe.
Squaw has undergone big changes to the tune of $50 million installing new high-speed
chairlifts replacing the Granite Chief and Shirley Lake lifts. Squaw has also
finally named their over
200 trails, which have always just been simply tagged green, blue or black
diamond, and installed a state of the art information system with ski lift
status signs, the likes of Vail indicating lifts and trails open and liftline
wait times.
Expert skiers love Squaw for the steep chutes and cliffs on the Headwall,
Granite Chief, and the famous KT-22 – named for the twenty-two kick turns it
takes to ski the face. Squaw’s expert terrain has appeared in top extreme ski
films and videos by Matchstick, PoorBoyz and Meathead Films. Today’s best
freeskiers like Squaw’s terrain parks – like Simon Dumont’s cubed pipe filmed at
Squaw.
Squaw also offers skiers beginner and intermediate terrain, and Squaw's base village
offers skiers with boutiques, pubs and restaurants from Irish to sushi.
Just steps from the Cable Car, you can lodge at the
PlumpJack Squaw Valley Inn.
The art deco PlumpJack, owned by the former mayor of San Francisco Gavin Newsom,
is a great place for fireside après ski at the Plumpjack bar.
Or stay at the
four diamond Resort at Squaw Creek, listed as one of the top 50 ski places to
stay by Conde Nast, in one of 405 luxury ski in/ski out rooms in the Squaw ski
hotel. During your Squaw ski vacation, be sure to ski nearby Alpine Meadows -
who shares reciprocal lift ticket privileges with Squaw, Northstar at Tahoe, and
Heavenly and Kirkwood on South Lake Tahoe.
Squaw Valley is a California ski resort of
legends, home of the world’s first double chair in 1949, host of the 1960 Winter
Olympics, and training ground to pro skiers like Scot Schmidt, Jonny Moseley,
Julia Mancuso, and the sadly deceased skiers Shane McConkey and CR Johnson. 