Squaw Valley
Squaw Valley Ski Resort Review Squaw Valley has an unfortunate name, but this valley also known as Olympic Valley is an impressive ski resort near Lake Tahoe in California. Squaw Valley’s Olympic heritage developed from hosting the 1960 winter games, a major turning point in the development of the resort and skiing in the area.
Warren Miller probably also bestowed the resort with a little more notoriety when he filmed the exploits of daredevils jumping off cliffs in the early 1980s. The pedigree of extreme skiers continues, and when you ride some of the chairlifts at Squaw Valley you can feel like you’re watching a live viewing of a Warren Miller movie.
Where is Squaw Valley?
Squaw Valley is located a few kilometres north-west of Lake Tahoe in California, a bit over 3 hours from San Francisco. It is close to Nevada with the nearest airport being in Reno, only an hour away.
Ski and Snowboard Terrain
The super-large
Squaw Valley ski terrain is spread over six peaks with 870 metres of vertical. The bowls near the top of the peaks are tree-less, offering European style wide open spaces, rather than the traditional US named trails. The resort also features glades, groomed highways, steep chutes, terrain parks and half-pipes.
Even though this is a mecca for extreme skiers, you don’t have to be a stunt skier to enjoy the terrain. Those of us that like to keep the sticks or board in contact with the snow can also take pleasure in Squaw Valley. There is terrain for everyone from gnarly to nice, from tough to tame, and from scary to sedate. Officially, intermediates and beginners get 45% and 25% of the terrain respectively, but there seems to be much more black and double black terrain than 30%.
If you don’t know what the hell a funitel is you can check out one at Squaw Valley (a wind-friendly gondola type lift attached to two cables). There is also a cable car, four 6-pack fast chairs and various high-speed quads, making this one of the most advanced lift systems in the world.
In regards to the weather, the gods are kind to Squaw Valley. The resort boasts over 11 metres of snowfall annually (albeit somewhat heavy at times and supplemented by snow-making) and the classic Californian sun that shines 300 days a year – perfect for the fair-weather powderhound (if they even exist?). Night skiing is also available.
Accommodation and Facilities
The Village at Squaw Valley is small but rapidly growing, and there are several luxury and moderately priced condos and hotels, some of them ski-in ski-out. Other
Squaw Valley hotels abound in nearby Tahoe City and Truckee, or if you need plenty of night-time action you can stay near
Heavenly at one of the
South Lake Tahoe hotels and enjoy mini Las Vegas.
Why Ski or Snowboard at Squaw Valley?
Squaw is a fantastic ski resort that caters generously to all levels – from the rank beginner to the extreme snow rider. For its size it is well priced and the village is big enough to be interesting without being overwhelming. Accommodation is top class and the surrounding area has plenty of activities on offer. This winter playground is a great destination for a ski holiday – just beware of the cliffs.