Palisades Tahoe

Olympic Valley, Sierra Nevada

Palisades Tahoe is a ski resort in Olympic Valley, California, north-west of Tahoe City in the Sierra Nevada. It was founded in 1949 as Squaw Valley and took its current name in 2021, dropping a word with derogatory connotations. Its place in history was fixed long before that: it hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics, and the spotlight of those Games raised its profile and set off a series of ownership changes from the 1970s onwards. Today it is the largest skiing complex in the Lake Tahoe region and is known for its challenging terrain, which the site’s off-piste tag reflects.

Six peaks and the only funitel in America

The resort, not counting Alpine Meadows, has a base elevation of 1,890 m and 3,600 acres, about 14.6 square kilometres, of skiable terrain spread across six peaks. The lift fleet is unusually varied: 23 chairlifts, 4 carpet lifts, a tramway, a gondola connecting it to Alpine Meadows, and the only funitel in the United States. That adds up to the 29 lifts in our data, which serve 240 km of runs. The top, at Granite Chief, is a little over 2,740 m, giving a vertical of roughly 870 m; our data records the top station at 2,758 m. Altitude is not what skiers here rely on, though. The resort averages 400 inches, about 10.2 m, of snowfall a year, a figure that explains its reputation better than any elevation. The site’s tags are après-ski, off-piste terrain and scenic views. The difficulty split is not recorded in our data.

Alpine Meadows and the merger

In 2012 the resort merged with neighbouring Alpine Meadows to become Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows, offering joint access to 6,000 acres, 43 lifts and more than 270 runs. The gondola built to connect the two, along with a proposed development at the base, drew opposition from environmentalists, which Wikipedia records as a continuing controversy. Around 600,000 skiers a year visit, and the resort also hosts a number of summer events, so the base area is busy well beyond the December to April season.

Practical

Reno-Tahoe airport is roughly 55 km away as the crow flies. The season runs from December to April. The resort’s official website is the reference for passes, lift status and the current state of the Alpine Meadows connection. For skiers weighing up the trip, the three facts that matter most are the Olympic pedigree, the six-peak terrain with its off-piste reputation, and the annual snowfall average.