People don’t picture snow-covered mountains when they think of California. It’s all sunny beaches, right? Wrong! The Sierra Nevada Mountains, which form the spine of California, literally means “snowy mountains” in Spanish. As a result, ski resorts around Lake Tahoe on the California-Nevada border report the most significant snowfall in the Western U.S. The most famous of these is the legendary Palisades Tahoe (formerly Squaw Valley), the site of the 1960 Winter Olympic Games. This area is where ski stars from past to present have been raised, and many iconic ski movies have been filmed.
Palisades Tahoe is the kind of big, sprawling mountain where you should have a game plan before you go, especially on a powder day. Here’s insider info on how to ski the mountain like a local:
Sleep
The condos at the Village at Palisades Tahoe have fireplaces and eight hot tubs and are just steps from the slopes — so they can be pricey; the village itself has comfy hotel rooms at Plumpjack Inn and condos at Red Wolf Lodge. Tahoe City is a short drive away with more affordable hotel rooms, including rustic hip decor at Base Camp Tahoe City.
Other Stuff
Your kids — or your inner child — will love the disco tubing on selected Saturday nights in the SnoVentures Activity Zone at the base of Palisades Tahoe. There’s a DJ spinning tracks and laser lights as you zoom down on an inflated tube.
Ride the tram up to High Camp — skiers and non-skiers alike are welcome — for a scenic tour and stellar views of Lake Tahoe. The Olympic Museum at the top is worth browsing for 1960 Winter Olympic history, and there’s a new Washoe Display to learn about the Washoe tribe — the indigenous people that first inhabited the valley.
Off the mountain, there’s Nordic skiing at Tahoe XC, ice skating at the Tahoe City Winter Sports Park, and a new indoor climbing gym in Truckee called High Altitude Fitness.
Don’t Miss
At the top of KT-22, look to your left, atop the rocky spire known as McConkey’s or Eagle’s Nest. You’ll see a sculpture of an eagle, put there in memory of the late legendary freeskier Shane McConkey.
A must-do (for those capable) is the bootpack up to Palisades, the iconic set of north-facing chutes that gave the resort its new name. There’s no easy way down from here, but the mellowest descent is National Chute — a wide but still very steep and expert-only ramp that drops off the summit’s farthest skier’s right side.
Just the Facts
Palisades Tahoe is a magnet for storms coming in from the Pacific, given its location atop the Pacific Crest in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Even with 10 metres of snow/year, the resort also gets 300 days of sunshine annually. Plus, there’s a whopping 2,428 hectares to explore … so the numbers add up nicely.
→ Skiable area: Olympic Valley: 3,600 acres (1,456 hectares) & 170 trails; Alpine
→ Parks: 5 terrain parks
→ Longest run: Mountain Run at 5.15 km
→ Terrain mix: 25%/45%/30%
→ Lifts: 42 total; capacity 53,500 skiers/hr
→ Average annual snowfall: 10.16 m
→ Snowmaking coverage: 11/29 lifts at Olympic Valley; 9/11 lifts at Alpine Meadows
→ Olympic Valley: vertical 869 m; top elevation 2,758 m
→ Alpine Meadows: vertical 549 m; top elevation 2,758 m
Getting there: From the airport in Reno, Nevada, it’s about an hour by car or shuttle via Interstate 80, or 154 kilometres from Sacramento and 315 kilometres from San Francisco) but you’ll drive over the snowy Donner Summit, where chains or four-wheel-drive are often required.
