Ski in Squaw Valley

Skiing in Squaw Valley

Squaw Valley - American Ski Resort (1860m to 2720m)

The site of the 1960 Winter Olympics and internationally recognised world-class ski resort. Squaw Valley has a huge number of chair lifts serving one of North america's largest ski areas. There's a ski-in resort at Squaw Creek opened in the early 1990s followed by a new pedestrian village.

Squaw Valley

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Squaw Valley Ski Facts

Squaw Valley Ski Facts

		Expert Skiers
		Intermediate Skiers
		Beginners
		Snowboarding
		Snow
		Apres-Ski
16km		Cross Country Pistes
31		Ski Lifts
860m		Max Vertical
2720m		Highest Lift
1860m		Lowest Piste
1860m		Resort Altitude

Squaw Valley

The American ski resort of Squaw Valley has direct access to 100 individual pistes, served by 31 ski lifts.

The ski resort itself is above 1500m, so skiing or boarding back to the resort is usually possible. With pistes above 2500 metres, skiing and snowboarding is assured throughout the season.

Snowmaking :- Squaw Valley is able to augment natural snow, with 290 Snow Cannons.

Ski Lift Capacity :- The 31 Ski Lifts of Squaw Valley are able to uplift 49,000 skiers / snowboarders per hour.

Skiing in Squaw Valley

Famous for having some of the steepest terrain in North America, Squaw also has less widely publicised beginner terrain which, as you would expect from a resort with its reputation, is also world class. Unusually, the beginner slopes are at the top of the mountain so beginners can benefit from the same views and higher-elevation snow conditions as the more experienced. Beginners should take the recently refurbished cable car to High Camp and head through the sliding doors to the top of Bailey's Beach. Nor should intermediates feel too intimidated by Squaw's reputation as 45% of the terrain is geared up to suit them. Siberia Express, Gold Coast and Mainline are all good routes to use to get your first taste of open bowl skiing, whilst Shirley Lake Express gives you a choice of five tree runs.

For better skiers, the KT- 22 Peak, accessed by the KT-22/Olympic Lady Express Lift, is legendary. From the top of KT22 the entire spine of the snow covered Sierra Nevada is strung out in bold view for the eye to see. It was the late Wayne Poulsen who whimsically christened the peak by counting how many kick-turns it took his wife Sandy to get down its West Face! Today, the X generation laughs at the thought of this, but don't realize that up until the 60s you didn't really ski the 75 Chute, you traversed it, all except Swiss skier Squaw Valley instructor Joel Auckenthaller.

Some guests visiting Squaw's slopes wouldn't have a clue that a restaurant aptly named The Cornice used to sit near KT's present top terminal, or that there was actually a family of eagles that roosted in the Eagle's Nest. West Face, renamed Moseley's in February 1998 in honour of Squaw Valley Freestyle Team member and Nagano Gold Medallist Jonny Moseley, is the flagship of KT's double diamond terrain. Bumps on the

steep slope stay cold, soft, and gullied into massive mounds storm-to-storm. Negotiating down its rippled compressions is like facing hand-to-hand combat. But KT-22 also has plenty of terrain to offer the intermediate-level enthusiast. From the top, head west along the Saddle Traverse and drop into the long lovely gradients of the Saddle. Keep skier's right for its steeps and a fun finish, or cruise left onto the well-groomed paths and the Mountain Run.

Snowboarding in Squaw Valley

In 1995 Squaw accepted more first time snowboarders than skiers for the first time, a sure mark of its commitment to the sport. The resort's Central Park is located at the top of the Funitel under the Riviera and Belmont lifts. It incorporates two half pipes and two terrain parks, groomed with the aid of two Pipe Dragons. Open for 12 hours each day, Central Park has a throbbing sound system with foodlighting for night time action. The terrain features under Riviera are for advanced riders, those on Belmont for beginner and intermediate freestylers.

The snowboard school offers Sunday sessions including freeriding, terrain park and halfpipe instruction. New last season, Squaw Valley added a Park Bully and a Super Pipe Dragon to its fleet of grooming equipment. This now allows the resort to expand the terrain park and build a Super Park - including table top jumps, a quarter pipe, rail slides, spines, volcanoes and fun boxes.

Squaw Valley Aprés Ski

Squaw has a lively apres ski scene centred on the base area and other lift stations, as well as in the various lodgings in the area. The Olympic Plaza Bar on the second level of the main Plaza building is one of the most popular when the lifts close. It contains a full service bar, multi-level lounge with major sporting events on satellite TV, ski movies and a large sun deck. Nearby Bar One is another popular rendezvous with live music at weekends and a DJ on 'Big Wednesdays. The Loft Bar in Le Chamois is the place to find local legends and good laughs (not to mention the food).

Squaw Valley Snow Reports by e-mail

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Squaw Valley in brief

Squaw Valley Ski Resort is:
Ok for Expert Skiers.
Good for Intermediate Skiers.
Ok for Beginners.
Very good for Snowboarding.
Opened : November 24, 2012
Closed : May 12, 2013
Opening Subject To Snow Conditions.

Squaw Valley Snow Forecast

Map of Squaw Valley