Squaw Valley 1960

The original plan was to once again combine skiing with some sightseeing. In this year’s case, a week of road tripping down the Pacific Coast Highway from Seattle to Washington San Francisco?. Due to a short notice change of plans beyond my control, we had to cut the road trip and just do the skiing portion of the holiday. We took the risk and booked the partially refundable early bird accommodation special. California lived up to its not-so-snow-sure reputation this season and we ended up travelling thousands of kilometers to some marginal, mature snow conditions while most other major ski regions around the world were having a bumper season.

The State Capitol in Sacramento

Mike and I met at SFO, then drove to Sacramento to meet with Chris and Laura. It was a full compliment this trip. After visiting the California State Capitol, surrounded with tall palm trees, orange trees and giant cedars and touring the superb California State Railway Museum, we had lunch in Sacremento’s Old Town. We did some Alpine interstate driving over the scenic Donner Pass. We spent one night in Reno, Nevada to test our chances with lady luck. We all were lucky, with Laura being the luckiest winning $90 on a very random Orange is the New Black Slot machine! The following day we had an excellent Trip Advisor advised tex-mex diner breakfast and then visited our second State Capitol at Carson City, Nevada. We then did another very scenic drive to the impressive Lake Tahoe. As the sun was setting we drove to the Western Shore and into the Olympic Valley for some skiing.

Opening Ceremonies from the Memorial Arena (ski jumping is just behind)

The awarding of the Winter Olympics to Squaw Valley is a testament to the power of one man’s ability to persuade people to buy into a vision. When Squaw was selected as the host “city”, just over four years before the Olympics were to start, it only consisted of a 58 room lodge, one chair lift and two rope tows. Everything would have to be built in four years to host the Olympics, not just to host the events, but the infrastructure required for a small town that the area was to become. Alexander Cushing, who owned the land convinced the State of California, US Olympic Committee and finally the US Congress they should support his Olympic bid. Apparently armed with a fairly large model of the site, Cushing controversially convinced the IOC too that Squaw Valley should be the place for the VIII Winter Olympic Games.

The indoor/outdoor Memorial Arena

The plan was to keep the site extremely compact, all sporting events bar cross country skiing would be a short walk from each other. Bobsled was cut from the programme for the first time because the organizers couldn’t be asked to build a costly track for a sport with limited appeal and participation. (It is probably not a bad call, even in this day and age). A brand new arena was built as well as a few outdoor rinks. Walt Disney was enlisted to produce the opening and closing ceremonies that featured the Tower of Nations which still stands outside the entrance to the Olympic Valley today. Squaw was the first Olympics to have biathlon, women’s speed skating in the programme and was where the Olympic Anthem was sung for the first time.

Lake Tahoe

The opening ceremony was delayed by a blizzard, but when we arrived the weather was anything but blizzard like. It was very warm and the only snow around was of the artificial variety. We checked into our condo, which was very large and well equipped. The following day we skied the runs that were open, the weather was pretty special despite the lack of snow. No wind, no clouds, well above freezing but the pistes more or less held up until after lunch, after which they got a bit sloppy. Once the runs got soft we had an après ski drink in the sun in our sweaters. We repeated this for pretty much three days. Most black diamond runs were not open, particularly the un-groomed ones. On the second day Mike and I checked out the small Olympic museum at the High Camp Chalet. Using old Olympic reports as my guide, I did my obligatory Men’s Downhill Run. It was steep at the beginning but otherwise was a very straightforward blue run. Mike fortunately brought the all import champagne sabre and, for the first time, I smashed a bottle of cheap sparkling wine. (Note to self: saberage is not for cheapskates, thick champagne bottles only)

A large on-piste obstacle

Friday we went to Alpine Meadows, which was another ski area covered by the same lift pass. It had a local feel to it, which was great. It had superior conditions to Squaw Valley and was full of blue and black cruisers. I think it was our best day’s skiing on this trip. We even enjoyed European Style Alpine Terrace coffee and basked in the sun in between blue cruiser runs.

On Friday, after we skied most of the open runs multiple times, we decided to leave in the morning and spend the afternoon exploring the San Francisco area. It is an impressive city and I am glad had the time to explore it.

As far as the Olympic Legacy, there is not much left, the ski runs seem to be more or less intact, but the buildings and facilities are gone except for two medium sized chalets and the tower of nations. The hockey and figure skating arena, the largest venue, collapsed in 1983 when too much snow accumulated on the roof. The first purpose-built Athletes’ Village is also long gone.

The former Visitor Center- one of the last original buildings still standing from the 1960 Olympics

Skiing: Silver

Squaw Valley lived up to its not so snow sure reputation when we were there. I think the day in Alpine Meadows pushed the skiing from bronze to silver for me. If there was ample snow Squaw would be a strong silver. It doesn’t have the huge vertical of the “gold” ski areas we had been to but there were numerous areas to ski. We had ample lift capacity and the crowds were minimal. Apparently after a big dump of snow it can get very crowded. Due to the lack of snow coverage, we had a lack of variety of the runs but there was still enough to keep us entertained. I really liked the runs at both Squaw and Alpine Meadows with the large pine trees. The conditions were pretty good considering it was close to +20C outside.

The Tower of Nations 1960 & 2018

Apres Ski Silver
Squaw has a compact “village” at the base with condos and a selection of shops and bars. There was live music at our preferred venue and we could have a pint of beer/cider outside without our jacket on! There were two or three places for a drink and it is typical ski resort manufactured quaintness; case in point the fire “pits” were fuelled with natural gas rather than wood (Norway top marks here). Yet it is convenient and there was live music. Located within a 10-20 minute drive by car, the historic town of Truckee to the north and Tahoe City to the south offered a good selection of restaurants, bars/pubs, shops and services. What was missing was the lively and exuberant vibe that we have experienced at some other resorts.

Overall: Silver

Our trip to Squaw was a good one, the skiing conditions were not great but it was clear if we had good conditions the would be solid silver skiing. The condo we had was right near the base with establishments for apres ski.  The Lake Tahoe area is has a unique natural beauty which further enhanced the trip.  I would like to return when there are better conditions.

The landscape around Squaw Valley was the inspiration for the Thunder Mountain ride at Disneyland

Marc Says “No Laura, saberage is cool and completely worth it”

Mike Says  “Spring skiing in February is alright I guess…”

Chris Says“Ok I will come to Europe next year but what is the exchange rate?”