Palisades Tahoe, formerly Squaw Valley Ski Resort or just Squaw Valley, is a ski resort in Olympic Valley, California, located northwest of Tahoe City in the Sierra Nevada. Opened in 1949, it was the host site for the 1960 Winter Olympics.
The resort is the largest skiing complex in the Lake Tahoe area by some measures, and is known for its challenging terrain. It covers a base of 6,200 ft and a skiable 3,600 acres across six peaks, employing 30 chairlifts. It tops out at 9,010 ft at Granite Chief. It averages 450 inches of snowfall every winter. The resort attracts approximately 600,000 skiers a year, and is also home to several annual summer events.
The spotlight of the 1960 Olympics raised the resort's profile. It went through several ownership changes beginning in the 1970s. In 2012, Squaw Valley merged with nearby Alpine Meadows, and began to do business under the combined name Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows, to offer joint access to 6,200 acres, 43 lifts and over 270 trails. However, a proposed gondola connection between the resorts, as well as a proposed development at its base, has met with controversy from environmentalists.