Summary Palisades Tahoe

Summary of the ski resort Palisades Tahoe

Description Palisades Tahoe

The Palisades Tahoe ski resort (formerly Squaw Valley) is renowned for hosting the 1960 Winter Olympics and today attracts skiers and snowboarders from all over the world. There are several ways to start your ski day from Olympic Valley. The less crowded lifts take you over Snow King (2301 m) to the Resort at Washeshu Creek. The mountain, served by two chairlifts (Resort Chair and Red Dog), offers wonderful scenic runs through the woods with views of Lake Tahoe, and even advanced skiers will find some challenging slopes here.

But nothing compares to KT-22 (2500 m), which is directly accessible from The Village at Palisades Tahoe via a detachable quad chairlift. This is the mountain for experts, featuring challenging chutes, steep descents, and mogul runs—everything you could classify as difficult. The main part of the ski area lies between High Camp and Gold Coast, easily reached by the Gold Coast Funitel or the High Camp Cable Car.

The runs start in a kind of bowl and are mostly easy there, with half a dozen double and triple chairlifts serving these slopes. The Pulse Gondola, a type of group lift with 2 x 4 six-person cabins, also transports pedestrians from High Camp to Gold Coast and back. A detour towards Palisades Peak (2708 m) with the detachable six-seater chairlifts Headwall Express or Siberia Express is definitely worthwhile.

The detachable six-seater Gold Coast Express connects to Granite Chief. A triple chairlift below Granite Chief Peak (2745 m) serves challenging wooded runs for experts. The detachable six-seater Shirley Lake Express then brings you back to the main runs and offers wonderfully wide intermediate slopes.

The triple chairlift Solitude runs almost parallel to Shirley Lake Express and connects to the triple chairlift Silverado. Only steep and difficult runs lead to the Silverado triple chairlifts, and since there are many rocks here, plenty of snow is needed to open the lift. You can also reach the Silverado triple chairlift from the main run via the double chairlift to Broken Arrow (2444 m) and from there via steep descents.

The main run leads from Gold Coast down to Olympic Village and is illuminated daily during the season. Night skiing is included in the day passes, so there’s no extra charge, but you can also purchase a night skiing ticket only. Night skiing transitions seamlessly from day to night operations. The main run is easy to intermediate and manageable for beginners, and in addition to the Funitel, it is also served by the detachable quad chairlift Wa She Shu.

The Base to Base Gondola has connected the two ski areas, Palisades and Alpine Meadows, since the 2022/23 season.

Alternatively, you can drive a few kilometers from Highway 89 to the large parking lots at the Base Area of Alpine Meadows. From the spacious Base Area with restaurant, ski rental, and ticket office, you can head straight onto the slopes. The Summit Six Express, a detachable six-seater chairlift, takes you directly up to the summit and to runs of all difficulty levels. Parallel to this, the detachable quad chairlift Roundhouse Express and the double chairlifts Kangaroo, Yellow Chair, and Alpine Bowl Chair also transport winter sports enthusiasts toward the summit.

With the detachable quad chairlift Treeline Cirque with a mid-station, you reach the triple chairlift Scott Chair up to the 2526 m high Scott Peak, from where almost exclusively difficult runs lead down to the valley. You can also use these two lifts to switch to the backside of the ski area, where you’ll find the triple chairlift Lakeview Chair and the detachable quad chairlift Sherwood Express.

At Lakeview Chair, you’ll find intermediate wooded runs and can switch to Sherwood Express via Rays Rut. This lift serves a lot of open terrain as well as many easy to intermediate runs. Returning to the front side, you can either plunge directly into the extremely difficult runs Hidden Knoll’s, Sherwood Cliffs, Couterweight Gully, Our Father, or High Yellow Gully, or take a more leisurely route via Return Road and Weasel Run to the base station.

The lower runs lead through wide forest clearings, while the upper part offers plenty of open ski terrain. Beginners will find their area at the base station at the two double chairlifts Subway and Meadow. There is also a separate area with conveyor belts for the little ones. For refreshments, the Base Area is available, but there are also two small huts at Subway Chair and Sherwood Express on the backside of the ski area.

Thanks to the many different runs, both beginners and experts will get their money’s worth here, and all the runs on the front side end back at the Base Area, so you really can’t get lost.

At Palisades Tahoe ski resort, everyone will find what they’re looking for: beginners at the easy lifts in the valley or at High Camp, experts on the many challenging runs, and leisure skiers on the well-groomed slopes with magnificent views of Lake Tahoe.

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