Squaw Valley/Alpine Meadows Officially Renamed Palisades Tahoe

To go along with their new gondola connection, the two areas formerly known as Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows now have a new name: Palisades Tahoe. This name change comes in the wake of calls for businesses to remove emblems of past minority oppression, with the word “squaw” having been used as a slur against Indigenous North American women. Officials say the name change was heavily influenced by the extreme terrain features the area is known for.

Palisades Tahoe will refer to both the Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows areas, with the former now being designated as the Olympic Valley side and the latter retaining its moniker as the Alpine Meadows side. The Squaw Creek and Squaw One chairlifts will also receive new names, to be selected by local and Washoe tribe leaders at a later date.

See Palisades Tahoe's full press release on the name change: https://www.palisadestahoe.com/new-name

Our Take

We respect the owners for maintaining an open mind on this topic—this name change was likely a very tough business decision, but it was a bold one. However, the new name has a shaky connection to the both of the old resort names (it will likely only be picked up by expert skiers and riders), and the change may be confusing to those looking to book a vacation to the area. The name change may affect consumer sentiments about Squaw Valley, and we have already seen some angry comments about the decision.

The name change on its own won’t impact much on these California slopes. That being said, the newly-christened Palisades Tahoe is on track to see a seriously transformed mountain experience thanks to a new base-to-base gondola, which will connect the Olympic Valley and Alpine Meadows sides by lift for the first time. We’ve written about the potential impacts of this project in detail here.

To see how the resorts stack up as they currently exist, check out our outgoing Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows mountain reviews.