Palisades Tahoe is a ski resort in the western United States, located in Olympic Valley, California, northwest of Tahoe City in the Sierra Nevada range. From its founding in 1949, the resort was known as Squaw Valley, but it changed its name in 2021 due to the derogatory connotations of the word "squaw". It was the host site for the 1960 Winter Olympics. The Palisades Tahoe resort is the largest skiing complex in the Lake Tahoe region, and is known for its challenging terrain. With a base elevation of 6,200 feet (1,890 meters) and a skiable 6,000 acres (24 square kilometers) across six peaks, employing 30 chairlifts (including a tramway and the only funitel in the U.S.). It tops out at 9,010 ft (2,750 m) at Granite Chief, and averages 400 inches (33.3 feet; 10.2 meters) of annual snowfall. 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, and it went through several ownership changes beginning in the 1970s. In 2012, it merged with nearby Alpine Meadows, and became Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows, to offer joint access to 6,200 acres (25 km2), 43 lifts, and over 270 runs. However, a proposed gondola connection between the resorts, as well as a proposed development at its base, has met with controversy from environmentalists.
