Alpine Meadows Ski Resort The Alpine Meadows Ski Resort is ideal for skiers who love powder and relative simplicity. Alpine Meadows Ski Resort is a place of contradictions – it finds a balance between being relaxed yet tough, and low-key yet refined. The culture is still somewhat distinct from its neighbor, although that may change now that Alpine Meadows is interconnected with the Olympic Valley side (previously known as Squaw Valley) of Palisades Tahoe via a gondola.

Pros and Cons of Alpine Meadows

Pros

• Alpine Meadows has a nice vibe. On non-powder days, it’s a friendly locals’ mountain. 
• The Alpine ski resort has excellent terrain for advanced and expert riders.
• Being part of Palisades Tahoe, it offers a large amount and variety of terrain.
• The views of Lake Tahoe from the top are great, but when it’s draped in 3 feet of powder, most will be happy to forego the vistas and gleefully accept the face shots.
• Like various other Lake Tahoe ski resorts, Alpine Meadows generally scores plenty of snowfall.

Cons

• Sharpen your elbows for a powder day because every second local will turn up to compete with you for freshies.
• Sadly for boarders in particular, Alpine Meadows has many long traverses and flat run outs when there’s powder. And considering the lift layout, you often have to return to the base to do laps of the decent terrain which gives you a sense of déjà vu.

Pro or Con Depending On Your Perspective

• There’s no slope-side Alpine Meadows lodging or a village with restaurants and bars.
• There are negligible activities other than skiing and snowboarding at the resort.
• High lift ticket prices apply for occasional use, whilst the Ikon Pass makes it affordable for regulars, but it’s served to make the ski resort even busier.

Alpine Meadows Ski and Snowboard Terrain

The Alpine Ski Resort has 100+ trails and 2,400 acres (971 hectares) of terrain, which is the average size of the major Lake Tahoe ski resorts. The vertical drop is relatively small at 1,800 feet (549 metres).

Alpine Meadows skiing is renowned for its advanced and expert terrain, with seven bowls, steep chutes, cornices, and trees. Officially 35% of the trails are rated as black, and of course there’s so much more off-piste and backcountry terrain to challenge. And like some other gnarly US ski resort counterparts, the Alpine Meadows ski resort doesn’t differentiate between advanced, expert and extreme terrain, so you’ll have to figure it out for yourself.

Even though the Alpine Meadows Resort is best known for the expert skiing, there are also plenty of cruisers for intermediates (40% of trails) and mellow runs for beginners (25%).

Alpine Meadows Snow

If you love big dumps then you might score one at the Alpine Ski Resort. On average the resort scores 450 inches of typical Lake Tahoe powder, so it generally falls a little heavy which sticks to the steeps nicely. There is also a decent amount of snowmaking on major trails.

Where is Alpine Meadows CA?

The Alpine Meadows Ski Resort is right next door to the high profile Palisades Tahoe Ski Resort (formerly Squaw Valley). The two-in-one ski area is connected via a gondola and frequent shuttles.

Alpine Meadows is located in the Tahoe National Forest near the north shore of Lake Tahoe in California. It is 6 miles (9.5km) northwest of Tahoe City, and 13 miles (21km) south of Truckee. Nearest major airports are Reno/Tahoe (1 hour drive, 45 miles), Sacramento (90 minutes drive, 100 miles) and San Francisco (3 hours drive).

Alpine Meadows Lodging

There is no slope-side Alpine Meadows lodging yet there are accommodations situated about 0.5 to 1.5 miles down the road from the ski resort, which includes vacation rentals, cabins, and condos.

Palisades Tahoe village area is located just 6 miles away and has several lodging options, many of which come with a premium price tag, especially those that are close to the slopes.

Squaw Creek Resort is even closer (to the east of the main village). There is basically one large hotel resort & spa complex that provides access to the ski slopes via its own dedicated lifts and ski runs.

Nearby Tahoe City has hotels, inns and condos, or alternatively you can stay in Truckee lodging.

Facilities

The finest amenity at Alpine Meadows CA continues to be the mountain itself. There are a few daytime dining and après options, ski school and equipment rentals, and limited extra-curricular activities.