squalpenwolf – born to be wild

originally posted on 6/1/2011.

unofficialsquaw.com is reporting there is a letter of intent out there describing how ksl (squaw valley) plans to buy alpine meadows from jma. the new fraternity will evidently be called kslamajama. since none of this is finalized, and the purchase of the missing piece (whitewolf) is still only a rumor, we are still just hoping for (or hoping to avoid) the squalppinwolf transformation. depending upon your view point, this is either the second coming of skiing to tahoe, or the ruination of your secret powder stash. i saw steppenwolf back in florida. the crowd was chanting for ‘born to be wild’ when john kay stepped up to the mike and said, “this ain’t fuckin’ burger king, you can’t have it your way.”

in other words, change she is a coming. a rough estimate of the pieces of the puzzle. squaw=blue, whitewolf=purple, alpine=red

if connected via white wolf, this would be the second largest resort in north america, and only slightly smaller than whistler-blackcomb. no matter how they sell it or interconnect it, that’s two separate mountains, whereas this is one interconnected european style resort
obviously, this isn’t going to happen without some sort of public comment period, during which time the developers should be overtly amenable to ideas as long as they advance the project.
what’s important to you
bike park?
open boundaries?
environmental improvements?
convenient fast rail transport from sacto to tahoe city?
separate areas to retain local identity?
employee benefits?
late seasons?
year round recreation opportunities?
connecting lifts?
no connecting lifts?
some sort of day use area as opposed to all destination resort?
cheap passes?

edit-someone on TGR mentioned that there could be additional terrain between beaver/estelle and squaw peak that could be opened as well, making it the largest resort in north america (the yellow would be this area)

edit-(july 16, 2011)
several reliable folks (that i trust) have heard from people they trust that the sale is now in escrow.

edit- (september 26, 2011)
the internet rumor mill is now saying the deal has been done, and we can expect an official announcement tomorrow.