July 3-4, 2011 Squaw Valley, Ski to Sea

We haven’t been to Squaw in years so we weren’t sure what to expect. We arrived around noon and the parking lots were almost full. We drove near a group of RV’s and noticed they were parked above the stream with a perfect view for the upcoming evening fireworks. The friendly group made room for us to squeeze in and get a “perfect spot”. Things have changed at Squaw since new owners took over in the past year per the folks we met with the RV’s who also have season passes. Another interesting report was the ongoing negotiations between Squaw and Alpine Meadows apparently had a breakthrough. Supposedly Squaw purchased Alpine Meadows. Seeing they border each other, there was talk of a Whistler/Blackcomb type resort.

Early afternoon featured the Cushing Crossing which is similar to the Slush Cup with about 50 entrants competing in 4 categories: skis, snowboards, skinny skis (under 82mm underfoot) and costumes. A distinguished group of judges in varying degrees of sobriety, masters of ceremony, a leopard skinned judge offering bonus points, a salted snow path, a 50 degree water pond and thousands of spectators. We eventually worked our way to the finish line/patch on the completed side of the pond. The event took 2 plus hours and naturally became more enjoyable as the sun and hot temperatures encouraged alcoholic consumption by spectators and contestants. The new Squaw village was designed by the group that designed Whistler village so there are similarities. Early evening there was a concert then a fireworks display that was visible from our campervan.
Squaw started the lifts at 8am and it was crowded. There was no snow at the base so everyone had to take the cable car or funitel (large capacity gondola) to the mid station. We picked up our passes and free t-shirt at 7:30. The upper mountain was serviced by the Siberian express quad, Gold Coast express 6 pack, Links and Shirley Lake express quad. The first couple hours were enjoyable because there was so much groomed terrain and a few runs off the Shirley Lake lift were salted and fast. Squaw’s lift capacity and terrain variety was impressive. There were costumes and smiles everywhere. I naturally noticed a lot of senior citizens who were excellent skiers and had a fun attitude. We really enjoyed the mountain vibe at Squaw.
We had heard about the horrific traffic backups coming to Tahoe on Friday so after a few hours skiing, we were rolling west on I-80 and heading to the CA coast. With temperatures over 100 in the central valley, the coast was forecasting 50-60 degrees. We arrived at Van Damme Beach State Park just south of Mendocino around 5pm. Rather than staying at an inland campsite, Jill got permission for us to park the campervan at the beach parking lot with a fantastic view of the sandy beach and rocky coast from our back window. WOW, what a great day on the snow and at the sea.

Photo 1 – View of Squaw from the golf course

Photo 2 – Squaw Cushing Crossing

Photo 3 – Squaw Eye Candy

Photo 4 – Van Damme Campsite view

Here's photo 4 - View from our campsite