An article was published on November 28, 2011 by Andrew S. Ross of the SFGate entitled New Squaw Valley owners plan $50 million upgrades. Click on the link to view entire article.

New Squaw Valley owners plan $50 million upgrades

November 24, 2010|Andrew S. Ross

A Squaw Valley ski resort highlight: the 1960 Winter Olympics. Credit: Associated Press 1960

If you’re planning Thanksgiving holiday at Squaw Valley, you’ll be able to celebrate its 71st anniversary, and say hello to its new owners.

KSL Capital Partners, a private-equity firm in Denver has taken over the 4,000-acre resort founded by Alexander Cushing in 1949. It had stayed in the Cushing family ever since.

Terms of the acquisition, to be completed by the end of the year, were not disclosed. But in a letter to Squaw Valley regulars, Squaw Valley USA‘s current CEO, Andrew Wirth, said KSL, “with a respectful eye for the past,” is committing more than $50 million in capital improvements over the next three to five years. The acquisition is “part of a new era in Squaw Valley’s incredible history,” he said.

Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows Combine Forces!

It’s official! Today it was announced that Squaw Valley USA and Alpine Meadows will be “combining operations” for the 2011/2012 ski season! Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows are two of the favorite ski resorts in the Lake Tahoe area. Now they are available to both be skied with one pass!

Details on the Merger

Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows will be owned and operated by a new company called Squaw Valley Ski Holdings LLC. There are no immediate plans to connect the two mountains but there will be a daily ski shuttle that will take skiers from one mountain to the next so they may conveniently ski at both.

One of the reasons for the merger is to increase the changes of Tahoe’s pursuit of the Winter Olympics in 2022. Squaw Valley CEO Andy Wirth says it’s too soon to tell if the merger will help Tahoe’s effort as of now.

This is big news for Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley because now as a combined resort they have over 6,000 acres of accessible terrain. Squaw has about 4,000 skiable acres, Alpine 2,000. In comparison, Vail has about 5,000; Mammoth 3,500; and Whistler-Blackcomb 8,100.

Tahoe Super Pass

The New Tahoe Super Pass gives skiers access to Squaw Valley AND Alpine Meadows. Skiers will have access to over 6,000 acres spread across eight Sierra Nevada mountain peaks. The pass starts at just $439. Skiers who have already purchased their season pass will have access to both mountains with their pass from either mountain.

Tahoe Super Pass-Ski Squaw & Alpine

Tahoe Super Pass on eBay

Frequently Asked Questions about the Super Pass

Read More about the Alpine Meadows/Squaw Valley Combined Operations

Ski Area Management – Squaw Valley & Alpine Meadows Join Forces

UnofficialNetworks.com -Squaw Valley/Alpine Meadows Deal – It’s Done

UnofficialNetworks.com -Squaw Valley Announces Ski Merger

CBS Sacramento – Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows are Joining Forces

AdventureJournal.com – Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows to Merge

How Will This Affect Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley Real Estate?

Now that skiers will have access to two of the best mountains with one ski pass, real estate values in both Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows are expected to rise.

It is also expected that the merger will boost tourism and make the area more attractive to skiers from around the country and around the globe.

Squaw Valley Homes for Sale

Alpine Meadows Homes for Sale

Now here’s the big question for YOU! How do YOU think this merger will affect the area? How do you think it’ll affect real estate values in both Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley? We’d love to hear your thoughts so please share!

Squaw Valley USA

There have been lots of rumors around the Lake Tahoe/Truckee area about the new ownership of Squaw.

The rumors are true and Squaw Valley USA has recently sold! A Colorado investment firm will purchase the ski resort that hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics. This could be good news for the ski resort and its future.

Here is an article written by Scott Sonner of the Mercury News about the recent sale of Squaw. The article is entitled “APNews Break: Colorado Company Buys Squaw Valley.” Click on this link for more information on Squaw Valley USA. Click on this link to view current homes for sale in Squaw.

RENO, Nev.—Owners of the Lake Tahoe-area ski resort that hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics have agreed to sell Squaw Valley USA to a Colorado-based investment firm that’s pledging $50 million in improvements over the next five years, company officials said Tuesday.

KSL Capital Partners LLC entered into the agreement to acquire the majority of the shares of the Squaw Valley Development Co. in a deal that includes the California resort’s ski operations, the Village at Squaw Valley and related real estate holdings, Squaw Valley President and CEO Andy Wirth told The Associated Press.

Wirth said the sale price won’t be made public, but he confirmed in an interview with AP early Tuesday that KSL agreed to $50 million in capital improvements over three to five years at the resort atop the Sierra Nevada, about 40 miles west of Reno.

Eric Resnick, KSL’s co-founder and managing director, said the Denver-based firm specializing in travel and leisure was enticed by the history and future potential of what has become one of the largest and best known ski resorts in the world since it opened in 1949.

Its founder, Alexander C. Cushing, was credited with helping launch the sport in the U.S. by landing the 1960 Winter Games.

“With Squaw Valley USA, Alex Cushing made a profound impact on the snow-sports industry and we’re honored to build upon the resort’s legacy,” Resnick said in a statement.

KSL’s properties include Vail Mountain Lodge in Vail, Colo., The Homestead in Hot Springs, Va.; Barton Creek Resort and Spa in Austin, Texas; and Hotel del Coronado in San Diego.

Wirth will remain in the position he assumed in August as president and CEO. He said the deal has the blessings of Cushing’s widow, Nancy Cushing. She stepped down as president and CEO this summer but remains chairman of the board and a number of family members have continued to maintain holdings in the company.

“This has been a family owned and operated asset with a proud heritage so there is a lot of very understandable passion for the place,” Wirth told AP. “It is with a respectful eye for that past that we advance Squaw Valley into a whole new era.”

“It has lost some of its presence, lost some of its position,” he said about increased competition in the form of recent capital improvements at other area resorts. “We are determined to make it again one of the best if not the best.”

Nancy Cushing said Squaw Valley and the Cushing family “have been synonymous for more than 60 years.”

“Alex’s dream was to create a world-class, four-season destination resort in one of the most beautiful places in the world,” she said in a statement Tuesday.

“This transaction will result in the culmination of that dream by providing the necessary resources to ensure Squaw Valley’s continued improvement and success for generations to come,” she said.

Squaw Valley, with a vertical drop of 2,850 feet, covers parts of six mountain peaks over 4,000 acres—some of it with views of Tahoe’s north shore about 8 miles away. Skiers walk into the resort under the same Olympic rings that greeted Olympians at the first Winter Games ever televised in 1960.

Wirth said the $50 million in improvements planned at Squaw Valley is an “impressive number” that will be spent on “culinary services, food and beverage, guest experiences—everything from the lift operations and ticket checkers to the staff in the parking lot.”

A heavy emphasis will be placed on enhanced snow making, grooming and snow surface quality, as well as improving offerings for families, including ski schools and child care programs.

“We know the family market and intermediate skiing market is an area for Squaw to improve on,” said Wirth, who joined Squaw Valley in August after working as an executive at Intrawest in both Vancouver, B.C., and Steamboat, Colo. “The mountain itself is without compare. The closest thing in North America is Whistler Blackcomb in Vancouver.”

Resnick and KSL co-founder Michael Shannon have a long history in the skiing industry. Both serve as board members for the United States Ski & Snowboard Team Foundation and Resnick is on the Organizing Committee of the 2015 World Alpine Ski Championships.

Shannon was president from 1985-92 of Vail Associates, a predecessor company to the Colorado-based Vail Resorts, which bought the nearby Northstar-at-Tahoe for $63 million in October. Vail Resorts also operates Heavenly ski resort straddling the California-Nevada line at the south end of Lake Tahoe.

Squaw Valley

Incredible deal on a condo in the Village at Squaw! No 1 bedroom unit with a den has sold for this low in the past year. Not a short sale or an REO… just outstanding value!

Click on the link for more info about this Squaw Valley Best Buy.

Most properties have no HOA dues and there are no amenities for properties in Squaw Creek Estates.

Homes for Sale in Squaw