Another Piece Of Alpine Meadows Culture Is Gone

Another piece of Alpine Meadows history and culture is now gone. Bit by bit, our new Squaw overlords have been chipping away at the things that make Alpine Meadows different. This week, we found out that Locker Room #3 has been declared a “sticker free zone”. Yes, we know, “first world problems” and all of that stuff. But if you’ve ever spent some time in Locker Room #3, you know it was like a museum in there. Here’s part of an email we received from a reader:

I went to Alpine to fetch some gear out of my locker and was saddened to witness some more loss of soul at our favorite resort. An employee was in the final steps of stripping every sticker off of every locker. When I asked  why, they said that were directed to do so by their superiors, because all the new incoming locker holders shouldn’t be unfairly burdened by their predecessors’ graffiti.

It’s not like Locker Room #3 is the good neighborhood. You get a small metal locker, as narrow as 12 inches. There’s usually wet stinky carpets, either too many or not enough benches, and only one heater for the entire two rooms. The only amenities are a waxing bench and a picnic table with microwaves provided by tenants. Even so, some families have occupied the same locker for generations, and the waiting list to get in used to be several years long. The wooden lockers across the breezeway in Room #1 were even more in demand and were handed down in family wills.

Since 2010, three new locker rooms have been built. One is for coaches and they totally deserve it. The other two are known as Deluxe and Extravagant. The newer locker rooms feature RFID access, boot heaters, flat screen TV’s, and even a fireplace. When prices basically doubled for lockers in the ghettos of #3, the demand fell off, to the point where there is always someone new moving in or out. Apparently those people coming from the other side of the mountain don’t want a bunch of Alpine Meadows stickers reminding them that they couldn’t get in at Squaw Valley.

Locker room #3 was like a history of skiing, as told in stickers. It was simple to find every generation of Alpine Meadows sticker ever produced. With a little work, you could also find stickers for nearly every ski resort in America, as well as points across the globe. You could still find stickers celebrating companies that stopped making skis, boards or boots years ago. You could also follow a complete history of the Tahoe political climate over the last twenty years. It’s sad that it’s gone and can never be replaced. It was reported that many stickers were saved by transferring them to waxed paper, and that they may be claimed at the Special Tickets office.

We predicted that all of this would eventually happen…Alpine Meadows uniforms, Alpine Meadows logos, Alpine Meadows activities, and the friendly competitive spirit between two mountains are all gone. There’s not much more left before the assimilation is totally complete. What’s next?

• From now on, all teams shall be referred to as “squads.” Yeah that is the cool hipster word of the year, but nobody will get confused about what mountain you’re at – see the difference?  teAM and SQUAd

• The tops of all local peaks should be rounded off so they no longer represent the Alpine Meadows logo. The first one to go should probably be Twin Peaks. That would also help represent the marketing image that Alpine Meadows is a place for intermediate terrain.

• Customers should not be allowed to wear green at Alpine Meadows, with the exception of Saint Patricks Day. There’s plenty of yellow jackets in the breezeway to monitor compliance.

Locker tenants that return stickers to lockers will reportedly be charged a fee for removal. We’re sure that people will find other places to put stickers. The bigger question is, will I be able to even locate my locker, sans stickers, on opening day? I’m not sure I know my number.