Where We Finally Chime In On The Naming Game

It’s been in the news for a couple of cycles now. Squaw Valley is considering changing the name of the resort again, as there are unpleasant meanings to the word “Squaw”. The subject already came up a few years ago, but no action was taken, as Squaw Valley was already embroiled in battles regarding the village expansion, inane water park proposals and squashing an effort to incorporate the town of Olympic Valley.

But fast forward to 2020, and we are in a different place. Amidst several months of protests regarding racial tension, police brutality, and how we treat each other as people in general – we have all been doing some soul searching. We’re renaming streets, schools and libraries. We’re tearing down statues and monuments. Ancient brands like Aunt Jemima, Uncle Bens and Eskimo Pies are leaving the shelves – probably to be replaced by generic names that are made of random syllables to avoid giving anyone pause.

Alterra is probably going to have to deal with the problem this time around. There’s definitely a reasonable fear that if nothing is done, some sort of protest action will happen. I’m not encouraging that, nor discouraging it. But things have gotten ugly in some areas as many people have declared that they will no longer tolerate any sort of racism. It’s not surprising at all. So that leads to the question of where Alterra will head in this name game.

Here’s some of our thoughts on replacing the “Squaw Valley” name:

Option A – Olympic Valley

This is the one that makes the most sense, since the community and post office have already selected the name. It’s hard not to know that the Olympics were held in Squaw Valley (and surrounding areas) in 1960. It’s the name change that makes sense.

Pros: This would be a popular choice that almost everyone can support. It has a good “cool quotient” that will continue to draw visitors for years to come. If Alterra choose to do so, using the combined name of “Olympic Valley Alpine Meadows” does not sound terrible. Because this isn’t a drastic change, they could probably get away with continuing to use the current logo. They would just need to suggest that those S forms are indeed ski tracks…and not an S.

Cons: The International Olympic Committee would freak out. As far as they are concerned they own the word “Olympics” and would be unhappy to see a business capitalize on that name. There was a time when there wasn’t much commercialization in the Olympics, but it is long gone. The Olympics are one huge commercial. The whole Olympic thing could just become a thing of the past anyways. It’s been a long time since an Olympics was held that didn’t nearly bankrupt the host city. In an interesting side note, Squaw Valley already uses those Olympic rings on its signage on the way into the valley and other places…so why not incorporate them into a logo?

Option B: Alpine Meadows

Yeah, we said it. They could just give up and name the whole place Alpine Meadows. Wouldn’t that be ironic? After all of those years of seeing more and more Squaw logos at Alpine…suddenly everything becomes Alpine Meadows!

Pros: A lot of the work is already done. There’s already an Alpine Meadows logo that is recognized throughout the industry. They already own the domain SkiAlpine.com, which has been in existence for years. Plenty of people already know that Alpine Meadows is pretty much the same as Squaw Valley, just smaller. In this case, it would be much bigger. Lastly, “Alpine Meadows” rolls off the tongue far easier than “Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows”.

Cons: There’s a few groups of people that might just freak out. Anyone that has been a Squaw loyalist, and has never discovered Alpine, would likely freak out about losing the Squaw Valley name. To them, they enjoy saying “I have a little place in Squaw Valley” and likely have their ski helmet signed by one olympian or another. We understand that. On the other side of the hill, you have the Schralpine Ghettos “hippy dippy” types, like myself, that have never wanted to be associated with the other side…until we figured out how to best bypass the village and ski fun terrain “over the hill.”

Option C (Some Famous Skier Name) Alpine Meadows

We’ve seen several people suggest this path online. The name changes, depending on the age of the author. We’ve seen McConkey, Moseley, McKinney and other famous skiers suggested. It’s awesome that Squaw Valley has generated so many heroes over the years.

Pros: Some people would really like the “cool factor” of having a ski area renamed for their hero. Personally I would love to see McConkey honored in this manner.

Cons: It’s a no brainer that nobody would ever agree on which hero deserves that recognition and can be trusted with that responsibility. It would only be a matter of time before that somebody did something wrong…a picture or old movie was found, allegations were made of some inappropriate behavior. It always happens. Then where would we be?

Option D – A Name Based On Native American Heritage Or Some Other Amorphous P.C. Name

If you have read the articles, or the press release from Alterra, this is a possibility. Area tribes have been consulted about their thoughts in the renaming process. In other locations where the name “Squaw” has been changed, native American names have often been selected. As an alternative, they could choose a nonsense name that nobody understands like “Masimo”. I saw an advertisement for that the other day that was so esoteric, I still have no idea what “Masimo” does.

Pros: This seems like it is the most politically correct thing to do. Choosing an appropriate alternative based on native American language would show that Alterra is trying to make things right, even though they were not responsible for the name selection in the first place.

Cons: From a marketing standpoint, you’re pushing a giant boulder uphill. Everything would need to change: logos, websites, business names…it is a looooong list. The likelihood that that new name flows off of your tongue like “Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows” (insert tongue in cheek)…well it could be difficult. The two mountains would need to have completely separate identities…or everything would need to change to the new name. That would be even more expensive…not to mention unpopular from many viewpoints.

Option E – Keep the name “Squaw Valley”

If Andy Wirth were still around, this would be the expected outcome. Some “behind the scenes” meeting would be held between Alterra officials and local tribes. Some token gift would be given so that tribes could somehow accept the unfortunate decision to use the name Squaw Valley when it was chosen in the 1950’s.

How many times did we see things like this happen during the approval process for the village expansion project? I’m looking at you Kamala Harris!

Pros: No changes would be required. The more recent history of the valley and its place in Olympic history would be respected. It would be easiest.

Cons: It’s not the right solution. We would end up having this conversation again. You could almost guarantee that there would be protests until a change was forced to happen.

The reality is…we all just want to go skiing and riding this winter. Let’s choose a name and then move on the important things: Keep your social distance, wash your hands well frequently, wear a mask whenever you should…and then a little more, and keep your hands off your face.