Reserved Parking…The Details Begin To Leak Out…Plus $1B Of Resort Enhancements

The cool bro brahs, and many of the retired people I ski with, all immediately jump to the overly simple solution of “I’m only going to ski weekdays from now on!” For some people that will work. Some people have already adopted that policy, as local roads and slopes have become so overcrowded over the last few seasons. They just don’t want to deal with traffic, parking or long lines at some lifts. But that solution does not work for everyone, in particular people that either work a typical 40 hour week, or go to school on a regular program.

Myself, I spent 32 years doing just that, doing my job in a classroom as a public school teacher 5 days a week. That left me only weekends and holidays for going skiing. While at times since 2020 it has seemed like just about everyone was homeschooling and remote working, this is changing. More companies and schools are demanding that workers and students return to the office or school, thus eliminating their ability to enjoy the mountain midweek. If I were a parent considering bringing the family up for a weekend of skiing, I probably wouldn’t even bother trying to take my family skiing if nothing was for sure until the Tuesday reservation stampede was completed.

There’s still so many unanswered questions. The limited information above does state that unreserved parking will always be available for employees. It does not actually say where that parking will be located. It also fails to specify if that parking is available to employees that are not currently on shift. Sadly, it likely won’t include myself as an “unofficial employee”, even though I have probably written more ski and weather reports than any of their paid staff, and I am at Alpine Meadows more frequently than many employees.

Inquiring minds also want to know about how this will impact the thousands of kids that are enrolled in the team programs. Will they also be granted an exception and allowed to skip the reservation process? On the surface, that certainly makes sense. But will spaces still be held for those kids that show up once in a blue moon for team? What about for those that make reservations for ski and snowboard school? Will those reservations also come with a parking space?

Some of us have made that “bigger commitment” to skiing at our home mountain. We’ve bought our season passes, we have purchased our clothing and gear, and we going skiing a lot. We mostly commit to one mountain. Because of that, we have paid for seasonal lockers at Alpine Meadows or Palisades Tahoe. That is no small expense, with lockers running this season from $1100 up to $2800 a season (non-renewal pricing). There’s a pretty solid argument for exempting seasonal locker holders as well.

Once all of these “exceptions” are considered, would there even be any parking left other than Hidden Valley or a remote lot at Truckee High School?

Ultimately. this is really disconcerting for those of us that built our lives to be a part of the ski culture in Tahoe. Our home has been the “Tahoe ski chalet” for not only our family, but also for my extended family of in-laws, nephews, nieces, grand-nephews and nieces and assorted family friends. Will they still want to come up if they don’t even know if they will get to ski…probably not. That is a terrible loss for our family’s culture and for many of you readers as well.

We have heard time and time again that “everybody else” is doing it, and that is why we need reserved parking. It is true that many resorts have experimented with reserved parking over the last few seasons. While there have been some success stories, there have also been some outright failures. The idea that it has worked at any one resort has nothing to do with whether or not it will work for Palisades Tahoe/Alpine Meadows.

The Tahoe market is different that just about every region when it comes to availability of Ikon Pass resorts. Let’s look at the major markets for skiing in the United States: Northern California, Southern California, the Pacific Northwest, Utah, Colorado and the New England states. In every one of those markets, there is a huge demand for snow sports and multiple Ikon Pass resorts to choose from…except for one. In the Northern California market, the only Ikon Pass resort is Palisades Tahoe/Alpine Meadows.

Additionally, the ski areas that have seen success with parking reservations or paid parking have one thing in common: a solid public transit system that offers a decent alternative for large numbers of people getting to the mountain. There has been a laudable effort at tackling this on a very small scale through the Mountaineer micro-transit program at Palisades and Alpine Meadows. But that hardly covers the needs of the masses coming from areas outside of Olympic Valley and Alpine Meadows. Rather than get overly wordy on that here, I would suggest reading this article, which addresses the public transportation needs in North Tahoe in the second half of the article.

In every other market, if I can’t get a reservation for the resort of my choice, there’s a good possibility I can get a reservation at another resort as little as 10 miles away. In the Northern California market, its just Palisades Tahoe/Alpine Meadows. I have said it many times. Alterra Mountain Company desperately needs another resort in the market, or additional partners on the Ikon Pass within the market area. Here’s a link to my most recent piece on that notion. That won’t happen for next season.

Without that, Palisades Tahoe needs to be put into the same category as some of the other premium resorts on the Ikon Pass. There needs to be a limitation on the number of days available at PT/AM…five days, seven days…something. People that want full access to Palisades Tahoe should be able to buy a dedicated pass that gives them unfettered access to their home mountain. That pass does not have to be more expensive. It’s just a trade. I absolutely don’t need all of those Ikon destinations, although I might miss Mammoth. Honestly, we should be at a time in history where we are discouraging long distance travel for skiing when we already have great skiing in our back yard. That said, it’s too late for limitations on passes for next season.

What can be done for the upcoming season? Well, I will say it again. We can stop marketing now. That applies not to just Palisades Tahoe/Alpine Meadows. The marketing for the entire Tahoe region needs to just back off in the name of getting a handle on overtourism. Fortunately, the mothership at Alterra Mountain Company helped out this week in a weird way.

• Terrain Expansions: Steamboat, Aspen, Loon Mountain and Sugar Loaf
• Enhanced Beginner Zones: Loon Mountain, Revelstoke, Stratton, Taos, Copper Mountain, Steamboat, and Boyne
• New Lifts: Big Sky, Winter Park, Snowshoe, Aspen Mountain, Mammoth Mountain, Solitude, Schweitzer, Taos Ski Valley, Sun Valley, Brighton, Loon Mountain, Sugarloaf, Sunday River, Snowbasin, Mt. Bachelor, Boyne Mountain, The Highlands,  and The Summit at Snoqualmie
• Lodge & Dining Expansions: Deer Valley, Bear Mountain, Snow Valley, Copper Mountain, Steamboat, Winter Park, Bright, Crystal Mountain, and Sugarbush
• Snowmaking Upgrades: Eldora, Mammoth Mountain, Steamboat, Blue Mountain, Copper Mountain, Sugarbush, Dolomiti Superski, Sunday River, Panorama, Sun Peaks, Killington-Pico, Sugarloaf, Windham Mountain, and Boyne Mountain

What’s missing from that list? There’s not one mention of Palisades Tahoe/Alpine Meadows, and that’s a beautiful thing. Last year everyone was all abuzz about the B2B shiny boxes, and this year, hopefully many of those people will decide to go to those other places to check out all of the exciting new stuff. Nobody should come to Alpine Meadows…nothing good to see here! It’s a great year to go anywhere but Tahoe.

Truth be told, another popular ski blog that has a very cozy relationship with the marketing department at Palisades did a post this week highlighting a bunch of minor improvements over on the Palisades side. As far as we have seen, we get some new snowmaking pipes and a bunch of new pavers around the lodge area. Don’t get me wrong Alpine Meadows managers and employees – we love Alpine Meadows for what it is, a great ski mountain and the many great people that love the place and make it work. Thank you.

We shall wait and see for more details and official announcements. Who’s ready to just go skiing?