Have You Seen “The Map”?

It’s a challenging weekend for outdoor activity in Tahoe. With temperatures hovering near 70°, a brisk wind blowing, and smoke aplenty, it was not much of a day for the lake or hiking and biking. Sadly, the smoke caused a cancellation of the Alpine 2 Squaw 10K Challenge. With a need to get out of the house, we journeyed to Squaw Valley to check out the Peaks and Paws event. It was the place to be today, especially if you were a dog. Great music, some great vendors and a good cause all in one. I’ll be back there tomorrow, hopefully to catch the Dead Winter Carpenters.

We also took a moment to check out the “The Map”, which we had heard about at Moonshine Ink, Snowbrains and in conversations around town. There’s been plenty of chatter about what the map shows for expansion plans in the world of KSL, a.k.a. SquAlpine. Since the pictures from Moonshine Ink focused on Squaw Valley, we felt we should turn the camera toward the Alpine Meadows side of the map.

It’s an impressive map for sure. An entire new space was created at Base Camp to house the new map. I’ve heard various estimations for the cost of the map – but with no verifications, we can only guess that someone has been at work for a very long time. There’s tiny little lights and fiber optics controlled by an iPad Mini, as well as a helpful tour guide to answer all of your questions.

So what does the map show that we have not seen before? Nothing. Zip. Nada. The new map shows the same new village, only in the context of the entire KSL property (and property that they wish they owned.) There’s even a fiber optic light up square that defines the outline of the old map, in the room next door. The nice tour guide was quick to point out that KSL would only be over-developing 100 acres of all of this space. Okay, those weren’t her exact words, but I am sure you can get the picture.

Now, we had heard rumors that the map gave clues to additional development at Alpine Meadows, but we could

not find it. It clearly showed the lifts as is, with no additions to Estelle, Bernies, or to SP Bowl. The White Wolf lift was not on the map and White Wolf looked like quite the barren wasteland between all of the pretty lights.

There were also no additional buildings in place anywhere near Alpine Meadows, on either side of the mountain. White Wolf also showed no sign of development, making it seem clear that Troy Caldwell has not let go of that property yet.

All in all, it looked just like most of us Alpine Meadows regulars would prefer to see it. We’ll be sorry to see the Squaw vibe and history gone, erased by new development over the ridge. Today there was a renewed hope that there is not a plan for the destruction of Alpine Meadows, at least not in the immediate future.

You can view the map in person at Base Camp on the east end of the village from 11-5 Monday through Saturday.