I got an email this week that about half of the Alpine Meadows rails and boxes were removed from the Alpine Meadows parking lot. The author made the bold assumption that they were moved to Squaw Valley. Little did they know that the photo below appeared in my Instagram feed that same day. Yes, the assimilation of Alpine Meadows continues.
Reportedly there are about 30 rails and boxes left for placement at Alpine Meadows. What’s left has been repainted. We like that the ridiculous military targets have been removed. We hate that they were repainted half blue and half green, so they can be placed at either mountain.
Back in September, 2011, SquAlpine CEO Andy Wirth made a commitment to keeping separate identities for the mountains. Here’s the quote:
As we move forward with consolidating our operations, we want you to know that what’s going to remain the same is as important as what’s going to change: We think the key to the success of the consolidation is our fervent commitment to maintain each resort’s distinctive character. People, terrain, activities, all come together to give a resort its individual character, and that’s what we’re committed to retaining.
Talk is cheap Andy. Let us keep our mountain.
Once more KSL has shown that Alpine is viewed with disdain and ignorance on how Alpine works. From late opening (really, middle of December is absurd) to Spring operations, I now have fond memories of Powder Corp days. How sad is that??!! Don’t be surprised on opening day if Alpine’s staff is clothed in the same jackets as Squaw. Oh, anyone want to wager that the Hot Wheels replacement is pushed back to 2016 even though all the permits have been approved?
The target was just a representation of Alpine being under attack!!! Just like the “travesty” shirts of 2012. Read between the lines kiddies….
Fer cryin’ out loud. Not everything is born of an nefarious motive. If I ran two ski areas on opposite sides of a ridge, of course I’d paint features to be able to use them at either, to preserve my flexibility.
There are enough real issues. Chicken littling crap like this does no one any good.
I think the real concern is getting rid of the AM park manager and moving too much of the park to Squaw. While many of us agree that last year’s setup may have been overkill, there’s a lot of teams and athletes that want the ability to train specifically at Alpine. When the park was on Kangaroo, you could make quick laps on Kangaroo chair…or fun laps riding Summit to Lower Beaver and down to the park. At Squaw, you’re pretty much stuck on a park chair. The same is essentially true for a park on Red Ridge…hot laps on Roundhouse or fun laps on Summit, Palisades/Keyhole, to park.
There would definitely be a similar outcry if race programs were sent to Squaw…
You’re both right.
Too many good employees were “let go” for reasons best known to the Powers that don’t watch and listen imo.
The co-painting makes commercial sense.
It makes sense to shorten the “mile long” marketing angle to something sensible …on the Kanagroo run. Short lift ride, outta the way, doesn’t steal ‘half’ of AM, and Kangaroo is nearer Ski Patrol for incidents.
What doesn’t make sense are bigger issues like maybe moving the fire station and covering over the main Well in Escalades and jaccuzzis.
At first I thought they had repaired Alpine’s lifts with the Squaw white paint scheme. To me the biggest issue is the mid-Dec opening. That’s just lame if there is snow.