Dream big

For all the non-Squawpine pass holders, here is an email from Andy Wirth, President and CEO of Squaw Valley, in an attempt to debunk all those nasty circulating rumors.

Last year was a record breaking season for snowfall as most of you will fondly remember. This year is also record breaking, but for lack of snowfall, not just here but across the majority of the States. Not what any of us were dreaming about.

I’ve heard many questions and concerns as this dry spell has continued. With pride and consistency, I’ve held to an open and transparent communication approach with our guests. In that light I want to share a few important thoughts about how we are responding to the current meteorologically induced situation.

First, it’s not a questions of if, in our business, you will see warm and very dry times like these, it is a question of when and with what grace you will endure these types of circumstances and importantly, with what professionalism you respond. I am proud to say that our team has and continues to, respond to the situation with the utmost professionalism, dedication, hard work, high service levels and, yes, grace.

Secondly, these are times that don’t just develop character, they reveal character.  I am proud of the character our team’s revealed as we’ve taken every opportunity to make snow and to provide the best possible surface.  Moreover, we’ve done everything we can to engage our guests and facilitate the enjoyment of their mountain vacation experience in the region.

As a testament to this display of character and effort, Thursday morning I went to the top of Alpine Meadows at 8 a.m. and witnessed our patrollers, snowmakers, lift staff and more, all working together to haul snow in an effort to connect a lift off ramp to a really terrific snow surface waiting for skiers about 100 yards away on the Alpine Bowl run.  I helped out a bit, and then thanked every one of the hard-working individuals. Their response was, “Absolutely! This is what we’re here for!” And with a smile said, “Look around, see our surroundings, we like working hard for something great and we believe in this place and are glad to be here.” I was so impressed by the dedication, the hard work and the attitude as it exemplifies, perfectly, the aforementioned thoughts.

With these broad thoughts conveyed, I would now like to shift gears and talk to a few, very specific points that relate to our management and work on the mountain.  I’m addressing these in the context of a favorite show of mine, “Myth Busters.”  Let’s take on a few myths and set the record straight with irrefutable facts and truths:


Myth: Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows are shutting down in early January.

Truth: My visceral response to this inane and baseless rumor has been that you should question the intellect, judgment and motivation of the person forwarding this rumor. The specific response is that this is simply not true and we’ve never considered, even once, shutting down Squaw Valley or Alpine Meadows.

Myth:  Squaw Valley’s snowmaking approach has been lacking or simply fallen short.

Truth: A quick primer on snow making. The two key variables for snowmaking are ambient temperature and humidity. Much like natural snow the conditions have to be right to produce snow. When conditions have been right,  even with our temperature inversions, snowmaking has been very productive.  There is ample water to run all systems during the most productive hours at night.

The Squaw Valley system is working better than it ever has, and is producing more water than ever, thanks to some upgrades which were implemented in 2009.  At that time, Squaw Valley replaced the mile-long primary snowmaking pipeline between the snowmaking holding-ponds at the Resort at Squaw Creek and the resort base.  This pipeline replacement eliminated several significant leaks, vastly increasing the amount of water that could be made available to the snowmaking system. In addition, Squaw Valley connected several existing irrigation wells, and improved others, to enhance the resort’s ability to refill the ponds during hours when snowmaking is not occurring.  About half of all the snow that Squaw Valley has made during 2011-12 was produced from the improved wells and as a direct result of system upgrades.  Whenever snow is not being made, the ponds are being replenished at a rate of hundreds of gallons per minute. Pumping operations to refill the ponds occur 12 or more hours each day.

Two primary constraints we face in snowmaking are the same ones every snowmaking system in the world faces: ambient temperatures and humidity.

Our approach has been to make snow, in quality and quantity at every opportunity that temperatures allow, in the best most logical places possible and not reach for “number of trails” but quality of surface.  As I write this, a well known skier affirmed that in North Lake Tahoe, while we don’t have the largest trail count, the Squaw Valley snow surface is in fact superior in quality and resiliency given the ongoing, very warm days and nights.

Myth: Squaw Valley has held back making snow on key runs, such as Mountain Run.

Truth: Squaw Valley is a huge mountain.  It’s also in a region that’s blessed and cursed with a micro-climate condition called temperature inversions, which due to the sheer size of our two mountains, amplifies their impact. These inversions simply prohibited making snow on Mountain Run and other key areas on the upper mountain.

Myth: No snow is in the moderate to long term forecasts.

Truth:   First off, all of the resorts in the western US are dealing with a challenging start to the season with the exception of a few small resorts in the extreme southern part of the Rockies.  We’re in a La Nina influenced weather pattern, which is typified by a slow start and a strong, snow-filled finish.  We anticipate, based on current forecasts, the high pressure ridge to the west will break down in mid to late January, which in turn will open up the corridor for significant snowstorms coming into Lake Tahoe.  Of course this can change, but the current, most reliable models support this view.  You may remember a very similar pattern setting up for the Northern Sierra mountains last winter as despite the record snowfall, January of last season saw a very similar circumstance with very little snow in that month (due to a high pressure ridge off the coast of California very effectively blocking any weather systems).  When the ridge eventually broke down, the snow started to fall and kept falling through the spring, ending with a record season.

With the recent acquisition of Alpine Meadows ski resort, one pass and one ticket offers a great deal of varied terrain, with both mountains easily accessed via a free shuttle that departs every 20 minutes. Together, the mountains offer a total of over 6,000 skiable acres when they are at full operations. In the mean time, our hardworking team is making snow at every moment, with a focused and learned strategy.  We all know that it can turn on a dime. We all know that there’s a low pressure system with Squaw Valley’s and Alpine Meadow’s name on it, that’s brewing somewhere in the North Pacific and we will rebound.

While many resorts across the country are considering pulling back on lifts, terrain and snowmaking, we are doing everything possible to add to our terrain and lifts at both Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley. While many are managing back their operations of many aspects of their mountains, we are maintaining and providing excellent service for and within those facilities and operations. Lastly, we have been, since mid-December, staging special employee meals for those whom we simply don’t have shifts.

Keep a weather eye out. Somewhere in the North Pacific, there’s a low pressure system brewin’ that’s got Squaw & Alpine’s name on it. Until then, cross your fingers, do a snow dance, wash your cars and keep the faith.

With cold, snow-filled thoughts,
Thank you,

Andy Wirth
President & CEO
Squaw Valley Ski Holdings LLC