Squaw Valley USA is on of the finest ski areas in the US. Squaw Valley is widely considered top 5 among expert skiers, the terrain at Squaw is absolutely amazing. Its also my personal favorite place for spring skiing.

Squaw Valley is located within 4 hours of several major cities/airports:

* 40 miles form Reno
* 100 miles from Sacramento
* 200 miles from San Francisco

Since major highways can get you from these airports to Squaw Valley is relatively easy to get to. The closest town or city to Squaw is Truckee. Truckee is by no means a party style ski-town, but it does have a few bars, restaurants and a good super-market. There are of course several bars located at the base of Squaw Valley for Apres ski. But most of the nightlife is in nearby Tahoe city.

The primary reason to visit Squaw has a lot more to do with the skiing and riding than the nightlife. As stated at the outset, Squaw Valley is one of the best ski resorts in the US. First Squaw Valley is massive with 4,000 acres of great terrain. The Terrain ranges from rocky ledges and steeps to big wide open bowls and long winding trails. Squaw is so big that it has something to offer all skiers from beginners to extreme free-stylists. Although the Squaw probably has the most to offer experts as their terrain is widely regarded as the most challenging the Tahoe area.

Experts (30% of terrain) will have mainly heard of Squaw's fabled KT-22 area which features Moseley's run, 2000' of bumped out vertical fun which will burn the crap out of any bump enthusiast. Other experts areas include the Granite Chief bowl which is a great place to ski in the morning due to early sun and Headwall. Broken Arrow often has soft bumps in the afternoon due to sun exposure.

Intermediates (45% of terrain) will enjoy the openness and variety of areas like Shirley Lake, Gold Coast and Red Dog. Finally Squaw offers Papoose which is great area for beginners (25% of terrain).

The snow quality at Squaw is excellent. The average annual snowfall is 450 inches or 37.5 feet. While Squaw has its share of amazing powder days, the snow is not as consistently light and fluffy as areas like Alta in Utah. But that is quite a high bar.

Getting around the mountain at Squaw is relatively easy given extensive lift systems. Squaw Valley also boasts the countries only Funitel lift which is a aerial cable car.

Lastly the great thing about Squaw is you can stay in the area and also ski great nearby resorts like Alpine and Sugar Bowl. This variety makes the Tahoe area a great place to spend a week.

Due put Squaw Valley on your list of ski reports. Like Warren Miller says, "If you don't ski" Squaw Valley now, "you'll be a year older when you do".