Heavenly vs. Squaw

One of my first jobs out of college was working as a photographer at Squaw Valley. No, not for some glossy magazine like Ski. Rather I was one of those guys standing at the top of the lift asking if you want your picture taken...or I'd follow you and your family around to shoot you for an hour, and then you'd presumably tip me well and pay me for the pics. It was kind lame work, but helped sharpen my eye and got me on the slopes every day. You can 't bear that.

Well, at the time Squaw was kind of run down, but it was still probably the best place to ski in Tahoe. Heavenly, I'm sorry to say, was a joke. But it seems things have changed and both areas have gotten or are getting a serious face lift. Squaw's backers are the same dudes who are now running Winter Park and Whistler Blackcomb The Intrawest ski conglomerate. Heavenly is run by the gargantuan Vail corporation. So the question in this article is: which is better? Now you can make all the improvements you like, add new lifts, bigger hotels and a latte bar, but I have to say I think the overall terrain at Squaw beats Heavenly handily. Still, I haven’t been to Heavenly in a long while, so I really can’t say for sure. But I do have to say that if price is any indication, I fall firmly on the Squaw side of things. An adult ticket this year at heavenly runs $73 in peak season, while you can shred the wicked bowls of Squaw for $65.

So there you have it. I’m sticking with Squaw.

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