Plans released for Squaw-Alpine gondola

Placer County this month released the application and a description of the gondola that would link Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows.

While the cars, with a capacity to hold eight people, would not travel into Granite Chief Wilderness, they will come awfully close. That is one of the controversial aspects of the project.

Combining the terrain of the two resorts was talked about long before Squaw Valley Ski Holding came into being. KSL Capital Partners bought Squaw in November 2010. JMA Ventures bought Alpine in 2007. Squaw Valley Ski Holdings Inc. was created in September 2011 to operate both resorts.

In April it was announced that an agreement had been reached with Troy Caldwell who owns the private land known as White Wolf. This acreage sits between Squaw and Alpine. It won’t be open to skiing, but is needed to erect the gondola.

The application says there will be two base areas, plus two midpoint stations, as well as eight Gasex exploders for avalanche control. It would be 13,000 feet long, with 37 towers.

The plan is the gondola would only operate during the ski season.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report