Palisades Tahoe Terrain Zones RANKED - Worst to Best

[@hotdogbreath3265]

It would be cool at the start of each section to overlay a map of the park highlighting where the area you’re talking about is located, it would help for those of us who are less familiar with the area

[@PeakRankings]

Makes sense!

[@vipahman]

Very good point. I am heading out there next week for the first time ever.

[@MarkPiersante]

Great stuff you guys do thank you. At the end of last season, I retired from the Palisades Tahoe (formerly Squaw Vally) National Ski Patrol after 29 years. I know The Mountain pretty good. A few comments on your video: (1) Mountain Run is clearly the major cluster I know of in North America in my skiing experience (maybe 50 resort data points). You should have shot the video at 2:00 on a busy bluebird Saturday. (2) Headwall is second to KT, Granite is third. you can spend an entire day riding just any one of those lifts and would not come close to taking all the expert lines. (3) Having the beginner area at the top was due to mother nature's design not Squaw's. It is an ideal learning area. It is hampered by weather with that wind component. Great work keep it up and thank you.

[@oliverye55]

+1, headwall is the second best area on the mountain, granite and red dog can't really compare to runs like c2 ridge or slot or north bowl

[@brianstecklermusic]

@@oliverye55 Agree. I ride Headwall over Granite Chief every week. If they put a high speed lift back on Granite, I'd spend more time back there.

[@joshwagner5414]

Did you know someone named Kevin that worked there? Everyone calls him shack.

[@thomaskl234]

Love the video. I think you did solitude dirty though

[@grant2707]

Great Series of videos like this. I would love to see the same style video for park city, snowbird, and alta. Or just all the cottonwoods together. Thanks guys keep it up

[@SJK-uc6lf]

And Snowmass. It's so spread out and varied, you can spend a few days figuring out what's what.

[@earn_ur_turn]

coming from a palisades skier this is my list. (the beginner stuff at the bottom doesn’t mean it’s bad i’m just an expert skier) also a lot of these are interchangeable like silverado and broken arrow, and they are great but never open that’s why they are low. 1. KT-22 2. Granite Chief 3. Siberia 4. Headwall 5. Red Dog 6. Emigrant/Gold Coast 7. Solitude 8. Shirley Lake 9. Resort Chair 10. Broken Arrow 11. Silverado 12. High Camp 13. Mountain Run

[@chrisperez6881]

I learned to ski at High Camp and still love it.

[@echosx]

You failed to mention that Silverado had to close early for the 22/23 season due to the towers becoming misaligned due to the amount of snow. There is a chance it doesn't open at all for the 23/24 season, as I have heard nothing about repairs.

[@grizzkid795]

Talking to the patrol, they said the towers get out of wack every year, so it's kind of a normal thing. Last year all the bamboo (and there's a lot) on Silverado got buried in snow. They tried to order more, but couldn't find a supplier.

[@brianstecklermusic]

I skied it this year (2024). It was great as always. Don't love the slow lift, but it's a fun zone for sure.

[@grizzkid795]

Yeah, very few areas in the country have fully lift served in bounds terrain that steep.

[@justing7953]

lol 10:49, that fall.... you alright after that?

[@johnplayz1689]

Great video. Look forward to more like this. Also just a recommendation, I think you should review seven springs in Pennsylvania. While it’s in the east it is surprisingly big and built up and is not that far from Pittsburg.

[@PeakRankings]

Thanks for the suggestion!

[@R3dClay]

The terrain of Broken Arrow is usually open even if the lift isn't spinning. The hike is super quick and it's usually the 2nd expert zone to open on a storm day after KT22.

[@joshwagner5414]

I got to ski palisades on march 13th of 24. A lot of people were saying that it was one of the best days of the year and on a Wednesday. I didn’t think it was too overly packed. Was lucky that one of my dad’s best friends works there and I got to ski for free for the day. Was only my 3rd time actually skiing a mountain but grew up playing hockey so naturally skiing is much like skating in my opinion. End of the day I was talking to my dads buddy and told him where I all went (mostly granite chief, Shirley, and immigrant bowl) and he couldn’t believe that I had no problems all day with terrain.

[@SuzanMiller-ou5kq]

Learned to ski at Squaw Valley. Lots of memories of all the spills i took thinking I could do more advanced runs too soon.😅 I love the view of the lake from Squaw. Or is that Alpine Meadows.

[@jwernig78]

i love this idea for a new type of video. maybe a “Top 10 Lifts to Lap at [Resort Name]” series

[@easternyellowjacket276]

Any zone at Palisades is great. Always loved Broken Arrow on sunny days. It was like dream skiing. Warm, soft snow, nice and steep and the rocks and terrain were so sweet. Off the KT 22 lift, the Olympic Lady area is also incredible.

[@brianstecklermusic]

I've never seen Broken Arrow running (granted I'm a midweek skier). Same for Olympic Lady... probably ridden that lift maybe 3 or 4 times in the 15 years I've been skiing Palisades.

[@easternyellowjacket276]

@@brianstecklermusic They use to run them back in the 90's when I skied at Squaw. Don't know why they don't use them anymore. They are slow and outdated, but sometimes that is a good thing.

[@humanplantman]

Silverado doesnt open often because "The key to opening this zone is completing a road from the base of Solitude to the base of Silverado, commonly known as the Oregon Trail. Without this road, emergency medical response to the base of Silverado is not possible and therefore we cannot safely open the terrain or the lift." - On a heavy pow day some of the lines in silverado are top tier, but the trail skiing is terrible

[@IanByrd-cs6yb]

Palisades has always looked great, The Tahoe area is one of the best ski resort hubs in North America.

[@daveteteak8210]

To stand in a hour line to get on any lift there. Disneyland of Tahoe and not in a good way absolute shit show There’s no soul in the ski world anymore just a clown show

[@grizzkid795]

@@daveteteak8210 Been skiing Squaw for 40 years and have never waited an hour in a lift line. If a line is more than ten minutes, I move to a different lift. Even five minutes is pretty long for me.

[@daveteteak8210]

@@grizzkid795 when in 1969 I’m there five days a week , its where my kid trains it’s killer Monday to Wednesday Thursday to Sunday and then holidays bullshit 45 minutes in a line don’t care where you’re at i’ve seen KT 22 line all the way past red dog yeah getting through that in 10 minutes just saying I live here. I live it.

[@daveteteak8210]

Clown show it’s the new East Bay, .…. teachys van dorks and pocket dogs. Keep Tahoe true!!!

[@daveteteak8210]

@@grizzkid795 keep shredding, Grizz kid I am 😘

[@eriksahlin7104]

I love this ranking of terrain zones you should do more often for large resorts, like my next request is Park City, since I’m a local there!

[@aWitty]

Great review. Would love to see a view referring to the ski map during the review.

[@xiao6579]

I feel the biggest drawback of palisades is the lack of vertical drops, in that aspect mountain run actually has some advantages for offering the longest run on the mountain.

[@weirdbeard1980]

Yeah, I can on board with most of that. Overall pretty accurate. I'm a truckee local and think squaw is a bit overrated for how much hype it gets. One thing you missed is the squaw vibe. Lots of "local hero" types that think they're way better than they actually are.

[@charleskelley2871]

more videos like this please

[@mushieslushie]

It is unfortunate that this is the only Tahoe Ikon resort while Epic has 3, but I'm lucky to call this my home resort.

[@mastpg]

Only Kirkwood isn't just a lesser hill, and that's really only true on dead days when you can lap the chutes like they're your favorite spice on the playground. Kodiak Valley is the best hill in Tahoe and only trails Mammoth on the west coast.

[@elliotearles8302]

If you’re just looking at Tahoe, then epic seems better, but I think about the fact that both epic and ikon each have 3 California resorts, and all 3 of those Ikon resorts have 2 mountains each…it starts to seem like a better deal

[@mushieslushie]

@elliotearles8302 depends where you live and how much you want to spend on travel and hotels. I can drive to all 3 epic resorts any weekend I want, can't say the same for ikon.

[@Cowskiman]

@@elliotearles8302bigbear mountain resorts have snow valley, bear mountain, snow summit. Recently 3!

[@GregCope-c2c]

Alpine is freaking awesome. I skied there the seventies and eighties there is much advanced and expert terrain Thank you very much.

[@charlieharper4975]

I've skied Squaw 50 years and have never seen Broken Arrow open. I have skied Oly a few times and they were the best ski days of my life. Squaw is one of the best expert resorts in the world. It is a pretty good beginner resort. It is a mediocre intermediate resort. Alpine is a great all round resort : expert, advanced, intermediate and beginner ; it can cater to them all.

[@josephrosner905]

Can u pls do stratton mountain review? Its my home mountain

[@PeakRankings]

We'll have it this season!

[@Matthew_berry6]

Silvy is one of the best terrain zones on the planet, even though it’s rare to catch it definitely deserves to be above high camp/ Gold Coast

[@earn_ur_turn]

agreed however gold coast/ emigrant is different bc of funnel and shirley bowl

[@earn_ur_turn]

it’s not much better but i only got 2 days of silverado this season

[@Gary-np7hl]

for those who yearn for WROD midseason, may i recommend the mountain run! jokes aside, you nailed this mountain. definitely top ten terrain wise in the US.

[@Rockwood1407]

I was gonna say it might be the single most crowded run in America, but then Peak said it themselves.

[@Gary-np7hl]

@@Rockwood1407 and the conditions on it are so nasty as well, it's like mid atlantic east coast, either soupy or icy.

[@aaronparr7264]

Thank you so much Ill be there in 2 months Needed this hype so bad

[@Jim-y6c]

Bro what did you do at 10:52!

[@schwajj]

Haha, after watching the video and seeing this comment, I knew exactly which segment it was going to be 😂

[@AviationGod222_YT]

Nice bro, you should talk about the new village plans, and expansion for Killington. In 2030.

[@carterfan80]

Definitely not the most overcrowded slope in NA.. A New England holds that title for sure...😅 hunter, Mt snow, Poconos, okemo.

[@joshnorthwoods]

Thanks for another great vid

[@PeakRankings]

You bet 👍

[@alextippett3871]

Bro is so dramatic, mountain run might be crowded, but it's not horrendous, and Silverado is very enjoyable it's open, also you can not put broken arrow over silverado bro I'm sorry

[@livelikeitslegal]

Hot lapping mountain run in the morning is so fun. Spend the rest of the day in whichever zone you may choose then back to mountain run for the last hour zooming and dodging everybody is woohoo!

[@darinsmith2458]

It sounds like they have a ton of terrain..

[@chuckcarmone7545]

I know Silerado is closed a lot but still ranked too low. Some of the best terrain on the planet is hidden in there. Olimpic Lady needs a mention in there too. I know technically it can be reached by KT but it's really amazing terrain.

[@garrettbeckermusic204]

If you thought mountain run is bad you should see Summit Run at Snow Summit on a holiday weekend lol

[@robweedn2735]

Mountain run was amazing

[@alexguiseppe]

ight heres the real list 1.fingers 2.nest 3.chimney 4.china wall 5.mainline 6.extra 7.peak 8.c2 9.broken arrow 10. box/tube 11. west face

[@GoonieGamingNetworkGGN]

Skiing = life

[@Cheezball]

solitude is usually solid ice

[@grizzkid795]

Siberia over Headwall?

[@Motwydk]

Whistler vid before season 🥺

[@holymeto9981]

palisades seems amazing.

[@mrrichards6007]

Squaw Valley is the best!

[@coopermarr6561]

dont listen to this guy, im a local at squaw and there every weekend and i would argue that silverado is the best terrain on the mountain and most other people would as well. he doesent even know what hes talking about and probably hasnt even been to the resort.

[@andrewjones7011]

I don't understand the reason for the name change.

[@SuzanMiller-ou5kq]

Someone was offended. Kinda like changing the name of the Washington redskins.

[@dhowe5180]

You did it again! You pronounced couloir as ko-LORE! It’s koo-WARH. It may seem a bit pedantic to point out grammatical and pronunciation errors like this but it really is a credibility issue for your videos, particularly for viewers from Europe who may wonder if you know what you’re talking about if you can’t correctly pronounce basic mountain terminology.

[@grizzkid795]

In France, you would be totally right, but In California it's OK to swing either way. And dude, the Euro's will know gnarly when they see it. Welcome to Cali, bro!

[@garrettbeckermusic204]

He's not in Europe though and that's how the locals will pronounce it if the EU guys do come over. Might as well get them used to what they'd hear as tourists.

[@Chris-de2qc]

No one cares about French words in America.

[@dhowe5180]

@@Chris-de2qc au contraire

[@ryno7437]

It may seem a bit pedantic because it is lol take a hike bozo

[@mastpg]

If you call it anything other than Olympic Valley, you should probably rethink your life choices. Kodiak Valley is also acceptable.

[@aaronparr7264]

If you’re getting butthurt in a KZbin comment section that somebody chose a name for a mountain you don’t like, you should probably think your life choices

[@mastpg]

@@aaronparr7264 If you project imaginary attitudes onto people in KZbin comment sections....

[@dhowe5180]

I didn’t like palisades at first but now I think it has a nice ring to it

[@CoreQ]

overall palisades is bad. but great videos. there are so many good mountains around tahoe, palisades is just cheapest because it's ikon.

[@DAbrothers-i6z]

While Palisades can be cheap, it offers a lot of terrain diversity for your experience level and has some of the best views you will ever see. Also, majority of people do not agree with you(including me) because Palisades is consistently ranked as one of the best ski resorts in the US, not to mention that it does not even get that crowded even during the peak of the season.

[@franktexasarvin8226]

Shirley is the worst... they never ever groom them