Read skier and snowboarder-submitted reviews on Palisades Tahoe that rank the ski resort and mountain town on a scale of one to five stars for attributes such as terrain, nightlife and family friendliness. See how Palisades Tahoe stacks up in the reviews, on and off the slopes, from skiing and family activities to the après scene. Read up on pros, cons and other comments in reviews left by fellow skiers and riders. Don't forget to submit your own Palisades Tahoe review! Scroll to the bottom of this page to let other travelers know about your skiing and resort experience.
Reviews for Palisades Tahoe
Total (3.9)
A ski resort's overall star rating displayed here is not calculated based on a simple average but takes several factors, including the age of a review, into account.
We went to Palisades on a day trip from South Lake Tahoe, the mountain was uncrowded and the snow was good
Palisades + Alpine are our go-to resorts. Nice varied terrain. Wide spaces to spread out. Granite Chief is our fave along with Silverado when we have good snow days (which are hard to come by these days with CA drought).
Ticket prices are outrageous. You’re forced to buy passes. Otherwise it’s $250 if you walk up to window.
Doug Hopper
Was there for a week. Skied 5 days. Conditions were great every day.
Yvonne Roberts
Our favorite resort of all. Better than Canada, Wy, CO and Utah!
Harry Smith
Palisades has a lot of diverse terrain but my only problem is how long it takes to get on the tram.
Renee Six
The Staff at Squaw has been amazing. We were late for our afternoon lesson and they easily rescheduled and helped us with our missing poles.
The instructors were very seasoned and got my son back to his previous skill level after not skiing for the past year due to the pandemic. On that note, everyone is wearing a mask and i feel comfortable with the separation.
It is the end of the season, so things afe slowing down, but its still fun and a great time to learn!
philip sayles
I'm glad our family experienced Squaw but I wont return on our next Tahoe visit.
Here is a list of cons in detail:
1. The staff were moody which is odd for an expensive mountain.
2. The on hill ski staff had the worst ego's. Due to no double diamond runs, I had to constantly ask which run was safe for my teen (advanced snowboarder). They all were so pretentious and basically said that, if you have to ask, you should not be here. They really pissed me off.
3. The trail markers are the WORST of all mountains I've been on and I go to many states. We did a drop on a diamond run and almost went over a large cliff. They had one small pool sticking up to show it was dangerous. Take heed on markers. They are lacking all over the mountain.
4. Super expensive
5. I lost my teen and asked to track his location on the lift gates. They said they can only do that for season passes or 4 day ticket. WTF. Our tickets scan just like all other tickets. Its high tech but does not do much.
Pros:
Great jump park for all ages.
Large enough to prevent crowds at many lifts (beginner will have lines).
I went skiing today 5/22, granite chief was amazing, new snow, cold snow, powder snow. I took the funitel to gold coast and then gold coast to granite chief and never left. I got a late start and got to granite at 10am and you would think it was february. I skied until they closed the lift and I had to take shirley lake to get out of the valley. Going back tomorrow, but earlier. lifts are open from 8am to 2pm. If you have an ikon pass, get out and use it now. Friendly staff, which is surprising for SV, if alpine meadows is open that is my area, but SV surprised me today. I skied 18 runs on granite and I will do more tomorrow.
We had a horrible experience on our family ski vacation here.
Plenty of snow, but lift holds for 3 days made it impossible to ski 90% of the mountain.
Skip Tahoe and go to Utah, Colorado or Canadian Rockies.
Ivan Cazares
This is the first year I ski Squaw. I've been a couple of sunny powder days and a weekend with miserable (but challenging and fun) conditions. I ski intermediate terrain... just getting into bowl skiing. First, the service: (1) Grooming is poor, although that made me a better skier, (2) Some of the lifts are so incredibly slow (Solitude, Red Dog)- come on Squaw use the outrageous ticket price for good, and (3) Some of the staff are inattentive, in one occasion a skier lost his ski and almost a ligament all because of the staff,(4) On the good side, the buffet at High Camp is among the best ski resort restaurants I've seen and the price affordable. The business model: Priciest ticket in Tahoe for no good reason, but okay, I accept it. There are plenty of similar examples in life. But Squaw is right now offering 4 days for $105 each (and reloadable at the same price for the remaining of the long Squaw season...). How is that for those who purchased the season pass making math with $159-$169/ day... Squaw should run some kind of lowest price guarantee. This really got on my nerves. The mountain: I loved the terrain, but for a skier of my skills (intermediate and moving into more advance) there is really no reason to go to Squaw over say Heavenly. Real powder days are equally good in both. Tons of intermediate terrain in Heavenly. Heavenly views are among the best ski views in the world. South Lake Tahoe offers all sorts of accommodations, food and in general, apres-ski. This is my advise to Squaw: get out of your comfort zone. Update. Upgrade. I didn't experience high crowds (not sure why, good timing I guess for the sunny days) but I read about it. Time to invest in alternatives. What about connecting Squaw and Alpine with a gondola? That would be something. I had a lot of fun, but it's hard not to notice that this place is running on its Olympics reputation.
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