Olympic Valley, California

Olympic Valley is a special place in California, found in Placer County. It is near a beautiful lake called Lake Tahoe and sits close to the Truckee River. People often call this area Squaw Valley, but its official name is Olympic Valley.

The most famous part of Olympic Valley is a big ski area called Palisades Tahoe. Long ago, in 1960, this same place hosted the Winter Olympics, making it the smallest area ever to welcome the Olympic Winter Games. Many people from all over the world come here to ski and enjoy the snowy mountains.

Name

When travelers first saw the valley, they called it "Squaw Valley" because they saw mostly Washoe women and children, as many of the men were hunting. Over time, the name "Squaw Valley" became linked to the area's history as a popular skiing spot. However, the local Washoe tribe asked to remove the word "squaw" because it is now seen as an unfair term for Native women.

Since the 1960 Winter Olympics, the area has also been called Olympic Valley, after a post office with that name. In 1958, leaders decided that "Squaw Valley" would only refer to a different place in Fresno County, now called Yokuts Valley. Still, many people kept using "Squaw Valley" for both places, which caused confusion. Today, the United States Postal Service suggests using "Olympic Valley" for the 96146 ZIP code, and this name is now used for the whole valley too.

History

The Washoe people lived around Lake Tahoe for thousands of years and used what is now Olympic Valley as a place to spend summer. The first Europeans came through during the 1849 California Gold Rush. Later, a hay farm was started in 1862.

In 1942, a skier named Wayne Poulsen bought land in the valley. He met Alex Cushing in 1946, and together they decided to build a ski resort. The Squaw Valley Ski Resort opened in 1949. In 1954, Cushing worked to bring the 1960 Winter Olympics to the valley. After a vote, the valley was chosen to host the games in 1960. The Olympics brought many new improvements to the area, like better roads and new buildings.

In later years, the ski resort changed ownership and made plans for new developments. In 2022, the valley’s name was officially changed to Olympic Valley to remove an old term that is now considered unfair.

Geography

Olympic Valley is found in eastern Placer County, California. It sits in a valley formed by Washeshu Creek, which flows into the Truckee River. The area is along California State Route 89, halfway between Truckee and Tahoe City. The United States Census Bureau includes it in the Colfax–Monumental Ridge census county division.

Climate

Olympic Valley has a special kind of climate called dry-summer subalpine. Summers there are usually mild to warm, but nights stay cool. Winters are cold and get a lot of snow.

Demographics

As of 2021, Olympic Valley has around 924 people who live there all year. However, when visitors come, the number of people staying overnight can go up to about 6,573. There are roughly 663 homes and 1,180 condominiums in the area.

Government

Olympic Valley does not have its own local government because it is not an official town. Instead, it relies on services from Placer County and special districts. The Olympic Valley Public Service District takes care of important services like water, sewer, trash pickup, fire protection, and emergency medical help for the area along California State Route 89.

Olympic Valley is part of Supervisorial District 5 in Placer County. There is a group called the Olympic Valley Municipal Advisory Council made up of local residents. This group gives advice to the Placer County Board of Supervisors about things like land use and transportation. There is also a Design Review Committee that gives suggestions about development plans to the county planning team.

Sports

Olympic Valley has a strong history with skiing and racing, even before it hosted the 1960 Olympic Winter Games. The area has welcomed many important skiing competitions, including events for the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup in 1969, 2017, 2023, and 2024. It has also held the US Alpine Championships in 2002, 2013, and 2014, as well as the US Freestyle Championships in 2009.

Besides skiing, Olympic Valley is also a starting point for other sports events. The Western States Endurance Run begins at the base of the Palisades Tahoe ski area. Additionally, the Ironman Lake Tahoe triathlon in 2013 and 2014 both started and finished in Olympic Valley.

Arts and culture

Olympic Valley has hosted the Wanderlust Festival, a music and yoga festival, every year since 2009. The valley has also been a place for many musical performances, including concerts by the Jerry Garcia Band, Jurassic 5, Matisyahu, Yonder Mountain String Band, The Wailers, Brett Dennen, and Big Head Todd and the Monsters.

The valley is also home to the Community of Writers conference. Alpenglow Sports, a local sporting goods store, holds the Alpenglow Winter Film Series. In this series, athletes and explorers from all over the world share stories about their adventures.

Education

Olympic Valley has schools run by the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District. There is also a private school called Lake Tahoe Preparatory School in the area, which helps students get ready for college.

Notable people

An athlete from Olympic Valley has competed in every Winter Olympics since 1964, when Jimmie Heuga competed in the IX Olympic Winter Games. Because of this, Olympic Valley is known as the "Official Supplier of Skiers to the US Ski Team." Many members of the US Ski Team started skiing with Olympic Valley's Mighty Mites racing team for children aged five to ten.

Notable winter athletes from Olympic Valley include:

• Shannon Bahrke – Olympic skier
• Travis Ganong – Olympic skier
• Jimmie Heuga – Olympic Bronze medal-winning skier
• Nate Holland – X Games Gold medal-winning snowboarder
• Bill Hudson – Olympic skier
• C. R. Johnson – professional skier and freeskier
• Greg Jones – Olympic skier
• Jeremy Jones – snowboarder
• Kristin Krone – Olympic skier
• Julia Mancuso – Olympic Gold, Silver, and Bronze medal-winning skier
• Tamara McKinney – World Cup Gold medal-winning skier
• Jonny Moseley – Olympic Gold medal-winning skier
• Shane McConkey – professional extreme skier
• Bob Ormsby – Olympic skier
• Michelle Parker – skier
• Daron Rahlves – Olympic skier
• Scot Schmidt – professional extreme skier
• Marco Sullivan – Olympic skier
• Eva Twardokens – Olympic skier

Other notable athletes:

• Emily Harrington – professional rock climber and mountaineer