The new Palisades Tahoe logo. Photo: Palisades Tahoe

OLYMPIC VALLEY, Calif. — On Monday, September 13, the former Squaw Valley ski resort officially changed its name to Palisades Tahoe.

The new name was chosen to symbolize the sheer granite faces and chutes that compose the local terrain.

After conversations with the local Washoe Tribe and extensive research into the historical and current usage of the word “squaw” — it was determined that the term is widely considered a racist and sexist slur against indigenous women.

“It is inspiring that after seven decades in operation, a company as storied and established as this resort can still reflect and adjust when it is the necessary and right thing to do,” said recently appointed Palisades Tahoe President and COO Dee Byrne.

“This name change reflects who we are as a ski resort and community—we have a reputation for being progressive and boundary-breaking when it comes to feats of skiing and snowboarding. We have proven that those values go beyond the snow for us.”

The renaming process included numerous surveys, focus groups, discussions with community stakeholders, and an analysis of local history.

Palisades Tahoe has begun a partnership with the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California to continue to give the tribe a platform to educate the public about their culture and the valleys’ origins as the ancestral land of the tribe.

“Anyone who spends time at these mountains can feel the passion of our dedicated skiers and riders. It’s electric, exciting, reverential, and incredibly motivating,” said Ron Cohen, former president and COO of Palisades Tahoe.

“However, no matter how deep, meaningful, and positive these feelings are and no matter how much our guests don’t intend to offend anyone, it is not enough to justify continuing to operate under a name that is deeply offensive to indigenous people across North America. We were compelled to change the name because it’s the right thing to do, especially for the generations yet to come, who will grow up without having to use a slur to identify the place where they chase their dreams down the mountain. We know how much people love this place, and so we spent more than a year making sure that we were doing right by the community in choosing a name that would honor the past and reach out to the future. I am so grateful to the Palisades Tahoe team for their dedication to writing the next chapter of the resort’s storied history.”

You can learn more here.