Popular Tahoe ski resort gets new name, denouncing old as ‘racist and sexist slur’
The popular Lake Tahoe-area ski resort known for decades as Squaw Valley has officially changed its name, a little more than a year after ownership committed to removing the “derogatory and offensive” slur.
The property, owned by Alterra Mountain Co., is now known as Palisades Tahoe.
The resort in August 2020 officially decided to change the name, “after extensive research into the historical and current usage and regional history of the word ‘squaw,’ and discussions with the local Washoe Tribe, which affirmed the position that it is widely considered a racist and sexist slur against Indigenous women,” Palisades Tahoe owners wrote in a news release announcing the new name.
“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,” Palisades Tahoe President Dee Byrne said in a prepared statement.
Last year, resort officials said the name change had been “long discussed.” Those discussions gained momentum last summer, in the wake of the May 2020 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the sweeping, nationwide protests denouncing racism and police brutality that ensued.
The resort’s website re-launched Monday morning as palisadestahoe.com, with the old URL under the previous name now rerouting to the new page.
Palisades Tahoe debuted a new, orange-themed logo on Facebook and in a YouTube video.
This story was originally published September 13, 2021 at 8:40 AM.
