IS BETTER THAN 
Why does Squaw Valley think they’re top dog in the pack of ski resorts?
How come everyone I know from Squaw Valley thinks they are so much better than me. Maybe it falls into the pompous California cool attitude? Or maybe they need to make up for something, if you know what I’m saying. Whatever the reason, I’m sick of it… I mean every third post on Unofficial Networks is talking about how cool Squaw Valley is, or commenting on how awesome KT-22 is. Well, in this post I am going to throw a stick in the spokes of the egos held by Squaw Valley locals and those who rep this Squaw illusion. Simply put, Whistler is a better place to ski than Squaw. California has a reputation to uphold, a hang-it-out-there “I’m better than you are” attitude. It’s no surprise to me that Squaw-ites feel obligated to let the world know that their ski area is the tits, and nipples. This becomes contagious and then slowly Squaw Valley news is the only ski news that you hear about, and one can see the downward spiral that ensues, it’s unhealthy.
I’m here to set the record straight and let the world know that Squaw Valley, California is actually not that rad.
Well the Squaw stronghold on ski badass’ery may be somewhat attributed to the reputation that Canadians must also uphold. Up here in OH Canada we’re the redheaded stepchild whose opinions aren’t taken seriously. Or maybe we’ve got the “we know our terrain is sick but don’t really care if anyone else knows this as well, because of our non-confrontational” attitude (“non-confrontational” possibly thrown out the window after the riots). Either way, I’m a fake half-breed Canadian so I have no qualms about coming right out and saying that Whistler is way better than Squaw Valley, and I encourage all Whistler-folk to do the same. In this article I will discuss mountain stats and the surrounding Backcountry. Also, night life (or lack of in Squaw’s case), summer, winter and everything in between, plus the population of professional skiers. So, to you California girls, and guys, here’s why you’re not actually that bad ass.
Lets begin with Mountain Statistics
Whistler Blackcomb: (from Whistlerblackcomb.com)
Average Snowfall -410 inches per year
Total Terrain -8,171 acres/3,307hectares
Trails -200+
Top elevation -2,284 meters/ 7,494ft
Village elevation -675 meters/2,214ft
Vertical: Whistler 1530 meters / 5020ft, Blackcomb 1609 meters / 5135ft
Number of lifts -37
Squaw Valley: (from Ski Report because Squaw Valley’s website sucks balls)
Average snowfall -400 inches
Total terrain -4000 acres (6000+ with new inclusion of Alpine)
Trails -170
Top elevation -9,050ft
Village elevation -6,200ft
Vertical -2,850ft
Number of lifts -33
Backcountry and sled access
30 minutes from Whistler
Whistler and the surrounding backcountry can be summed up with two words, endless possibilities. From the resort there are backcountry gates on both mountains, Whistler & Blackcomb (that provide access to the spearhead and beyond). The backcountry that you can access via snowmobile unreal, it’s the best sled access terrain in the world.
Squaw Valley -At Squaw Valley it’s illegal to go out of bounds from the resort and there’s not much sled access terrain around Tahoe.
Location:
Whistler = 2 hours from Vancouver, (the coolest city on earth)
Squaw Valley = 3.5 hours from San Francisco (also very cool) but I-80 traffic is very slow. Plus Squaw is one hour from Reno (the worst city in the USA)
Night life
Nightlife in Whistler
Whistler =Drinking age, 19
In British Columbia the drinking age is 19. This not only means there will be more people in the bars/clubs of Whistler (in contrast to the typicsl ski-town sausage fest), but there will be younger girls who get drunk easier and make (what they would call) bad decisions.
Squaw Valley =Drinking age, 21
“The night life in Squaw Valley is dead, useless, non existent, and dangerous….unless you like men”
- Miles Clark, Squaw Valley Local and manager of Unofficial Squaw
To Squaw fans: Shave your beard and stop pretending that the bar is for sophisticated man-type people with facial hair only, who drink for the sake of drinking and brag about their lines that day. You all want fresh young beardless girls to join you in these drinking establishments.
Summer Activities
Summer in Whistler
Squaw Valley – Californian in the summer, sounds good right? Local skier miles clark says,
“I never go to Squaw Valley in the summer, there’s not much going on”.
The California coast is what you’ve all heard and dreamt about. NOT the skeleton of a ski town 200 miles inland. Lake Tahoe is nearby (not immediately adjacent).
Whistler
Opposite from the lack of happenings in Squaw, Whistler is filled with events, tourists and hot Canadian girls. The summer kicks off with the World Ski and Snowboard Festival, and concludes with Crankworx, the biggest bike festival in the world. If that’s not enough Whistler has one of, if not, the best Mtn. bike parks on earth. The village in Whistler is always packed and to make it even better you can go skiing. YEP, in Whistler you can ski all summer on the glacier. No comparison to Squaw.
Pro Skiers:
Photo K2
Whistler -Dana Flahr, James Heim, Ian McIntosh, Mike Douglas, Rory Bushfield, Sarah Burke, Mark Abma, Josh Bibby, Mike Henitiuk, The Treadway brothers, Shaun Pettit, Callum Pettit, Kye Peterson, Eric Hjorleifson, Mike Riddle ,Cory Vanular, Justin Dory, Chris Turpin, PY Leblanc, Charlie Ager, Leigh Powis, Josh Stack
Squaw Valley -JT Holmes, Mike Wilson, Timmy Dutton, Cody Townsend, The Gaffney’s, Ingrid Backstrom (I’ll give you Ingrid but she just moved to Whistler, suckers)
Claim to fame
Whistler:
-# 1 ski resort in North America since 1998 (ski/skiing/freeskier/transworld…the ratings go back to 1998)
-2010 Olympic Winter games
Squaw Valley:
-Hot dog the movie (come on guys, really… Harkin Banks is a tool, but on second thought the movie is soft core porn)
-1960 Olympic Winter Games (it’s like your high school quarter back still wearing his letter jacket 40 years later. GET OVER IT)
I don’t need to rub it in anymore, it’s obvious that Whistler is clearly better in every category. Sure Whistler’s in Canada and yes Canada is filled with Canadians who have beady eyes and flappy heads, but thats neither here nor there. The purpose of this rant was to dum-down the ego’s of the bro-bra-better than you- skiers at Squaw Valley. Don’t get down on yourself Squaw locals or take this as a malicious attack on your beliefs (cough ughh… RECCO). I’m sure Squaw Valley is a really fun resort (to visit) and I truly thank Squaw for taking a percentage of the worlds ski gapers, who, if Squaw Valley didn’t exist would be clogging the lift lines at Whistler Blackcomb.
Do yourself a favor Squaw Valley locals and make a trip to Canada this winter
A fair warning; take the following article as a biased, yet factual comparison.
I grew up in Telluride, Colorado so if you ask me what the best ski area in the U.S. is I will have to say Telluride. North America however is a different story.
Since calling Whistler, BC my home mountain for nearly a decade now, I have the right to be biased toward there too.
This does not mean that cold-hard facts can be ignored when comparing two ski Meccas.
Dude, Telluride sucks remember? No one should ever come here…
Nothing to see in Telluride. Keep moving people.
haha. t-ride sucks you all should stay in cali
Grew up in Cali and learned to ski in Tahoe.
Moved to Whistler after college for 3 years to live work and ski.
I now live work and Ski in Squaw.
Hands down, WHISTLER dominates squaw. And if you complain about the weather in Whistler, GO HIGHER. The freezing level 99% of the time is low enough to encompass more terrain than Squaw.
And the whole KT-22 being the best lift., its up there, but not the best. Glacier Express on Blackcomb dominates KT-22.
Now, I just gotta figure out that immigration thing….
ingrid is still at squaw you idiot
um no shes not
I prefer to ski in the sun instead of the rain thank you very much!
Squaw Valley wins HANDS DOWN!!!!!!
would you rather pow or sun? i think pow
and i was hoping unofficial wasn’t going to turn into the douchy TGR forum.
whistler is fun.
squaw is fun.
i like pow.
i’ll show you around my mountain (squaw) if you show me around yours. can we be friends?
Generating a list of comments three times the length of the article itself, Jake Cohn proves he can push buttons. With the wit and skill of a trained monkey he has articulated an utterly useless article. This painful piece of “reporting” relies on extremism to be divisive. Hes certainly been successful there, stirring up angst reminiscent of a TGR forum. But wheres the truth? Well, like almost everything in life the truth is in the gray area. Can Squaw skiers be cocky jerks? Sure. Can they also be passionate and polite people? Of course. And there is obviously no doubt that Whistler is a world class mountain. So go ahead and get wrapped up in the argument if you like. But in the end were all skiers and riders passionate about SLIDING AROUND IN SNOW. How can you honestly make that negative? Enjoy your winter regardless of your home resort. I hope to see you out there. I’ll be the guy throwing high fives and laughing my ass off.
John Cohn is just butt hurt because he cant stomp nose to main air….pussy
just playing dude. whistler is sickkk
Jake you schmuck
way to include weather for whistler vs california!!!
but i agree whistler is sick ya know but they are missing KT and peak chair just donesnt compare!!!!
just wait for the squaw alpine, whitewolf combo with open boundaries!!!
From a Cali Native… THANK YOU. The attitude at SV sucks! I love to ski, but not at the expense of hearing trash-talking under 30′s ripping on everyone else. Squaw is what it is and many places are way better!!
Please use caution when visiting Squaw… These are white-rapper-gangsters in red-neck trucks with an unlimited bank account and don’t harsh their mellow! They will blow grand daddy purp in your face and then slash your tires.
the biggest dudebros at squaw are all at least 30…
go fuck yourself and if your calling yourself a Cali Native your probably from the fucking bay
Hey Youranus, if you are calling somebody out for calling themselves a Cali Native, then you are probably an East Coast transplant who fled to the West to escape the East’s utter lack of good skiing. And you are also probably one of the douchebag “Squaw local brah brahs” (small minority taking all the spotlight much like the fucked up American politics) that does not know how to properly bathe, wash their clothes, talk to women, and has a general lack of knowledge of how normal day-to-day human interactions go.
Squaw is sweet if you want to die, that place is cursed for thinking its so rad. I see why Ingrid is moving to BC.
fuck you, dude. fuck you.
your a straight up asshole for saying that
your a straight up asshole for saying that
.
Yes a lot of people come up from SF, but it isn’t nice to refer to sexuality in a negative way. Are you racist too?
Don’t lump all Tahoe skiers in with the Squaw local douche bags.
so true….ever heard the saying act like you’ve been there???? well squaw locals sure don’t.
There is a reason the FWT is at kirkwood and not squaw……..
Jake should have included something to do with the weather.
http://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/weather/cams/whistler/index.htm
It was pewking all night down to mid mountain.
Maybe KSL can improve our vertical drop?
It always pains me to see that 2850′ number… technically, it’s true… but only technically.
Jake nailed it in my opinion. Whistler Blackcomb FTW!!!!!!
I don’t know Lloyd, the French are assholes!!
THANK YOU! I’ve lived here 6 years, and can’t imagine anywhere else being this awesome. Here’s a little proof!
i perfer wildcat mt in New Hampshire…
People who bow to Squaw:
1. have never really skied Utah, Col. or WY pow. Heavy cali dumps = crap snow.
2. have never felt what is is like to ski an advanced run for over 3,000 vert ft.
(the stat of squaw having 2,800 vert is a sham since over half of that is a green return rout from the upper mountain)
3. think that waiting in the KT line at 5am is actually worth the 1,000 vert. line of heavy cement. Wait, really? That is weird.
4. think that talking s**t about other mountains is actually cool
5. think they know more than the ski patrol when runs are closed for safety or other reasons beyond their need-to-know
6. lack manners…and finally… a true story: I was in a squaw gondola with around 30 other people including families with small children. A group of 20-somethings sparked up a large spliff and proceeded to threaten the father who requested that they do their business somewhere else. Claiming ownership of the mountain, they proclaimed they can do what they want and made fun of the guy for being a gaper in front of his family. Whoa… now this is very un-dude. I was sickened by this behavior and the self-entitlement of these punks sporting thousands of dollars worth of gear and high grade weed. (their job spinning lifts obviously didn’t pay for any of that)
If you visit other resorts outside of cali, there is an etiquette in the line and a politeness among the people, which has been lost in Tahoe. What a shame, ’cause Tahoe can be quite a wonderful place both on and off the mountain.
-Former Local who left Tahoe to find real people-
wow, well put. it’s sad but that squaw additude is killing tahoe.
I have skied at Squaw Valley since 1986. There has been a steady decline in the attitude by the local hard core skiers that have a serious right of entitlement attitude. Show some respect young men. I talked with Andy about this last year. He gets it.
I understand where you are coming from with this. I had heard of incedents like this happening, however have never witnessed. I always bring “mine”, while on a trip, however will always be discrete “hut stop.” There is no reason to expose kids, mothers and others to what I do. Waiting for KT and having one was a great experience. Riding the lifts with local, sharing some Colorado love and having a great time. A-train showed me Rock Garden, and other runs, Cheryl gave me the lay of the land on 1st chair as we spoke of my stoke level and her dedication, a “local”, showed me a hut. On my trip I was by myself and everywhere I went I met nice people. I never found the bro brah.
I believe that you find what you are looking for and/or expect. I suggest everybody drop the attitude prior to arriving, smile and speak to everyone you can and have fun.
I was riding a chair with Scott Gaffney and another on Saturday and when we got off, the kids (Scott’s or his buddy), proclaiming that they wanted to go to the Rock Garden. Appreciate it for the fact the kids (true kids, not people who won’t grow up), are ripping it and having fun.
Dude your awesome, keep up the stoke for riding anywhere and come back to Squaw and shred with us anytime!
Maritime snow pack beats out dry pow anytime. It is the reason why whistler, squaw, and AK have steep terrain. Interior resorts (snowbird, alta, colorado…..) ski “flat” because the snow just sifts off anything with a pitch. Fact. Wear it!
word. utah col and wy can all eat a bag of dicks when it comes to this fact.
when i comes to steeps nothing in continental US beats it
http://3dskimaps.com/index.php?path=squawvalley
http://3dskimaps.com/whistler/
Now if you only had some steeps…
This is really the only reason why squaw is just so damn fun! Id rather ski 1500 vertical super steep lines with cliffs littered throughout than 3000 vert of flat… This 3d map of steepness really adds some perspective. But I love the article, there are to many damn people skiing at Squaw, everyone should go to whistler! Thanks!
People who bow to Squaw:
1. have never really skied Utah, Col. or WY pow. Heavy cali dumps = crap snow.
2. have never felt what is is like to ski an advanced run for over 3,000 vert ft.
(the stat of squaw having 2,800 vert is a sham since over half of that is a green return rout from the upper mountain)
3. think that waiting in the KT line at 5am is actually worth the 1,000 vert. line of heavy cement. Wait, really? That is weird.
4. think that talking s**t about other mountains is actually cool
5. think they know more than the ski patrol when runs are closed for safety or other reasons beyond their need-to-know
6. lack manners…and finally… a true story: I was in a squaw gondola with around 30 other people including families with small children. A group of 20-somethings sparked up a large spliff and proceeded to threaten the father who requested that they do their business somewhere else. Claiming ownership of the mountain, they proclaimed they can do what they want and made fun of the guy for being a gaper in front of his family. Whoa… now this is very un-dude. I was sickened by this behavior and the self-entitlement of these punks sporting thousands of dollars worth of gear and high grade weed. (their job spinning lifts obviously didn’t pay for any of that)
If you visit other resorts outside of cali, there is an etiquette in the line and a politeness among the people, which has been lost in Tahoe. What a shame, ’cause Tahoe can be quite a wonderful place both on and off the mountain.
-Former Local who left Tahoe to find real people-
Agreed Snowbird and Jackson both have trams that let you access 3000 foot steep runs continus with more snow than both Wisler and Squaw, in fact Snowbird got more snow in 2011 season than I the Squaw and Wistle combined. So Jackson and Snowbird should be considered the two for which is better in North America
um, check your “in facts”
http://unofficialnetworks.com/20102011-season-snow-totals-north-america-ca-wy-ut-bc-26849/
2010/11 season total:
Alpine Meadows, CA 852″
Squaw Valley, CA 810″
snowbird, UT 783″
Whistler, BC 490″ BUT THIS WAS MEASURED @ MID-MOUNTAIN
So, uh, unless math works different in the Wasatch…
whistler’s a better mountain, no question. but can you get a $1 PBR in whistler village? i think not. have fun paying 4 bucks for a Wildkitty and $6 for a gallon of gas to take you 800 miles out to the icecap.
i think the new squaw logo makes them even.
I love Whistler. I grew up on squaw.
But is it snowing in Canada betches? ‘Cause it is at squaw…
You are exactly who they are talking about. IT IS NOT snowing at Squaw (yet) and there is no new snow on the ground. But at Whistler there is. Stop thinking with your gut and use your brain. Dork
no snow at squaw:
http://www.squaw.com/high-camp-cam#
fresh snow at whistler:
http://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/weather/cams/blackcomb/index.htm
this is a joke right…I’m a tahoe local and even I’d take whistler and/or tride over squaw and those 45 min kt lines. those mountains blow squaw away and the people, ha the people are far cooler.
Holy freaking pointless. Che Boludo nailed it… douchey TGR bullshit. Sure Squaw isn’t perfect, neither is Whistler, Utah or Colorado. Personally, I like that so many people think Squaw is overcrowded, full of attitude and has shitty snow. Clearly you’ve not spent enough time here, so stay in Canada.
and to “SquawisforHomos,” Really…. Go fuck yourself with your “die/cursed” comment.
Yeah Jk, well put. This site is starting to suck. Riding is fun anywhere.
How about SHANE FUCKING McCONKEY, on that pro list. or julia mancuso, CRJ, Johnny mosley, Ralph Backstrom, Jackie Passo, Marco Sullivan, DARON FUCKING RAHLVES. do you want me to keep going, ill just keep going? Brad Holmes, Cody Townsend, Eric roner, Travis Ganong, Michelle Parker, Jeremy jones, Dave Hatchet, etc. whistler is sick as fuck, kinda not really. it takes so long to get to top, if you can even see 3 feet infront of you due to the huge fucking CLOUD your trying to ski through. the tree skiing and pillows are not comparable you have that. the amount of exposed lines squaw has are so much more raw. backcountry access, wait i thought we were talking about SQUAW AND WHISTLER. not the shit around it. yea you guys have sick terrain outside your mountain. Our mtn. is sick terrain, i dont need a 10grand sled to go get to it. O and wait you dont ride your fucking sled straight up whistler through the acsess gate and go out, you ride around the mountain or go to places near the mt to acsess backcountry, im pretty sure you do that everywhere in the world. GET HAMMERED YEA SO COOL. we give zero fucks about getting drunk and having sex with beat ass 19 year old canadian girls, and give lots of fucks towards our skiing. so your gay fucking village filled with kooks from everywhere in the wolrd, with so much over development from having possibly some of the worst winter olympics due the shitty weather BC gets. WAIT IM PRETTY SURE JULIA FUCKED SHIT UP AT YOUR OLYMPICS? DID ANY LOCAL GIRLS KILL IT YOUR OLYMPICS? NOPE JUST THE CHICK FROM SQUAW VALLEY. and you have to park miles away from any lift…i bet that sucks ass. at squaw you can roll up 12 on 5ft day and only park 200 yards away from the sickest lift accessible terrain in north america. your post is shitty come ski squaw then write another article you KOOK.
And you just reinforced this guys article…. wah wah wah.
Oh, and your might want to check your list… DARON RAHLVES is a Sugar Bowl boy… not to mention some of the others on your list who are not from squaw. Be cool. Ride the frozen wave and mellow out, dude. Cali bra! Groooovy
obviously your an idiot. daron is so far from a sugarbowl boy its not even funny. just cause he got paid to rep sugar bowl doesnt mean hes from there. read a fucking book.
Which book should I read? I like suggestions…
Pro SKIERS MAN not pro snowboarders …
-I bet the author would gladly list the pro snowboarders in Whistler and they would sure outnumber the slowboaders at Squaw Meadows
anything you have to say is discredited by your name.
i meant the Northstar bitch
Give me one reason Squaw is better than Northstar!!
There are many reasons squaw is better then northstar it is foolish to think they are even close. Squaw way better terrain. It is steeper and longer. Kt22 is really all I need to say. All northstar has had on squaw is their parks and that will change this season now that spt is at squaw. They arent even close northstar is a begginer mountain plain and simple
you forgot to mention that a whistler blackcomb pass cost $1400
a squaw pass is $400
Bud i think he means skiers who are still alive, Shane and CR are not
ya idiot we got the gold in ski cross and snowboard cross.
kook
we have palm trees an hour and half away…….
Whistler may be the better ski area but it is in dreary rainy Canada uggh
Squaw is a great mountain too but it is in bankrupt Cali uggh
Got to go with Jackson as superior to all
i love how your hating on the attitude of squaw locals, but you just stooped to there level. no your argument is thrown straight out the window.
Does anyone know if there will be a way to ski from squaw to alpine? And is that chair they have been building still private, or will that be accessible with the new pass?
Thx
No lift access between squaw and alpine this year. I have heard it is in the works. But they are focusing on merging the two operations this year. Re-organization is relatively quick to do compared to designing, engineering, and building the lifts and ski runs for intermountain connectivity. Not to mention that there has been no public disclosure of a purchase or lease agreement for the White Wolf property yet.
no place is perfect. Vail is Rad, Telluride is rad, snowbird is rad, Crestebutte is rad, Squaw is rad, kirkwood is rad, Crystal is rad, but there is always days when one is wayyyyyyy sicker than any other.
Nice Warren, Im glad someones heart and mind are in the right place!
Whistler may have a lot more vertical, but their super WET snow sucks
I will say this, if you go to a resort to get drunk and party, stay away from Squaw, you are taking up parking spaces, I go to kill it on the snow, not in the bar
Also, Jake is a little bitch, I hate everything he does on unofficial, and i have the distinct feeling I’m not alone. jake, keep your bitch ass up north!
Oh yeah, way to get a picture with three ugly beasts in BC, and that hat makes you look like the dickhead you are
put miles on that list as well
Agreed
Jake Cohn and Miles Clark suck.
Talk shit on miles. ill fuck your ass.
miles clark sucks.
i agree whistler,vail, telluride, snobird/alta, and jackson are way better, and all north americans should take their ski vacations and families to those awesome resorts, and forget that squaw valley exists. That way we asshole locals can have the valley to ourselves and can only hate on and vibe each other.
Squaw, Whistler, and anywhere on the wet coast get crappy snow. I skiied squaw last year in the middle of the 20 foot storm that was supposedly “light” snow, and I have not skiied snow that heavy on the worst days in Co or Ut
@iheartsquaw – Thanks for confirming why I left. You will always suck, but at least now I just dont care.
@All My Tahoe Peeps – Much love. Keep fighting the good fight of breaking that moniker.
Jake cohn is a pussy
Spirit mountain in Duluth MN shits on both of you so sit down and shut the fuck up!
Seriously, I don’t really go on TGR forums, but this is very similar to the bullshit I see on NS. Squaw and Whistler locals have it better than 99% of all other skiers/riders. This whole post is childish.
FUCK ALL OF YOU!!!! BOZEMAN IS WHERE IT’S AT!!!!!!!! FUCKN BC BROS AND SQUAW BROS. BLOW ME!
haha yeeeeeah
Tahoe summers are way sicker bottoming not even debatable for that matter no where is better during the summer.
Hawaii might be equal, actually your right, I put Hawaii second.
:/ dude I’m from squaw and I never disrespect whistler. I love squaw, I love mammoth, I love whistler. And sure, I’ll be a pompous asshole, because we go up against those from heavenly and northstar who think the same way. When I first saw the little 7 day pass squaw had with whistler, I thought shit was really getting big, and that I’d be driving up to Canada once a month, but yeah, besides the point, as a Tahoe local from the most hated community on the lake, and one of the smallest mountains, I looooooove those mountains.
Why can’t we all just be positive and share the good snow? Where is the web-love? Why the negativity? Isn’t skiing/boarding really fun for everyone? Good for all of you for being so passionate. Now lets pray for snow!
Oh, and the yankees SUCK!
My bits are bigger and better than your bits… wanna fight about it?
How manly.
I love Tahoe, winter, summer and we have a kick ass lake that is one of the most pristine lakes in the world. Not to mention we can go to the other beach’s (the North Coast of Cali) in 3 hours or one of the other 6 ski resorts in Tahoe anytime. Verticle may be better but the elevation is so low. And 19 year old jailbait, you must really be desperate since you have to get chicks druck to even pay attention to you. There are always good and bad things about places, personally I say to you, stay in Canada, eh! Sounds like that’s where you belong. Oh and no snowmobile riding in Tahoe huh, have you never been here before? Must not have been or you wouldn’t make a comment like that.
all resorts suck….earn your turns!!
Snow is snow ladies. It falls in every ski town from east coast to the west on this great north American continent. Sure some hills get more snow and some have better night life. Some have huge lakes near by and some have big cities. We all live in ski towns for similar reason. I am feeling all this arguing is coming from some small man issues. Let’s all come together and share the good times we have at our home hills. I am very sick of reading all this I am better than you bickering. NO ONE CARES.
Less hate more love — I come from the east, NH that is. A small hill named Veterans Memorial ski area. It is run by the town I grew up in and has one rope tow and a T bar. I loved all 275′ of vert on the natural snow when I grew up. Now I live in Tahoe and love every moment.
Tell us where you came from and where your at……
ha some one is just but hurt cause they don’t have a never ending winter…. they just have never ending rain at whistler…
We’re higher than both of you. I’m talking blazed high and elevation high
honestly jake i like your posts on unnofficial but this one is ridiculous. Im a squaw skier and I have no reason to have beef with whistler, i respect you guys and this post serves no purpose other than to stir up arguments
Go to heaven – Ski like hell – Whistler/blackcomb Moto
Ski like hell – Heaven is for pussies – Squaw Moto
nice
I love skiing and I usually enjoy the updates and posts form you guys. However, after this post I’m deleting Unofficial on Facebook. This is a blog page that should unite people not divide them. The ski community is rad everywhere. If you can’t hang, go somewhere else. Take the opportunity to enjoy the mountains everywhere and leave the stupid, unintelligent blog posts to 16 year olds on Facebook. You all are grown men. Act like it.
P.s I have never heard some one from squaw disrespect Whistler. Most people who appreciate skiing, appreciate all mountains and the opportunity to be so lucky to enjoy them.
Now that is an intelligent opinion!
try to find anything like this about whistler on unofficial squaw. you wont. do you know why? because we dont give a fuck about Whistler we only care about squaw.
try to find anything like this on unofficial squaw. you wont. do you know why? because no one at squaw gives a fuck about whistler.
same ol’……
Canada = the dorky upstairs snowboarder loft, listening to the hip, sic “Hot Dog” style ski party going on downstairs in the ultra rad condo….(and yeah, the movie might be soft porn, but to bash it means you have no clue…)
heavy snow? that means my quads are bigger than yours. oh, and with all these sic 118 or greater under foot skis (read: Bodacious), i float like a butterfly…
spring skiing? when did whistler close? squaw closed in June. But I have several friends who have skied every month since….
how many inches did whistler get? oh, Squaw got twice as much….
One pro skier word – Scott Schmidt
wait 2 – Glen Plake (heavenly guy, but you know the truth)
wait 3 – Kevin Andrews
wait 4 – Shane McConkey (RIP buddy)
Disrespecting the fallen ski hero’s and trying to make it look like it the mountains fault? Whistler fans. wow. id be proud of that…
Snomo access? You obviously are not familiar with the area. At all. I ride from my house to Squaw, to Castle, to Sierraville, to…you get the picture…
Literally put “extreme” skiing on the map? Oh yeah, Squawlywood. I dont recall a name like “Whisltlerwood”..sounds like a bad bj….
Vancouver, ahhh Vancouver. Being Canadian myself, I do love this town. My great great great great Grandpa was a stone-layer for the Parliament buildings. But placing it above SF? Seriously?
Gambling, hookers, and happy rednecks? Reno baby!
French people all over the place? umm. Easy answer huh?
A local hockey team with nice fans? Oh, yeah, the riots….now THAT was a serious show of Canadian pride and culture…not the first time either, right?
An underground local scene (you are NOT familiar with it, sorry, Miles isn’t either) that promotes brother and sisterhood, and is a family that extends from Squaw to Europe to Alaska to (OMG) Canada to New Zealand to the Antarctic and more? I know for a fact that is MY Squaw family. The ones I worked/skied with for 20 years here. The rif raf? you have it too. quit pretending….
Brobras? Its Cali man….
Has fanboi’s that think dissing on other ski areas is fun, but is really a loud cry of “green with envy” ? hypocritical? you be the judge…
WHY THE FUCK DID I JUST SPEND ENDLESS MINUTES READING ALL THE STUPID COMMENTS. YOU ARE ALL IMBECILES!
OK. We talk our selves up a bit. We don’t talk shit about you. Thats fine we are a little douche like. But if you ever, I MEAN EVER, talk about my girl RENO again that way- “an hour from Reno, the worst city in the world,”- I will hit I-5 north in my maserati towards you and cut your eye balls out with maple leaves.
You’ve likely never been to Shooters. If you’ve been to that bar you wouldn’t talk about Reno that way…..
ill grab the cattle prod from the bar and be right with you on that one. plus if we store some reno crackhead drunks in the trunk to leave in vancouver, itll be a little bit like giving smallpox infested blankets to the locals…
Jackson Hole.
where did the years and years of sick riding and skiing footage in the 90s come out of? tahoe…just because you’ve seen them in movies and they’re played out for filming doesn’t mean they lost any of their radness…90% snowmobile accessible you shooby..whistlers fucking ridiculous too but to say tahoe has none is stupid
http://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/weather/stats/index.htm
http://www.squaw.com/snowfall-tracker-2010-11
proof
i prefer squaw, but whistler is measured @ mid mountain.
In all honestly, I like it best outdoors, sliding down the side of just about anything. there are litterally billions of people who aren’t so lucky. for a fortunate few, on that perfect day, they really are at the best place on earth. but fortunately for the rest of us, that best place can be in so many different places, BC, CA, AK, WA, UT, CO, WY, MT, ID and if you leave North America, the list is a whole lot longer. quit your bitchin’ and get after it!
If you get hurt while in Canada and you are a citizen you wont be in dept for the rest of your life comparded to getting injured in the US
“there’s not much sled access terrain around Tahoe.”
hahah your kidding right?
Jake watch this and you might understand why squaw is so rad
http://unofficialnetworks.com/gnar/
No no no no no you fuckers got it all wrong. Hands down the best mountian in north america is Blue mountian in ontario. its an unreal hill.
AGREED DUUUUUDE!! SNOW VALLEY REPRESENT
Seriously people can we just stop all this stupid arguing. Both of these mountains have flaws but what mountain doesn’t, no ski area is perfect. both are still fucking unreal mountains and have their own aspects that make them great.
STOP FIGHTING
MAKE POW TURNS, NOT WAR!
i ski both whistler and squaw, whistler sucks, there are 25 betters places to ski in the west, been ther 4 times for aleast a week, never seen the mtn from the bottom, also if you think kt line is long, it is always a 1/2 hour in gondola line at whister always in rain, you have the vert right, but most is in fog and rain, who likes thar crap, if you want to ski canada go to nelson, great snow and the sun even shines once in a while, i will never go that that crappy mtn on the coast of canada again, but squaw is great along with plenty of others places in the west, ps squaw got just as much snow last winter as snowbird, both top notch though
Personally, when I was stuck in detention, I would scam on the nearest decent-est female, not write a hate rant. But that’s just me.
nice one, mis-punctuating the very first sentence of a big, long article.
I am just stoked that none of this hate comes to Winter Park/Mary Jane and Berthoud Pass. If any of you decide to come to Colorado, I ask that you check the attitudes at the door. We are all here for a reason, to cruise through Mother Gnarshia and love the snow. Please, all of you have a latte and mellow out.
Jaky, to answer your first question: the reason I think I’m better than you is because I am.
And for all the people who are taking this seriously…relax, it’s all for shits and giggles. I think everyone in here is just stoked to be talking about skiing…in one form or another.
Thank you, the best comment yet. The “attitude” at squaw is a joke- literally, and my guess is that this article by Jake is only intended to stir up some good natured fun shit talking.
Might be a full moon tonight………
19 year old drunk girls?
What’s the issue here?
omg enough already with the juvenile dick swinging..who cares! both mountains are great, duh! The arrogant attitude of the gnar bro brah in-crowd at Squaw is what really sucks.
Nice Whistler gets 410 inches and Squaw 400 really? added an extra 10 inches I say that all the time at the bar. Plus Sled access is not limited in Tahoe.
I DON’T KNOW WHAT WE’RE YELLING ABOUT!
LOUD NOISES
-I love lamp
Shane McConkey born in Vancouver, Canada but call Squaw his home. Jake you better ski on some camber straight skis cause Squaw is home of the Rocker.
“Canada is like a loft apartment over a great party”
Now on to the article:
Look in the mirror and repeat, I’m not good enough, I’m not smart enough, and doggone it everyone at Squaw (and even Alpine) is better than me. Everyone at Squaw thinks they are better than you for one reason, they are better than you, hello!
California does have a reputation to up hold. Think Gold Rush, Golden Gate Bridge, Hollywood, Yosemite, Home of a little thing called the Skateboard, Home of the Mountain Bike (thank you Gary Fisher), Home of the agriculture you eat, Lake Tahoe, Alex Cushing, Squaw Valley…
Jake is right about Squaw Valley not being rad. Squaw Valley is Radness as in Gaffney’s Numerical Assessment of Radness. Jake you should read Squallywood and watch the movie G.N.A.R. then you might understand. The movie is even viewable on this website.
Mountain Stats:
2010-11 Snowfall
Whistler: 622 inches
Squaw: 810 inches
Lifts:
Whistler: No one cares about all of the crappy lifts that Whistler has that go to terrain with slushy snow.
Squaw: KT22, Headwall, Granite Chief, Silverado…(even Shirley Lake is better than most lifts at Whistler)
Backcountry:
“there’s not much sled access terrain around Tahoe” really?
Have you even heard on the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range?
Not only sled access, what about the Tahoe Backcountry? There are a lot of people who would be very upset if the world knew how RADNESS the Tahoe backcountry is and started coming down from Whistler to shred, film, and track up the freshness with all your turning (“turning is for when things get in your way”).
Skiing out of bounds is illegal at Squaw but why would you want too? Alpine is next door and the peaks near Squaw offer backounty RADNESS.
Location:
Whistler = It’s in Canada
Squaw = California, California, California
Whistler = 120 minutes from Vancouver (“the coolest city on earth”)
Squaw = 15 minutes from Truckee (the coolest TOWN on earth), 90 minutes to Sacramento
Nightlife:
Nice picture, I bet there is more of a party going on at Squaw right now (offseason, Wednesday, at noon).
You can have the 19 year old girls, everyone at Squaw will be shredding pow while you wake up with a hang over from well wiskey and a girl with high school drama, have fun with that.
Squaw = Chamois
But unlike Whistler, the best night life is not in Disneyland I mean the village.
Summer:
Whistler: Mountain Biking, Hiking, reruns of Three Company
Squaw: LAKE TAHOE, and everything else.
Pros:
Whistler: Great, but the only professional sport Canada has is Hockey.
Squaw: See the posts above, I don’t want this to get any longer.
Olympics:
Vancouver 2010
Canada: 26 medals
USA: 37 medals
The Olympics were even in your Country!
Squaw Valley 1960
Canada: 4 medals
USA: 10 medals
And the first televised Olympics, not to mention Alex Cushing got the bid with one lift.
Claim to Fame:
Whistler: Olympics
Squaw: Olympics, Hot Dog, some of the best Ski/Snowboard movies ever made (see Squallywood), and the best skiers. There are better 4 to 5 year old kids at Squaw Valley than most of the skiers at Whistler.
Even my dog is better than you!
Let’s pretend all of Jake’s opinions are right for a second, Squaw Valley will still have an “attitude” because we are better than you, not an attitude, it’s a fact.
Stay up there in Canada, if us Squaw Valley skiers ever get tired of the RADNESS at Squaw we will come up there and shred Whistler just to show how much better we are.
Have a wonderful season, every time it’s raining in the Whistler village and the days are cloudy, just think of the RADNESS you are missing.
thats all dead on, its really too bad that Jake is too much of a bitch to respond to anything anyone ever says to him or about him
Fuck “A loft apartment over a great party” Canada is an unfucking real V.I.P room over a party that has gone to shit. I would argue some of your other points but i didnt read any of them. I dont have time to read a shity essay by someone who is clearly fucked in the head. Whistler for the win BITCHES!!!
Skier M sums it up. Jake is a total moron to really think there is no back country here. He is a bigger moron to not realize that Tahoe summers are way sicker.
Alpine Meadows. 2nd most snow in North America. No squaw attitude, and 3 dollar beers. Have fun fighting. Alpine Meadows, killing it and Keeping it quite right next to squaw.
I now feel dumber. Thank god I moved to the Bay, so my brain will get some use again! If you are a BITTER skibum, then 1) not only are unsuccessful, unattractive to chicks, and broke but 2) you are just a whinny bitch. Shut the fuck up and move to the midwest. I has the fun where ever I go, and Im sure many of you ski bum douches do to.
ps. eat a dick… with cheese hating is fun, thats why fun skibum types do it
I now feel dumber. Thank god I moved to the Bay, so my brain will get some use again! If you are a BITTER skibum, then 1) not only are unsuccessful, unattractive to chicks, and broke but 2) you are just a whinny bitch. Shut the fuck up and move to the midwest. I has the fun where ever I go, and Im sure many of you ski bum douches do to. So shut your cock sucker and get RAD!
ps. eat a dick… with cheese hating is fun, thats why fun skibum types do it: No?
To “ratherride,” it seems like there might be a story behind the animosity you feel towards Jake. Pray do tell. Feel free to defend Squaw and put in your two cents, but you haven’t made a valid point yet. For someone who hates every post Jake writes, you sure follow them closely. I hate cauliflower, so I just don’t eat it. If I hated cauliflower like you hate Jake then I would buy lots of cauliflower and keep it around just so I got more and more pissed until maybe I was so disgusted that I felt happy (not sure if that’s how things work though). Anyway, that is a bit off the point. I kinda just want to hear your reason for being so butt hurt. I could list some possibilities…
Thank’s “ratherride” Got Beef?
Reasons “ratherride” may hate Jake:
- Jake has proven that he is better that you at skiing. Maybe you used to compete against him.
- You are a devout Mormon and the drinking comment rubs you the wrong way.
- You are in fact Dale Atkins from RECCO. We all know that Jake isn’t on the top of his list.
- You are in fact a 19-year-old female slam-hog living in Whistler and Jake’s drinking age snippet opened your eyes to your young and slutty predicament.
- You are affiliated with a company that has received a bad review by Jake, and you make up for your shitty product the same way that Dale Atkins did; you angrily push back (You, however lack any of the structure, facts, professionalism or command of the English language that Dale has demonstrated).
-You recently moved back in with your parents and now you can’t use the word “bitch” in everyday language as much as you would like to, so you used the internet to type the word “bitch” as many times as you could.
Ratherride u got told. But Squaw still is better
Jake I love you, please have my babies.
Andrew Strain….
since my DUI prohibits me from entering canada, i prefer squaw.
1. Actually, Squaw Valley, California is precisely THAT rad. Duh.
2. JSYK, I just pulled the stick from my spokes and stomped the shit out of the landing anyway. Know the code!!
3. A 10″ advantage in snowfall? Ha! Something is amiss in the conversion table you tried to use, you Metric Conformists!
4. That’s not your only skewed statisctic: You completely “overlooked” a few essentials; let’s compare number of Funitels. Whistler=0, Squaw=1. And, no summer nightlife? No need to share the address of the stables with you, Sundowner. Take an Ambien if our noise scares you.
5. And, no, we’re not still wearing our Varsity letter jackets, we just are proud that we got to host the Olympics before they were trendy. Whistler (er, Vancouver, actually) didn’t jump on the bandwagon until 2010. Sweet, have you started to import our California fat skis and iPhones yet? I’m sure they’ll catch on soon.
6. Reno is NOT even the worst city in the USA, you ethnocentrist! Detroit is. And, guess what infectious nation coincidentally sits one bridge away from the poorly positioned Motor City?
7. You are admitting defeat in stating that Whistler’s younger girls (um, need we discuss drunk teens? Really?) more likely make “bad decisions.” What bad decision is that? Actually hooking up with you?
8. FYI, for all our cartographically-impaired northern disputants, Lake Tahoe, actually is indeed pretty damn immediately adjacent for summer lovin’.
9. And, did you seriously prop Mike Henetiuk and other no-namers in comparison for pro-counts? Mike Henetiuk, for real?? I can’t believe he’s a pro. I am SO MUCH better than him!
jake your an asshole
youre all just a bunch of pussies
This is an awesome article. I’ve ridden squaw a few hundred days and I have to say that it’s great and all, but you don’t even have to leave Tahoe to find bigger and better lines. I mean just look up at Tallac, that shit makes Silverado piss itself!