The Village at Squaw Unveils New Development Plan That Insures a Sustainable Future for the Resort While Preserving its Unique Legacy

Community input leads to dramatic improvements in Village development plan

300 community meetings and more than 5,000 people helped create a revamped Village plan

The New Plan is smaller and focused - Project size reduced by 1/3 - Size and scale of the buildings reduced as well

Surface parking for day skiers maintained

Original Olympic House and Member's Locker Room will be preserved
[Olympic Valley, Calif.] December 16, 2013 - The leadership of The Village at Squaw Valley unveiled dramatic new plans for their proposed development today, the culmination of an unprecedented multi-year community input process in which more than 300 meetings were held and more than 5,000 individuals were solicited for their opinions.

Link to artistic renderings of the revised Village development plan
The outcome of this robust community input process is apparent throughout the new plans. After listening to the array of stakeholders in the region, Squaw's planning professionals' new approach was motivated by three key concepts: respect the mountain, preserve Squaw Valley's legacy and welcome a new generation of skiers to the mountain.

This comprehensive review led to the development of a new, more focused plan including some of the following changes:

Eliminated an additional 700 bedrooms totaling one third of the lodging, in total the plan has been reduced 60 per cent from its original plan of 3,800 bedrooms
Preserved the day skier experience and key Olympic buildings
Limited building height in key areas to protect existing view corridors
Created focused family and training area
Significantly reduced and reconfigured Mountain Adventure Camp, formerly called Grand Camp
Strengthened operations by relocating Squaw Kids, enhancing skier support facilities and improving the Snow Beach area
Committed to investing millions in restoring Squaw Creek and ongoing environmental initiatives

Key Traffic Measures:

Goal to reduce peak hour traffic by 25%
Build the right amount of lodging to extend the length of stay and reduce daily trips
Encourage transit use by creating a transit center that will increase bus and shuttle service to and from Squaw
Build more employee housing in the Valley and connect with shuttle service
Relocate and expand parking and shipping/receiving close to Highway 89 to reduce peak hour traffic on Squaw Valley Road


"These new plans reflect the input of literally thousands of our friends and neighbors in the Tahoe region," said Andy Wirth, President and CEO. "We listened and we're ready to move forward with a scaled down development that will protect Squaw's future and create more than 2,300 jobs in the area, while protecting more than 6,000 acres of recreational land."

"The design concept presented today represents a significant, big step towards accommodation with the Squaw Valley community," said David Stepner, a community leader. "The thinking behind this proposal seems to recognize some key community values: preserving the Squaw Heritage with "O" House; being a non-obtrusive neighbor to surrounding HOA's with key view lines being maintained; supporting Squaw's special camaraderie with preserving the Member's Locker Room; recognizing the daily skier population and limiting the impact on Squaw's resources with a significant reduction in room count," he added. "A lot depends on the forthcoming specific plan and draft EIR, let's continue this spirit."

"We've always created world class athletes on the slopes of Squaw," said Olympic champion Jonny Moseley. "From my own personal experience, I know that many people feared that Squaw was going to build an amusement park that didn't fit in with our mountain. The plans for a Mountain Adventure Center will bring family fun and serious athletic training to Squaw, ensuring the next generations of Olympians are cultivated here. This really gets it right."

"I'm psyched on the new plan- it represents the right balance for the day skier vibe with the O house and Member's locker room surviving," said noted athlete JT Holmes. "And it will enhance the village, making it a cool and fun place with a lot to do 12 months a year. This will fill enough bedrooms to get Squaw the funds to keep upgrading and expanding the lift system."

In addition, Vice President of Development Chevis Hosea announced the re-opening of the Base Camp Information Center. Located on First Street in the Village at Squaw Valley, the new center will have a large amount of information about the new plans unveiled today, along with representatives from Squaw to answer questions from the public. The center will be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

More informationabout the Village development plan, including an interactive map, can be found at www.thevillageatsquaw.com.

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