Palisades Tahoe Adds Double-Black Diamond Rating for First Time Ever; Alpine Meadows Gets Designation for First Time Since 2012

A look down Palisades Tahoe’s precarious Main Chute in May 2021. This trail has received a double-black rating for the 2022-23 season, after holding a single-black designation in previous winters.

Along with the brand new gondola connecting its two resort sides, Palisades Tahoe is adding an overhauled trail rating scale for the 2022-23 season. The resort’s new trail map shows Palisades has added the double-black diamond rating to several of its most difficult runs, superseding the previous top single-black diamond rating. With this change, Palisades falls in line with nearly every other major Tahoe ski resort (the exception being Northstar) in designating its hardest runs as double blacks.

On Palisades’ Olympic Valley side, formerly known as Squaw Valley, this is the first time terrain has ever seen a formal double-black rating (although some locals have claimed that the double-black marking adorned certain gates in the past). On the Alpine Meadows side, the double-black designation will return for the first time since 2012, right after it was acquired by Squaw Valley and added to the same lift ticket.

Palisades Tahoe opened for the season earlier today, with the double-black rating making its inaugural debut.

Palisades Tahoe’s 2022-23 trail map, which shows the new double-black designations on select trails in addition to the brand new Base-to-Base Gondola. Sourced from the Palisades Tahoe app.

Our Take

Although Palisades Tahoe has long awarded its hardest runs with the single-black rating, both the Olympic Valley and Alpine Meadows sides have always been home to some of the most extreme terrain in North America. The easier single blacks at Palisades have always been reasonably comparable in difficulty to the single blacks at other Tahoe ski resorts, so the black-diamond designation has historically encompassed a wide range of difficulties. In years’ past, Palisades differentiated its most intense black runs with “Experts Only” signs at the gate; however, there was no way to find about about these signs until physically at the run. Now, it seems that Palisades Tahoe has decided its outgoing trail system is not clear enough, and that a splitter between advanced and true expert terrain is needed.

From the looks of the new trail map, the vast majority of trails with “Experts Only” markings throughout the core season have now been converted to double-black diamond runs (a few runs off Broken Arrow are surprising exceptions). The new Alpine Meadows designations have reverted almost entirely back to their pre-2012 criteria, although some ratings are slightly more stringent—select trails, such as Waterfall and Hidden Knoll’s, retain single-black ratings this time around.

Alpine Meadows’ 2011-12 trail map, which depicts the resort’s last use of a double-black rating prior to its combination with what is now Olympic Valley. Source: SkiMap.org

Ultimately, some loyal guests may mourn the loss of the single-black designation at Palisades for its most extreme terrain. But by splitting its advanced and expert terrain into two different categories, Palisades Tahoe is making it easier for guests to find the runs suited to their proficiencies. We’re looking forward to returning to Palisades Tahoe this winter to get on these newly-christened double-black runs—and to check out the resort’s brand new Base-to-Base Gondola and Red Dog Express chair.

Considering a trip to Palisades Tahoe this winter? Check out our comprehensive reviews of Palisades’ Olympic Valley and Alpine Meadows sides, as well as our full Lake Tahoe rankings.