The best skiers and snowboarders in the world, including Olympian and seven-time X Games champion Nate Holland, will not be coming to Squaw Valley in March; the International Ski Federation’s World Cup’s skicross and snowboardcross competition scheduled for March 4-8 at Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows has been canceled because of a lack of snow, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
On its website, The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association stated, “Squaw Valley has just received more than two feet of snow, however the amount of snow needed to build the World Cup courses is significant.”
Despite the fact that February is normally the biggest month of the snow season, the state drought and concomitant warmer temperatures over the last three years have reduced the snow level to record-low numbers; on Tuesday the snowpack statewide Tuesday was quantified at 22% of the normal amount for this time of year.
Larger ski resorts have the capability to make their own snow, while smaller venues that lack such equipment, especially those that lie at lower levels, have been forced to close. Over Presidents’ Day Weekend, Donner Ski Ranch, Dodge Ridge, Ski China Peak, Mount Shasta Board and Ski Park, and Tahoe Donner, were closed because of a lack of snow.
The last time the World Cup was scheduled for Squaw Valley, located west of Lake Tahoe, was 1969. Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows, which encompasses 6,000 skiable acres, will still be open for public use.
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