Squaw Valley—Untold Stories

Author Eddy Ancinas reveals a history of Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows that has not previously been written. She tells tales of people like Wayne Poulsen who hiked and skied in the valley and canyons as early as the 1930s. On one occasion he was turned back by a “gun toting cowboy from the Smith Ranch whose family had been in the valley since 1862.” After acquiring 1200 acres, Poulsen built the family home in 1947 and moved in for Christmas dinner without running water, electricity or plumbing. That home is now Graham’s restaurant. Ancinas met her husband at the 1960 Olympics and lived in the valley among the characters she writes about—characters who are friends. The book also explores the relationship between the two valleys including their ultimate joining under the ownership of KSL. For more about this story, read the Moonshine Ink article.