Locals versus tourists in the Sierra Nevadas

A resort town will always provide a fruitful examination of the difference between locals and tourists. As a traveler, I try to walk a fine line between the two - I am clearly not a local, but neither do I wish to be 'a tourist.' I do my absolute best to blend in, adopt 'local practices,' and hang with the other locals.

I am in Truckee, California. A small resort town north of Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada range. It is surrounded by wonderful ski resorts, perhaps the best known of which is Squaw Valley, the location of the 1960 Olympic Games. I am staying with a friend, Jesse, who is a local. He has been helping educate me on the differences between locals and tourists and the perspective of locals in a resort town, something I do not often get a chance to see.

I arrived this past Friday - the Friday of MLK Jr long weekend. Skiing at Squaw Saturday and Sunday was a fascinating first study. First of all, the locals will largely stay away from the slopes on weekends and particularly long weekends precisely because of the tourists, who overrun the place, creating long lift and food lines. They are not as experienced on the mountain (or on their equipment) so they can make quite dangerous choices (like crossing traffic without looking, etc). The locals not-so-affectionately refer to the tourists as gapers - because they stop in inappropriate locations on the runs and gape at the admittedly beautiful surroundings.

Their cars are markedly different, as is their general winter-mountain driving ability. Whereas the locals tends to drive older, well-loved Toyota and Ford trucks, the tourists are generally in high performance cars like BMW, Audi, Mercedes, and Lexus. Arguably their cars should be able to handle the frequently challenging conditions in the Sierra Nevadas. Unfortunately, when you do not have proper snow tires or you put snow chains on your front wheels when you have a rear-wheel drive car, you make for less than optimal performance levels. Not only this, but you endanger the lives of others on the road.

The influx of locals (that raises the population of Truckee from 14,000 to around 70,000) also has consequences to everyday life. The one grocery store in town gets over-run, with line-ups as long as an hour. The bars and restaurants are also overtaken by the gapers. Finally, there are always heavy traffic conditions and few parking spots.

The locals, on the other hand, are of course locals. They live here because they love the breath-taking surroundings, they are serious about skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking or hiking, or this is simply where they live and make a living. They know the area and the conditions.

I do not perceive that the locals truly resent the tourists. They know that it is tourism that keeps this little town alive and provides them with the world-class ski areas that are largely abandoned mid-week (as I gleefully experienced today). But that certainly doesn't keep them from complaining about it.