Suffering from 2nd child syndrome, Alpine Meadows would probably attract more people and attention if it weren't right next to Squaw Valley. Half the size and a quarter of the cachet, Alpine is still a respectable ski hill, and has some features that its celebrity sibling lacks. For hot shots, alpine is famous for death-defying shoots like "Our Father." For the beginners and intermediates, there's wide variety of nice cruiser blues, with views of Lake Tahoe on sunny days. Alpine is also famous for the Adaptive Ski School, which teaches disabled people how to ski; even blind people can try to navigate downhill! Alpine is also known for training ski patrol dogs. You are bound to see a couple of these critters during your runs, and you may be lucky enough to watch a training session. Hopefully you will not need to experience their help first-hand.
Alpine offers all of the basic ski-hill services: repair and rental, some clothing, lockers and storage and a few different places to eat, including a Gordon Bierch Bar-B-Que establishment, new this year. Alpine also has a decent ski school and offers snowshoeing. But if your party has folks for whom these sports don't appeal, there's not a lot for them to do here. They'd be better off meandering around the centers at Squaw or Northstar or staying at the condo to cook dinner. :-)