Tuolumne Meadows ski hut

(All the National Park Service (NPS) photos on this page were used with permission. Most were probably either by Tracey Wiese or Bruce Carter, winter Tuolumne rangers).

NPS photo below:

From the 2009 Yosemite Guide:

"Tioga road is closed to vehicles during the winter months, usually until May or later. Winter brings ski and snowshoe options for experienced parties. Reaching Tuolumne Meadows via the road is a serious, multi day undertaking. An experienced guide and avalanche beacons are among the essentials needed for the journey."

From the 2010 Yosemite National Park website: http//www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/tm.htm

Tuolumne Meadows Ski Hut

Winter 2009-2010

The Tuolumne Meadows Ski Hut is now open for the winter season until the Tioga Road opens to traffic in the spring (usually sometime in May or early June). It sleeps 10 and is available at no charge on a first-come, first-served basis. Parties should always be prepared to camp out in case the hut is full, which happens on occasion, particularly in the spring.

The ski hut is the stone building facing the Tioga Road just west of the bridge across the Tuolumne River and right at the entrance to the Tuolumne Meadows Campground (in the summer, the building is the campground reservations office). It is approximately eight miles west of Tioga Pass, and sits at about 8,600 feet in elevation. A wooden sign out front indicates "SKI HUT."

The hut has a wood stove for heat, firewood is provided, and an axe is available for splitting wood. There are electric lights and electric hotplates for cooking ­unless the power goes out, a not-too-unusual occurrence. An outhouse is located behind the hut and a dumpster for trash is located at the summer store just to the west. Snow will need to be melted for water and pots are provided for that purpose. Bring your own pans and stove for cooking. A large rodent-proof can is provided for storing food while staying in the hut.

The closest route to Tuolumne Meadows is a 16-mile ski up Highway 120 (closed to vehicles this time of the year) just outside the town of Lee Vining, and over 10,000 foot Tioga Pass­a one or two day trip under good skiing conditions, but possibly a much longer trip after heavy snowfalls. Numerous other backcountry ski routes of varying length and difficulty exist to access the Tuolumne Meadows area.

Once again this year, Tioga Pass Resort (TPR) will NOT be open this winter. In past years, the good folks at the lodge made the ski in from the east side much easier by packing out the road, cutting through avalanche paths, and even transporting people and gear up to snow line. None of that will happen this winter. Skiers need to be much more aware of avalanche danger, snowpack conditions, and forecasted weather this winter, especially along the road east of Tioga Pass, and realize that the lodge is unoccupied and not available as a place to retreat to should you encounter difficulties.

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Jeff and Kathy, the 08-09 Tuolumne winter rangers, recommended http://www.esavalanche.org and click on advisory. There they had a note about interference between cell phones, iPods and avalanche beacons:

"Another issue is radio frequency interference (”RFI”). With so many different electronic devices carried by backcountry recreationalists these days, complete testing of every possible device is infeasible so I’ll cover this briefly here. I have found that a *transmitting* cell phone (CDMA band) or FRS/GMRS radio can cause interference to varying degrees in some (but not all) beacons. But no beacons suffer RFI from an on-yet-not-transmitting phone or two-way radio. Far more importantly, playing an iPod will cause RFI to vary degrees in *all* avalanche beacons at close range. My general conclusions with RFI are: Be very careful if deciding to call for help while simultaneously searching with an avalanche beacon; and if you are touring with any brand of avalanche beacon, never listen to an iPod. (I am very serious about this: the potential for an iPod to be inadvertently left on and then cause interference in a beacon search is dangerous."

From the 2006 Yosemite National Park website:

TUOLUMNE MEADOWS SKI HUT

WINTER 2005-2006 had the notes above and Bruce and Tracey, the Tuolumne winter rangers, gave this warning:

"Choose your route well, this soft slab avalanche near Cathedral Peak ran hundreds of feet on a nearly level surface."

NPS photo

In a March, 2006 report they answered the question

"Can I ski across Tenaya Lake?

Answer: We have never been tempted to in our six winters here. Do you know how thick or strong the ice is? Did you know that while snow insulates ice from the sun it also adds weight and stresses the ice? Did you know there are springs in parts of the lake where little or no ice forms? Also look at the map and decide if going across any part of the lake is much of a short cut given the consequences."

And in an early February, 2004 update, this report:

"AVALANCHE/SNOW CONDITIONS: (above 8000’) Avalanche danger still appears to be CONSIDERABLE on north or near north aspects. Any granite domes and slickrock areas have avalanche potential when snow covered.

DISCUSSION: The north aspects of the Cathedral Range are full of slides, sloughs and surface cracks, left from the 1 to 2 feet of fresh snow we received early this week. Besides the larger slides off peaks like Unicorn, smaller slides too numerous to count, have come off short slopes and banks of 35 degrees or more. Even more numerous are the stress fractures or surface cracks found where terrain steepens or becomes convex. Most of this action was early to mid week but we still found several weak spots within the top 24” of the north aspect snowpack. We found shear layers within the new snow, most easily detected by holding a column of new snow on a shovel and tapping the shovel from below. We suspected its presence by the natural slides at that depth but many shear tests that work from the top of the snow down would not easily reveal this weakness. There was also a weak layer several feet down in the snow that appeared to be an old surface, possibly associated with buried surface hoar. In some areas we heard whumping of the snow surrounding our skis. We assume this was settling on recrystalized snow that left weak hollows under light crusts before this new snowfall.

During this last storm we had winds from the south that built cornices and loaded many near north aspects, no doubt adding to the above mentioned slides. We have not had any significant warming since this last good storm so be alert for the first warm days on this new snow."

NPS photo (probably either by Bruce or Tracey):

from the Wilderness Conditions Update January 2004

"Tuolumne Meadows is a popular destination for skilled wilderness skiers and snowshoers. Numerous backcountry routes of varying length and difficulty exist to access this area of the high country. The shortest route to Tuolumne Meadows is a 16 mile ski or snowshoe trek on the closed Tioga Road (Hwy 120) beginning 4 miles from the town of Lee Vining near Hwy 395 and continuing over 10,000 foot Tioga Pass. Under good snow conditions this trip can take 1 or 2 days each way. Even this most popular route passes through steep, uncontrolled avalanche areas so avalanche skills and awareness are essential. If you are not familiar with assessing avalanche conditions and navigating in unmarked backcountry terrain it is highly recommended that you ski on the marked trails at Badger Pass, Crane Flat and the Mariposa Grove."

NPS photo of an avalanche area just north of Tenaya Lake

NPS photo of the Tuolumne River emerging from the snow in March, 2004.

and another from April:

Bruce and/or Tracey titled the photo above

The Tuolumne River slowly emerges from winter.

And said in their April 8 report with the photo:

"The days are full of song from winter residents and new arrivals. New arrivals, or birds just up for the day, include: Northern Flickers, Williamson’s Sapsuckers, Brewer’s Blackbirds, Common Merganser, Mallards, Red-tailed Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Mountain Bluebird, and Killdeer. There has also been a pair of Ravens who have been spending the last few days picking pine seeds off the snow. We have seen several food caches melt out of the snow, one of plants collected by a Mountain Beaver (Aplodontia rufa) and another cache of small roots from some other under the snow resident of the meadows. At Soda Springs we watched Mountain Chickadees flying in and out of a tree hole like a bird feeder, a closer look revealed that the chickadees were raiding someone’s seed cache. "

The bears are not true hibernators and can wake up and roam around even in winter.

Mid-November 2004, with 17 inches of snow on the ground at Tuolumne, the rangers reported:

"Tracey stepped out of the ski hut and nearly hit a small Black Bear with the door one evening. We have been seeing this bruin's tracks for the last week visiting all the buildings, garbage cans and recycle cans in the Tuolumne and Tenaya area. Although there are no rewards habits die hard."

Read more at Bears.

Bruce and Tracey, the Tuolumne winter rangers, said in a Yosemite Daily Report of 2003:

"If you've got the slightest interest in avalanches or related topics we suggest you visit www.avalanche.org which gives detailed avalanche reports from across the country including accidents, education and forecasts."

Winter Wildlife in Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park

Read winter wildlife notes by Tracey Wiese and Bruce Carter, the Tuolumne Winter Rangers, at:

http://sierranaturenotes.com/naturenotes/archives.htm

Snow or rain camp must-haves has some gear advice.

The Mammoth Dweeb weather report is consistently detailed and accurate. It's at:

http://64.29.226.243/dweebprinter.htm

Prepare for winter driving has a link to bad weather driving tips, tips for using tire chains, tricks for dealing with frozen car locks, how to prepare your vehicle for winter driving, a winter survival kit for your car and what to do if you get stranded.