For the last ten years my wife and I have been making an annual ski to the Ostrander Ski Hut located about 10 miles out from Badger Pass ski area. Most years we have been caught in the middle of fierce winter storms. Still we continue this tradition because it brings together a diverse group of like minded individuals who are infactuated with winter, backcountry skiing, and Yosemite. Our last trip on the third week of March brought more snow to the area than some can remember in over 50 years making our departure from the hut very difficult. The snow was quite deep and heavy making it hard to break trail. After a long day of trail breaking we made it to Badger Pass ski area where we knew that we would be spending the night. A good description of our ordeal can be read here
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/ski/detail?entry_id=85537&plckOnPage=5&plckItemsPerPage=20&plckSort=TimeStampDescending
During the trip we had a short break between storms.
Next came a system that closed the park.
When we left the cabin we knew that we would probably be spending the night at the Badger Pass ski area. The roads were already closed. The prudent thing to do would have been to stay at the ski hut, but we had a strong crew who were physically capable of breaking trail. These images show what Badger Pass looked like after we dug out our cars the night before!
Later that afternoon a plow made it in and we convoyed back to El Portal along a single lane. And no we were not rescued. We could have stayed for days and been just fine.
When we arrived in El Portal, we had no power for the week. El Portal received more snow than anyone can remember toppling oaks everywhere. Luckily we still got our organic veggie delivery despite some dangerous obstacles.
0 comments:
Post a Comment