The Ostrander Ski Hut

West Slope of the Sierra Nevada
Yosemite National Park, California
Elevation 8,500'
The skiing's great, the front porch sunny: grab your skis and call in sick!

 

Hut Information and FAQ's How to Make Reservations
Semi-Current Conditions
NEW: Long time hut user Peter Grace had the brilliant idea to post Ostrander video on YouTube. Check out the first effort.
Post more videos on YouTube and I'll link them from here.
Tuolumne Conditions
Tales of Adventure It's Dark, Where'd the Trail go??
Yosemite Information Lodging, Road Conditions
Backcountry Skiing Information Links to other ski sites
Howard's Photography Site A samplling of Howard's Fine Art prints and schedule of shows.

Also campers: I'm not updating this as often as I should. Keep badgering me if you see something wrong or out of date!

 

Ostrander Ski Hut
Copyright © 1999 Howard Weamer
Located in Yosemite National Park in California, Ostrander Ski Hut is a two story stone structure beautifully crafted in 1941 by the Civilian Conservation Corp specifically for cross-country skiers. The hut sits in a small glacial cirque at the edge of Ostrander Lake, elevation 8,500 ft--a 10 mile ski from Yosemite's Badger Pass downhill ski area. Very basic overnight accommodations and cooking facilities are available at the hut. It sleeps 25 people and has bunks, mattresses, wood stove, a kitchen with a gas stove for cooking and assorted pots & pans available for the visitor's use. Drinking and wash water is hauled from the lake in buckets; treatment is the individual visitor's responsibility. Light is from solar powered lights.

Depending on snow conditions and weather, the ski (or snowshoe) in can be either a perfect glide through the piney woods or extremely arduous (let's be honest, campers, it can be horrendous at times--see Tales of Adventure). Once at Ostrander, there are areas nearby for all levels of skiing ability. We strongly recommend that only skiers at the intermediate level in good physical shape make the trip.

Ostrander Hut is operated by the Yosemite Association, a non-profit educational organization in Yosemite National Park. A hutkeeper lives at Ostrander during the winter answering questions, directing traffic and duct taping broken equipment back together.
Neither the Yosemite Association or the National Park Service operate this site.
Contact George Durkee, the editor, with questions or comments:
HutAddress

Note Address change as of 11/05 -- the spammers had taken over the previous address.