  
Ostrander Ski Hut
Operating Season December 18, 2009 - April 4, 2010
To view the Ostrander information letter for the 2009-10 season, please click on the link below.
Ostrander letter and information for the 2009-10 season
To submit a reservation request for the lottery please print the form below:
Lottery request form for the 2009-10 season
General Ostrander Ski Hut Information
The Ostrander Ski Hut is a charming two-story stone structure beautifully crafted in 1941 by the Civilian Conservation Corp for cross-country skiers. The hut sits in a small glacial cirque at the edge of Ostrander Lake, elevation 8,500 feet. It is approximately 10 miles from the closest motor vehicle access and is typically open from late December until early April. All visitors to Ostrander Ski Hut must check in at the Badger Pass Ranger Station. Designated overnight parking is available at Badger Pass.
Facilities
There is no electricity or running water at this rustic ski hut. The following amenities are provided: single bunks with mattresses, community cookware stocked in a common kitchen, wood for heating, solar-powered electric lights for evening use and two outdoor toilet facilities. Visitors must provide their own food, water filter, sleeping bag and personal gear. Please view the suggested equipment list. Water is collected from the lake in a cistern and must be personally filtered before use. The Ostrander Ski Hut houses a maximum number of 25 people. Large groups are welcome, but the limit for a single party is 15 people. The Yosemite Association employs a hut keeper to live at Ostrander during the winter ski season in order to maintain the hut and for emergencies. The hut keeper is not responsible for cleaning up after guests and visitors must pack out all their trash.
Reservation Process
The Yosemite Association will update this site in mid-October with seasonal information and dates regarding Ostrander Ski Hut. If you would like to be notified of these updates please send your name, address, phone number, and current email address to ostrander@yosemite.org. For the current Ostrander information letter and lottery request form, see links at the top of this page.
Lottery:
Due to Ostrander’s popularity, early reservations are awarded based on a random lottery system. The lottery is usually held in mid-November. Successful candidates will be charged a nonrefundable fee and receive a confirmation by mail. Unsuccessful candidates will not be charged, and will also be notified by mail. To increase your chances in the lottery, submit more than one choice of requested dates and include a daytime phone number where you can be contacted in person (no voicemail). First choices for requested dates will be honored whenever possible. The most popular choices (weekends and holidays) are the most difficult to reserve. Large groups may also be difficult to accommodate for requested dates. Please indicate any flexibility in your dates or number of visitors to help accommodate your request.
Reservations by phone-
Reservations will be available by phone after the lottery is complete. Beginning November 30, 2009, you may call (209) 372-0740. Please leave a message and someone will return your call within two business days. Beginning January 5, 2010, a reservation assistant will be available Monday through Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.
Fees
Ostrander Ski Hut is operated by the Yosemite Association. Overnight fees are non-refundable, unless a cancellation is due to road closures, or park closures. No refunds are given for lack of snow or inclement weather. Changes can be made to existing reservations if there is an agreeable date available during the current season.
The 2009/2010 overnight rates cover the total costs for the Yosemite Association to manage and operate the hut. Please note that Association members receive a significant discounted rate. Become a member. Renew your existing membership.
- Weekday nights (Monday – Thursday) - $30/person/night ($20 for YA Members)
- Weekend nights (Friday – Sunday) - $50/person/night ($40 for YA Members)
- Weekday nights youth rate* (Monday – Thursday) - $15/person/night
*New Youth Rate for 2009-10 Season
As part of the Yosemite Association’s effort to encourage a new generation of visitors to the hut, the Association is offering a discounted rate to visitors under the age of twenty-five. Our hope is to encourage this new generation to experience Ostrander ski hut and the magic of Yosemite’s wilderness in the winter. The youth rate of $15.00 is available weekday nights (Mon-Thurs) only.
Winter Natural History Course
We'll be scheduling another Winter Natural History field seminar at Ostrander Hut in February of 2011. Watch this space for information in October.
The Skiing
The Ostrander Hut attracts cross-country skiers of intermediate level as well as backcountry skiers and snowboarders looking to ski the steep slopes in the cirque above Ostrander Lake. Along the way you get stunning views of the Half Dome, Clark Range, and the northern part of the park, including Hoffmann, Dana and Conness peaks.
The ski hut is approximately 10 miles from Badger Pass and all routes require considerable stamina and cross-country skiing experience. Novice skiers should not attempt this trip. Departures for the ski hut should take place by 9:00 am to arrive at the hut during daylight hours. There are three different routes to the hut; Bridalveil Creek, Horizon Ridge Trail, or the Merced Crest Trail. A free brochure (including map) of winter trails in the Glacier Point Road area is available as PDF files (200-500 kb in size). Ski and snowshoe rentals are available through the Yosemite Nordic Ski School at Badger Pass (209/372-8444).
Badger Pass Daily Snow Report
California Department of Water Resources Snow Page
Road Conditions
From mid-December though early April, the Glacier Point/Badger Pass Road is plowed to the Badger Pass ski area where trails to Ostrander Ski Hut are accessible. Designated overnight parking is available at Badger Pass. During the winter months chains are required to be carried by all vechicles within the park, regardless of the type of vehicle you drive. Usage of chains may become mandatory on any park road at any time. Please check road conditions.
History
Ostrander Lake Ski Hut, built in 1940, was the last building erected in Yosemite by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The design was based on creating an attractive building that could be fireproof and weather-tight with a high entrance for easy access in winter months. The construction of the hut was the recommendation of the Yosemite Winter Activities Committee, which was founded twelve years earlier by Dr. Donald Tresidder to “encourage and develop all forms of winter sports [and] to advertise and exploit the great advantages, beauties and healthy benefits of winter in the Sierra Nevada to all lovers of outdoor life”. From the club came an explosion of winter sportsmanship in the park from toboggan runs, ice skating, dog sled rides, sleigh riding, skijoring, hockey games, and the bigger dream of hosting the1932 Winter Olympic Games. The latter goal lost to Lake Placid, but served as jump start to visitor’s interest and involvement.
The ski hut system, which Donald and Mary Tresidder compared to the Alps and Tryol, began in 1929 with a cabin built at Snow Creek. Providing full service amenities by the Yosemite Park and Curry Company, visitors would ski with a guide from Yosemite Valley to the hut and then down Mt. Watkins and other thrilling runs. The circuit of huts never materialized and with the onset of the Great Depression, the cabin was forced to close. However, after the completion of the new Wawona road and tunnel (now Hwy 41), the snowy region of Badger Pass was accessible, and the Ostrander Ski Hut was constructed as the first unit of a hut and trail system in the Badger Pass ski area. The hut was considered an important part of a larger plan for winter sports development of the Sierra crest. It was designed to be similar to the High Sierra Camps, but housing ski tourers instead. Originally, it was suggested that two huts be constructed. One would provide for people who carried their own sleeping bag and food; the other would cater to those who wished to rent bedding and purchase meals. The Park Service decided to provide both types of service in one hut. The kitchen, now used by hut, was the Curry Company kitchen, and the upstairs bedroom in the cabin historically served as the women’s quarters. National Park Service rangers staffed the cabin starting in the 1960s, but by 1974 demand for the hut grew too large and the Yosemite Association, in conjunction with NPS, took over stewardship and management of the hut. At this time the Association hired its first and current hut keeper, Howard Weamer.
As an integral part of Yosemite's ski program, the Ostrander Lake ski hut is a remains a significant recreational, historical, and cultural resource.
Support Ostrander Ski Hut
All revenues from the overnight fees will be used to operate the Ostrander Lake Ski Hut and to provide an enjoyable backcountry experience for Yosemite visitors. The Yosemite Association has also established a reserve account to preserve funds to operate and maintain Ostrander Ski Hut. If you would like to make an additional donation to assist Yosemite Association in our continuing efforts to operate and maintain the ski hut, we would welcome your contributions on the enclosed reservation request card.
Please help the Yosemite Association learn more about our guests to the Ostrander ski hut by completing this simple and quick survey. Completed surveys and Ostrander lottery request forms may be mailed to: Yosemite Association, P.O. Box 545, Yosemite CA. 95389.
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