Ostrander Ski Hut 2023

February 2023

The Hut

Built in 1941, Ostrander Ski Hut is a historic gem of the Sierra Nevada and Yosemite National Park. After being closed for two seasons due to the pandemic, the hut reopened for the 2022-2023 season and our group was fortunate enough to secure reservations. Our group of nine included some visiting Ostrander for their first time and some of us coming back for a second, third, or fourth visit.

The hut sits on Ostrander Lake, which is blanketed in a thick layer of snow and ice all winter. A few small solar panels charge batteries for a handful of bare lightbulbs, water is hauled up from the frozen lake in buckets, and a well-equipped kitchen with three propane burners makes sure nobody has to resort to ultralight backpackers' meals.

The Approach

From the Badger Pass Ski Area, it is a roughly 10-mile skin to reach Ostrander Hut. The first 4.5 miles are on Glacier Point Road, which is a (typically) groomed cross country ski trail during the winter. In light snow years, skiers may need to don their trail runners for part of the approach (or for all 10 miles when it's a particularly dry year). With over 400" already fallen by February, we were able to skin the whole route and were excited to take our pick of filled-in terrain.

Once you turn off of Glacier Point Road and start gaining elevation on the Horizon Ridge Trail, you're quickly rewarded with your first view of Half Dome.

Golden hour in the Sierra View fullsize

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As you climb up from the hut at lake level, you're given sweeping views of Half Dome, Mount Starr King, the Clark Range, Clouds Rest, and more peaks than we could name or count.

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While our group can't take credit for every line on the slope, we did our fair share of work making sure there were a satisfactory number of tracks before the next storm cycle rolled in the day after our departure.
No good powder should go wasted!

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With sunset approaching on our last night at the hut, we climbed the slope opposite the hut and watched the pink and purple hues of sunset come to life. I think we had the best seats for the show.

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