Winter Activities Around Yosemite Park

Badger Pass Ski Area (also known as Badger Pass) is a resort in Yosemite National Park. It is situated five miles south-southeast of the Chinquapin intersection of Wawona Road (HWY 41 continuation) with Glacier Point Road in the southern area of Yosemite National Park. Glacier Point Road provides the access to this ski area. T

The History of Skiing in Yosemite

The history of winter sports in Yosemite National Park is vivid and unique. Following the building of the Ahwahnee Hotel in 1925-1927, came Yosemite's first ski school in 1928 with Jules Fritsch as instructor. Fritsch, a Swiss ski expert was part of a trained staff of winter sports experts available in Yosemite. Fritsch and the staff led six day snow excursions in Yosemite from the Ahwahnee to Tenaya Lake to bolster the ski school. Many believe this ski school was the first in California. In conjunction with the Curry Company, one of the first projects was the 1927 construction of a four-track toboggan slide near Camp Curry. Dr. Donald Tresidder, the first president the Yosemite Park & Curry Company and its guiding force, saw the visitor interest in winter sports and immediately formed the Yosemite Winter Club. With the club's enthusiast support, a small ski hill and ski jump near Tenaya Creek Bridge was built in 1928.

With the interest building in Yosemite for winter sports, and the Olympics selecting Los Angeles as the site for the summer games for 1932, Tresidder teamed up with William Garland, president of the Steering Committee of the Plays of Los Angeles to promote Yosemite for winter sports for the Olympics of 1932.

Unfortunately, Lake Placid was selected instead. This did not diminish the interest in winter sports in Yosemite, but rather intensified it. Tresidder could see the need for real facilities in Yosemite for winter sports.

A lift was built in 1933 but it was not at the Ahwahnee but at Badger Pass some miles away. The first slalom in California was held in 1933 at Badger Pass. With the lingering effects of The Great Depression and the difficult road access to Badger Pass, the need for an easier route to the high country slowed further development.

The History of the Yosemite area depicts the building of the tunnel as follows:

"The completion of the 0.8 mile (1.3 km) long Wawona Tunnel in 1933 was both an engineering marvel and significantly reduced the amount of travel time to the Valley from Wawona without scarring the landscape with a long road cut (the famous 'Tunnel View' is on the Valley side of the tunnel and Inspiration Point is above it)."

After the Wawona Road and Tunnel opened in late 1933 and Glacier Point Road to Badger Pass opened in 1935, Yosemite's first ski lodge was built in Monroe Meadow, and by the end of the season Badger Pass had welcomed more than 25,000 skiers. The West's first ski lift, called the Upski, was installed in 1936. Nicknamed the "Queen Mary," it was a large sled that moved up and down the hill on a cable, carrying six skiers at a time up to the summit.

Also with completion of the new Wawona Road and tunnel, visitors began to use the Chinquapin area for skiing as well as the Badger Pass slope. Because of the poor condition of the Glacier Point road, the Yosemite Park and Curry Company became interested in installing the cable tramway mentioned earlier as a means of getting skiers to the south rim. Gradually valley floor winter activities faded and skiers concentrated on Badger Pass and the high country, especially after improvement of the Glacier Point road afforded greater accessibility to that area.

With this, the oldest ski resort west of the Mississippi, was born.