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Ostrander Hut

Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2016 9:51 am
by brittanne99
Hello, heading up to the Ostrander Hut this weekend! Anyone been doing any backcountry skiing in Yosemite the past couple of weeks? Trying to get a feel for what the snow conditions are going to be like up there!

Re: Ostrander Hut

Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2016 11:32 am
by maverick
Hi Brittanne99,

Welcome to HST! Write up a TR for us please when you get back, with lots of pictures. :nod:
This will help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt21W1WjxqU

Re: Ostrander Hut

Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2016 2:59 pm
by longri
I went up Snow Creek last weekend. There was snow but it was kind of a shock to see how high the snow line was and how fast it's melting. This part of the Sierra is at about 75% of normal but it was so hot last month that it probably skewed things a bit. The last few years have been that way, with lower elevations burning out faster. I was planning to do another trip out of Snow Creek in a couple of weeks but now I think not. There's only so much skiing over dirt or hiking with my skis/boots on my back that I can tolerate.

My guess is that you'll be okay next weekend, but I wouldn't wait longer.

Here are some long distance shots:

Image
Starr King and Horse Ridge

Image
Horizon Ridge?
.

Re: Ostrander Hut

Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2016 11:09 am
by Pulldownfrenzy
longri wrote: There's only so much skiing over dirt or hiking with my skis/boots on my back that I can tolerate.

My guess is that you'll be okay next weekend, but I wouldn't wait longer.

Here are some long distance shots:

Image
Starr King and Horse Ridge

Image
Horizon Ridge?
.
Longri

I hear you there for sure. I flew two years in a row from out of state - 2011 and 2012 to the Eastern Sierra and had abysmal luck. 2012 we were hoping for a winter climb/ski-descent of one of the super-steep coulours down to the Norman Clyde glacier (from Buttermilk Rd). We ended up bootpacking with our skis on our already 40lb packs the ENTIRE TRAIL up to Sam Mack meadow at like 12,500 feet or something and still light snow. What a disaster of a ski trip, but still fun to be outside. Here's a photo from where we camped beneath Temple Crag wondering how we had gotten ourselves into this...
8.cathedral tower side view_HST.jpg
:) -DD

Re: Ostrander Hut

Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2016 12:02 pm
by longri
Too bad you didn't (or couldn't?) check first. Tioga Pass didn't even close until mid-January 2012, which was pretty weird. Women were dancing on Tenaya Lake in bikinis in January. But that year still ended up with more snow than 2014 or '15. Last year was so dry and hot it was mind boggling.

This year is pretty good relative to those years. But it's still disappointing, especially after the El Niño hype, to end up with a below average snowfall and above average temperatures.

It's funny, I was talking to a roofer last year and he was telling me how they were so solidly booked that you couldn't even make an appointment, all because everyone figured El Niño was going to result in constant rain. I wish...