Trip Reports from SCMA Members

Tioga Road to Mammoth Ski Tour
by SCMA Member Alois Smrz

Miguel Carmona and I spent 3 full days in early May skiing this incredibly scenic and not too difficult tour. Our good friend Andy Fried drove us from Mammoth to the end of Tioga Pass road, just below the entrance to the National Park at Tioga Lake. From there we skied the road to Tuolumne Meadows and turned sharply left (South) up the Lyell Canyon. We found almost complete snow cover up this beautiful, wide canyon. The first night was spent just below Donohue Pass which we climbed on the second day. Superb early afternoon conditions allowed us to thoroughly enjoy the long ski run down the south side of the Pass. Second night was spent close to Island Pass. From there we basically followed the map line of the John Muir Trail to Thousand Island Lake and contoured to the San Joaquin Ridge. We could not ski the Ridge as it was completely bare of snow. But the West side proved skiable even though we had to find our way throuigh a maze of woods. Miguel absolutely loved skiing the crud and dodging trees in the process. I was miserable. But we did not have to deal with too much of the stuff. Thanks to Miguel's splendid map work, we skied directly onto the intersection of (snowed in) Agnew and Red Meadow Roads and camped there. Early next morning we skied the Minaret Road to Minaret Summit and had one final downhill shuss to Mammoth Mountain Ski Lodge. A local kindhearted soul took Miguel to the town of Mammoth where he retrieved our car parked at Andy's cabin.

We started the trip on mid-afternoon Saturday from Mammoth and returned on Tuesday long before noon. The tour is approximately 40+ miles and can be done in 3 full days of skiing (10 hours a day). Many people don't have the time to do one of the real Trans Sierra tours and this shorter but spectacular tour will let you enjoy the backcountry even if you don't have any vacation days left. The area of Lyell Canyon is beautiful. The views of snow covered Ritter and Banner peaks as well as sharp ridges of the Minarets are unforgettable. The tour would probably be even better earlier in the season. An early to mid-April trip might be the best.

I know there are many people in our club, who love to ski the backcountry. Skiing in the Sierra is natural extension of our summer activities there. So, try this trip as your first multi-day Sierra Tour. It will provide moderate difficulties, easy route finding, spectacular scenery, and all of this on a three day weekend. An unbeatable proposition!

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