Badger Pass XC Ski
Trail Review
I cross-country skied the Old Glacier Point Road to Dewey Point Meadow trail to Glacier Point Road. The first two trails were marked as blue (intermediate), with Glacier Point Road being marked green (beginner).
Old Glacier Point Road and Dewey Point Meadow trails were narrow trails with usually a single track for XC and another for snow shoes. However, the people not using XC skis used the XC track all the time.
Glacier Point Road was a groomed road where the entire width of the road was available for people to ski, snowshoe, or walk.
The trails were for mixed-use, which meant that there were people on XC skis, snowshoes, or just hiking boots. The people in boots were post-holing regularly, which meant that the XC tracks were made tricky in spots.
There were way more people out on the trails than I had run into when I backpacked at Dewey Point a few years ago, but this made sense given that the weather was milder this time around.
There was fresh snow from the night before, which cushioned our falls and covered everything in white. The lack of wind meant that there were tons of snow on the tree branches, which was a new sight that I hadn’t seen before (at least in my memory).
The trails were not well marked and I was glad that I had my Gaia app to help navigate.
What I Learned
At first, the XC ski motion felt weird and the skis felt way too skinny, but after some fits and starts, I got pretty comfortable with flats and mild inclines after a mile or so. Going downhill, however, was a different beast and I had a tough time skiing anything but the mildest of grades (so much so that we took off our skis and walked the downhill Dewey Point Meadow trail).
I fell four times with three of them being bad enough where I’m sure I could have hurt myself if I hadn’t been lucky. Because XC bindings do not have a release, it can be tough when the skis get caught and twisted.
I found myself missing regular skis at all downhill spots.
This experience made me even more excited about backcountry skiing, as I believe it’ll be more comfortable (both down and uphill).
The ski poles weren’t just nice to have but absolutely necessary for all XC ski motion. They were especially fun in mild downhill sections where I used the poles to propel myself.
The rentals were available at Badger Pass and the people in the store were friendly and had us in and out in the quickest of times.
Friends
The ever-adventurous Cassie accompanied me on my inaugural XC ski ride and although there were moments of frustration (getting the XC skis back on) and exhaustion (the last 1/2 mile), it was fun. We’d had more fun had we gotten more sleep, but we made the best of it.
It was awesome having Cassie here as this experience was so much more fun and pleasant for me compared to my various other adventures when I would try something new by myself. Her optimism and happy spirit were overwhelming to the point when I started writing about this day, I remembered it as a sunny one, where the pictures revealed to me an overcast day.
What Happened?
2.6 miles, 2 hrs 12 mins, 410 ft elevation gain
One of the things I wanted to try out this year was cross-country skiing and while I was expecting to do this alone, I found a willing partner in Cassie. This meant that instead of doing the normal touristy stuff at Yosemite, we made plans to try out cross-country skiing at Badger Pass.
We arrived after a brunch after stopping at Tunnel View and an impromptu snow play area. We pretty much walked straight to the XC ski rental building (across the street from the downhill ski rental center) and the friendly folks there helped us borrow the right-sized gear. The prices weren’t too expensive, with two all-day rentals costing a little over $50.
After a quick bathroom break, we headed off to the trailhead and started figuring things out. First, it was figuring out how to put the skis on, which was harder than it looked at the rental center with snow accumulating on the toes of the boots. Then, we figured out how to move in the XC skis without falling. Lastly, we figured out how to go up inclines in XC skis, as the trail started with a mild incline.
Our form and comfort improved with time and I thought we were doing great as we got to the highest elevation point on the Old Glacier Point Road. As we headed off to Dewey Point Meadow trail, a pair of more experienced XC skiers warned us about the steeper trail ahead and some strategies to employ (try to ride in the powder to reduce speed or to take off our boots and walk it if it’s too steep).
On the Dewey Point Meadow trail, we struggled as the trail got steeper and after falling a few times, we took off our skis and huffed it until we got to a meadow where the decline got milder and where we were able to put on our XC skis again. I put mine on a bit quicker and tested out the milder decline where I was able to coast for more than a hundred feet and it was really fun! Cassie struggled a bit with her skis but was able to ski the decline too. There was a small stream crossing where Cassie got a little wet, but it wasn’t too bad and we were able to continue without worries of frostbite or anything like that.
Glacier Point Road was a total change of scenery as the road was wide and groomed. The lack of a defined XC trail took a bit of time to get used to, but we did well on this part, as we skied much faster than we had on the previous parts of the trail.
After returning our gear, we headed back to our tent to discover that due to the high winds forecasted, we were told to evacuate Yosemite. Without much choice available, we dutifully packed up and headed back to the Bay Area.