The Badger Pass Ski Lodge, constructed in 1935, is historically significant as the first alpine ski resort in California and as an example of NPS Rustic architecture with Swiss chalet influences. The project area is located at an elevation of 7,200 feet at the Badger Pass Ski Area, midway between Wawona and Yosemite Valley in Yosemite National Park. The lodge is situated in Monroe Meadow on the south side of Glacier Point Road, approximately 5.1 miles east of Chinquapin. The lodge is accessible year round via Glacier Point Road and has served as a family ski area and winter recreation center in Yosemite since 1935.
The purpose of the rehabilitation project is to provide a phased program for rehabilitation of the Badger Pass Ski Lodge that will maintain and protect the integrity of the historic Badger Pass Day Lodge and character-defining features of the Badger Pass cultural landscape. Staffers indicate a need to treat critical deck, structural, and drainage deficiencies that have contributed to past and ongoing water-intrusion damage, and to replace temporary structures with permanent buildings of compatible construction to maintain continued ski area operations.
The rehabilitation would protect areas of primary historical significance, while allowing flexibility to accommodate the needs associated with current and future ski area use in "non-character-defining areas."
Repair and rehabilitation of the ski lodge are necessary to protect its historic integrity, assure visitor safety, and maintain ski-area visitor services while preserving the natural and cultural resources at the ski area, park officials indicate. A public open house will take place on January 28, 2009 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Valley Visitor Center Auditorium in Yosemite Valley. Park Admission fees will be waived for those attending the open house.
An additional public scoping meeting is scheduled for the afternoon of Friday, February 6, 2009 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the Snow Flake Room at Badger Pass Ski Area.
Comments can be submitted at public meetings, by mail, fax, email, and through the Planning, Environment, and Public Comment (PEPC) commenting system:
Superintendent
Attn: Badger Pass Ski Lodge Rehabilitation
P.O. Box 577
Yosemite, CA 95389
Phone: (209) 379-1365; Fax: (209) 379-1294
E-mail: Yose_Planning@nps.gov
www.nps.gov/yose/planning
