The Sierra Club has a number of lodges and ski huts, including four in Southern California. The national lodge website has descriptions of all of these. Click on the icon to see a photo of the largest, the Clair Tappaan Lodge, built by volunteers in 1934 in Norden, California. Members who stay there do all the housework, but the food's great. There's XC skiing right outdoors, and one can ski to the Tahoe-Donner ski area. Royal Gorge and Sugar Bowl are across the street, and the Boreal Ridge ski area is to the north, accessed by skiing up to the ridgeline. A 1935 article Ski Heil by Joel Hildebrand in the Sierra Club Bulletin described the building of the lodge.
San Antonio (Mt Baldy) Ski Hut - The San Antonio Hut on Mt. Baldy was built by the SMS in 1937 and provides acess to challenging skiing. At 8200', the hut is reached by a steep, 3 mi hike (2200' gain). The trailhead starts one mile beyond the locked gate of Falls Rd. The locked gate is adjacent to Mt Baldy Rd, near Harwood Lodge and Manker Flats Campground. Facilities: The hut has a fully equipped kitchen of cookware, dishes, and utensils. Water from a spring is piped directly through the kitchen. Wood stoves for cooking and heating. Dormitory sleeping loft with approximately 20 bunk beds. Furnish your own food, sleeping bag, and flashlight. Outhouse provided.
Keller Peak Ski Hut - The Keller Peak Hut is located at 6800' on Highway 18 between Running Springs and Big Bear in the San Bernadino mountains across from the Snow Valley Ski Area parking lot. The hut accommodates large groups and is used for SMS training clinics. The hut was built by the SMS in 1938 and is managed for use by all Sierra Club members by the Keller Hut Committee. Facilities: Two rustic living and dining rooms, two dormitory sleeping lofts with 35 mattresses on floors, kitchen and bathroom (cold water only). Fully equipped with cookware, dishes, and utensils. Furnish your own dish towels, paper goods, trash bags, food, sleeping bag, and flashlight.
Ostrander Hut - The Ostrander Hut is located in Yosemite National Park off the Glacier Point Road. Reservations are made by lottery upon application to the National Park Service.
Pear Lake Ski Hut - The Pear Lake Ski Hut/Cabin is located in Sequoia National Park approximately six miles from the Wolverton trailhead (7200 ft.) near Lodgepole. It is 3/8 of a mile north of Pear Lake at at an elevation of 9,200 ft, near the head of the Marble Fork of the Kaweah River. The cabin is available for use by the general public from approximately December 15 to April 9. It has 10 bunks and is equipped with a pellet stove, lanterns, cooking utensils, propane stove (you supply propane) and inside restroom. Water is from snowmelt or nearby creek. Cost in 2005 is $22 per person per night.
The hut is operated by the Sequoia Natural History Association under the guidance of the National Park Service. Due to the high demand for reservations, a lottery system is used to assign a reservation. Contact the Sequoia Natural History Association concerning the current reservation policies:
Attn: Pear Lake Hut
Sequoia Natural History Association
HCR 89 Box 10
Three Rivers, CA 93271
(lottery entry by snail mail only)