Weekend Escape: Tioga Pass : Cross-country fans at the Tioga Pass Resort get heavy doses of snow and beautiful scenery

I am an out-of-shape wimp. I’ve not darkened the doorway of a gym for months.

Sure, I enjoy cross-country skiing a couple times a year. But when the bowls get too steep, my knees turn to Jell-O, my voice quavers, and my telemark turns become big snow plows. Suddenly, I remember that I grew up in Manhattan, where you could always hail a cab.

Tioga Pass Resort--on the crest of the Sierra Nevada, two miles east of Yosemite National Park--is not for the truly timid. Many guests here are advanced cross-country skiers or hearty souls splurging before they pitch tents in the snow. That still leaves room for people like me, a cross-country skier with basic skills who is ready to adventure beyond groomed trails but has no interest in training for the Iditarod.

In the summer, thousands see the resort as they drive through Tuolumne Meadows and exit the eastern side of Yosemite. But in the winter, the lodge is cut off, buried in snow. In mid-January this year, the lodge was almost hidden in 13 feet of snow. Two years ago, a blizzard marooned guests for one week.

To make the most of our weekend, we drove the six hours from Los Angeles to the tiny town Lee Vining on a recent Friday evening after work. We stayed at the Best Western Lake View Lodge, where we promptly got into a Jacuzzi and collapsed. After breakfast the next day, we drove along California 120, the road to Yosemite, until we reached the snow gate across the road that’s locked in the winter.

The 6 1/3-mile stretch of road to the lodge, which climbs 2,600 feet, is closed during the winter months, leaving the rustic facility inaccessible to normal cars. Visitors are either ferried to the lodge by the proprietor, Bob Agard, in a hefty four-wheel-drive vehicle, if the road is clear of snow, or must ski there for all or some of the climb, passing breathtaking views of the park and occasional bighorn sheep.

When we first visited Tioga Pass last March (the lodge’s cross-country ski season is Oct. 15-May 1), we were dressed in our ski gear and, to our relief, got a ride the whole way up. So this year, we were surprised when Agard drove to the snow line and announced it was time for us to get out. He went ahead in a snowmobile, hauling our bags in a sled.

It was the moment we’d been dreading. A woman old enough to be my grandmother had reassured me last year that skiing to the lodge was fun. Sure, I had thought, if you’re an Amazon.

But she was right. The winding road climbs gently (though it is an 8% grade at spots). We skied under an almost cobalt blue sky and arrived in an hour at the lodge, in time for Saturday lunch.

Agard and his wife, Claudette, who run the lodge together, advise calling ahead to check the conditions. The staff can tell you how much of a ski you will have. In April, you stand a very good chance of a ride. During most winter months, you face about a 2 1/2-mile jaunt. But after the heavy snow in mid-January, guests had to ski from the gate on California 120 to the lodge.

“Most people who come here are experienced and fit,” Claudette said. “We find people are disappointed when they don’t have to ski in--it’s part of the adventure.”

The 75-year-old log cabin lodge, located at 9,600 feet, is a cozy spot with wood-burning stoves, plump couches and plenty of nooks to settle down in and read after a day skiing exquisite corn snow. The decor: rustic comfy with humor. (An old mountain lion skin is stretched above the doorway to the dining room, with a sign beneath reading: “This is a Tioga Pass chipmunk.”)

Tioga offers electrically heated one- and two-bedroom primitive log cabins ($95 per person per night, which includes hearty home-cooked breakfasts and dinners), or a berth in the dorm that sleeps up to 14 ($75 person per night). The lodge provides flannel sheets and pillowcases, but you must bring your own sleeping bags.

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The cross-country skiing here is nothing short of spectacular. Nestled in the magnificent Eastern High Sierra peaks, the lodge serves as a base for a variety of excursions, depending on your energy and ability. Imagine Yosemite without the recreational vehicles and tour buses, a breathtaking spot topped with heavy white snow and none of the usual crowds.

Most years, there’s enough snow to ski from now through April. Tioga has no groomed trails. But for most of the popular excursions, such as the trail into Yosemite, you can follow the tracks of previous skiers. Elsewhere, you may have to break your own trail, which can be arduous if the snow is deep. Claudette was terrific about suggesting appropriate day trips. (Topographical maps are available at the lodge and we always traveled with one.)

When you ski here, you are truly out in the wilderness--so this is not the spot for first-time skiers. The lodge does not rent cross country ski gear or give lessons, but ski repair and waxing are available. They do sell a few essentials, such as ski wax and film, but infrequent skiers should bring their own moleskin to ward off blisters. Basically, you bring everything you need; the lodge will send you a list in advance.

After lunch Saturday, we set off for Saddlebag Lake, passing an icy, burbling stream and then climbing steadily uphill. The trail among the pines to the frozen, snow-covered lake had already been blazed by previous skiers. At these altitudes, remember to drink plenty of fluids--you can easily get dehydrated without feeling thirsty. In one rucksack, we brought along two water bottles, a compass and additional warm layers since the weather can change abruptly.

During the winter, the temperature begins to dip around 4 p.m. Darkness falls around 5 p.m. So once we toured the lake, we headed home. By late afternoon, the setting sun bathed the mountains in gold and our tracks had begun to ice over in spots, speeding our downhill descent. Every time we paused, we looked out over a postcard-like view of some of the most spectacular countryside in the world.

After warming up by the wood stove (a relic that’s more than 100 years old), we were ready for dinner. Meals at Tioga are an informal but eagerly awaited event--you’ll be starving after a day skiing.

Guests--usually no more than 14 or so--seat themselves among several of the communal tables and help themselves. We ate large steaming plates of tuna in peppercorn sauce, potatoes au gratin (which were to die for), salad, vegetables, home-baked bread (a tricky feat at high altitude) and bowls of spicy vegetable soup. Desserts were the crown jewel of the evening. One night we had bread pudding with nuggets of chocolate, smothered in brandy sauce and topped with whipped cream.

Every day, we signed up for a brown bag lunch ($6.50), which we stowed away in our rucksack.

On our second day, we set out for the ghost town of Bennettville, choosing a route that had not yet been blazed. We quickly lost the snow-covered trail and meandered about before catching a glimpse of the two stark wood-slab houses that constitute Bennettville, an old mining camp recently rehabilitated by the U.S. Forest Service. We selected the only seats without snow--the rocks beneath the eaves of one ghostly house--and ate our lunch before continuing on to the bowls near Fantail Lake. On the steep mountain slopes above us, we could see where the braver skiers had climbed up so they could telemark down, carving graceful S-curves in the snow. It was a feat that a skier like me could admire from a distance without feeling any inclination to duplicate.

By the time we returned to the lodge, we were triumphantly exhilarated by our trek and rubber-legged from our efforts.

We skied out our final morning, zipping down the road, pausing to look at the spectacular snow-covered vistas and assess the plummeting drop to the canyon below. A guardrail stands between you and a several-thousand-foot drop. At times like that, I like to stop and look down at my steel-edge skis, reciting a silent plea: “Feet, don’t fail me now.”

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Budget for Two Gasoline: $39.01 Best Western Lodge, one night: $63.22 Tioga Pass Lodge, two nights: $414.20 Two brown bag lunches: $13.94 Meals during the drive: $27.21 Breakfast at Nicely’s: $12.50 FINAL TAB: $570.08

Tioga Pass Winter Resort, P.O. Box 307, Lee Vining, Calif. 93541; tel. (209) 372-4471