Our Cross Country Ski Brochure
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Yellowstone Expeditions Back-Country Ski Tours and the Canyon Skier's Yurt Camp in Yellowstone National Park Imagine the sensation of cross-country skiing the Yellowstone back-country, your only neighbors the bison and elk herds dotting the landscape, and the trumpeter swans and Canada geese floating on the Yellowstone River. Explore the majesty of winter in Yellowstone Park, after the summer tourists have departed and the Park has been transformed into a frozen landscape of serene beauty and mystery. This remarkable land awaits your discovery, and there is no better way to experience the wonder of Yellowstone in winter than skiing with Yellowstone Expeditions. This is What We Offer Yellowstone Expeditions has offered naturalist guided XC ski and snowshoe excursions from the Canyon Skiers Yurt Camp since 1983. Located near the Rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River, the Canyon Skiers Yurt Camp is designed so that our group of adventurers can explore Yellowstone's back-country, during the winter season, in relative comfort and with personal guides. Tour packages range in length from four to eight days to provide plenty of time to relax and explore the wonders of Yellowstone. Our Philosophy At Yellowstone Expeditions we believe that a large part of enjoying the outdoors is to be inquisitive about our natural surroundings. With this in mind, we strive to make each of our ski trips a relaxed and enjoyable learning experience. All of our guides are trained and knowledgeable about Yellowstone's natural and human history. We try to incorporate many learning experiences into our day to day life at camp, whether it is learning to ski better, stopping along the trail to listen to wolves or coyotes howl, digging a snow-pit to look at snow crystals on the slopes of Mt. Washburn, building a quinzhee snow shelter, listening for owls hooting at night, or stopping along the trail to examine the tracks of an ermine or wolf. Yellowstone Expeditions 2020-2021 Page 1 A view of the Yellowstone Yurt Camp with five feet of snow on the ground. The Yellowstone Yurt Camp The Canyon Yurt Camp, (elevation 8,000'), is located in a small meadow surrounded by a pine forest, near the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River. We are smack dab in the middle of Yellowstone National Park, only one-half mile from the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River and the waterfalls viewpoints. At the camp, cross country skiers can enjoy the comforts of an outfitted and heated back country Yurt base camp with private heated individual sleeping huts and a common gathering area in the dining room Yurt. The availability of a camp shower, sauna and a heated (and well lit) outhouse increase the level of comfort well above that of your ordinary winter camping experience! The Yellowstone Skiers Yurt Camp is accessed by a 40 mile snowcoach shuttle from West Yellowstone. Our location in the heart of Yellowstone is unique: there are no other overnight visitor accommodations within 35 miles of the Yurt Camp. This lends itself to our guests being better able to experience some of Yellowstone’s winter wildness. Yellowstone Expeditions 2020-2021 Page 2 At the center of Canyon Skier’s Camp are the two main Yurts ... Our two main Yurts, heated by wood burning stoves and lit by solar recharged electric lights, serve as the camp social center, kitchen, and dining area. The Dining Room Yurt serves as the common area for eating and socializing, while our There’s always hot water on the stove for tea... delicious family style meals are prepared in the Kitchen Yurt. Yurts similar to ours were originally used as portable homes by nomadic Tannu-Tuva and Mongolian tribes, who called them "gers" (rhymes with bears). Designed to survive the brutal weather of Mongolia's high plateaus, yurts function exquisitely as a "home" for back country skiers (Various articles about yurts appear in several issues of National Geographic). We build our own yurts with steeper roofs to shed the snow and insulation to ensure comfortable warmth. Our dining room and kitchen Yurts are surrounded by several smaller, double occupancy private heated tent cabins (we call them sleeping huts or "yurtlets"). The private “yurtlets” are each heated by a propane heater with an Propane heaters keep the sleeping huts toasty warm adjustable thermostat. even on the coldest nights... Yellowstone Expeditions 2020-2021 Page 3 The thermostats in each “sleeping hut” allows guests to control the heat level to provide carefree warmth that insures comfortable sleeping each night. The two person sleeping huts are lit by solar recharged, and battery powered electric lights. Each hut is equipped and outfitted with a double size or two single beds, sleeping bags and sheets, pillows, cozy comforters and a clothes line and hooks for hanging and drying ski clothes. All you need to bring is your personal gear, skis and an adventurous spirit. Our heated outhouse is cozy and well lit. We also have a wonderful homemade Cedar Camp Sauna (we like it at about 160 degrees). In addition to the sauna, we can provide you with plenty of fresh hot water for washing in our heated camp shower facility. We believe the availability of a sauna and hot shower at the end of the day lends our camp an air of backwoods elan. Yellowstone Expeditions 2020-2021 Page 4 Inside one of the Sleeping Huts (We call them Yurtlets) Sample Trip Itinerary The First Day: We pick you up from your hotel in West Yellowstone around 9:00 a.m. for the snowcoach trip into the Canyon Skier's Camp. The snow-coach road enters Yellowstone Park through the Madison River Canyon where we usually will see dozens of bison and elk, many trumpeter swans, and a few coyotes and One of our Snow-Vans, named “Eleanor” eagles. Lunch is often eaten at Norris Geyser Basin, with time for a stroll among Norris’ many thermal features. After our fill of sightseeing, geysers, and critters we typically arrive at the Canyon Skiers Camp in the early afternoon. After arrival at camp you are free to spend some time getting settled into your double occupancy "tent cabin/sleeping hut/yurtlet" or you may accompany your guide on a ski tour along the Rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River. We end the day with a hearty family style dinner in the Dining Yurt and then a peaceful evening with the group around the wood Danny and his group enjoying the view toward Mt Washburn Yellowstone Expeditions 2020-2021 Page 5 stove. We’ll spend some time planning the coming days' wilderness ski trips and adventures before you retire to your cozy warm private sleeping hut for the night. The Middle Days: Days at the Skier's Camp start with a made to order breakfast (and for early risers "dawn A group photo before departing the “Yurt Camp” patrol" on the Roller Coaster ski trail). During breakfast and packing lunches, we will select the days ski trail options, some of which start right from camp, others at trail heads accessible by a short "snow van" shuttle ride. Lunch is typically eaten on the trail with a mid-afternoon return to camp. Many days, late in the afternoon, we will take the snow van for a short sightseeing tour to the Hayden Valley to observe wildlife or just to watch the sun set. The evening meal is served family style in the dining yurt (we promise you won't go hungry, a snow coach load of fresh groceries arrives at the ski camp every few days). Evenings are customarily spent planning the next days' skiing, playing games at the dining room table, laughing about the days “face-plants”, looking at the moon through the telescope, gazing at the brightest stars you've ever seen, relaxing in the camp sauna or shower, or retiring to the privacy of your own tent cabin to read a good book. On clear moonlit nights an evening ski to one of the Canyon Rim vistas is often in order. With the next nearest overnight accommodations over thirty five miles away, peaceful quiet evenings at our camp are the norm. Viewing the Canyon from the Seven Mile Hole Trail Yellowstone Expeditions 2020-2021 Page 6 The Last Day: After a morning ski and packing, the snow van departs the Canyon Skiers Yurt Camp during the early afternoon. Arrival in West Yellowstone usually is in the late afternoon, but we recommend making bus and airline reservations for the next day or later. It is also possible to spend Dinner in the Dining Room Yurt another day or more on your own in the town of West Yellowstone. The day can be spent skiing the local trails, such as the Rendezvous Ski Trail or the Riverside Ski Trail, or let us take you on a sightseeing / ski trip to Old Faithful Geyser. Please ask about this option. Leave only tracks...Take only memories... Yellowstone Expeditions 2020-2021 Page 7 Our History and Mission (By Arden Bailey, Founder of Yellowstone Expeditions) I started Yellowstone Expeditions in 1983 in order to allow park guests to experience the backcountry of Yellowstone from a comfortable base camp. I felt that a trip to Yellowstone in the winter needed to be more than a bus ride to a distant hotel; I felt it needed to be a personal experience. With that goal in mind, I set up our trips to be small sized tours with plenty of guides. With our remote location in the heart of Yellowstone, the stillness of winter, and our knowledgeable guides, we can take you away from the crowds and deep into the wildness of Yellowstone.