Yosemite · Sports & events
SPORT & SEASON
The sport is vertical, seasonal and mostly free to watch from a meadow.
El Capitan from the meadow
Bring binoculars to El Cap Meadow at dusk and pick out headtorches on the wall. Big wall season is spring and autumn; summer sun makes the granite unbearable.
Half Dome cables
The cable route goes up around late May and comes down in October, with permits issued by pre-season and daily lotteries. Sixteen miles round trip from the valley.
Badger Pass in winter
California's oldest downhill ski area runs roughly mid-December to March, with cheap lessons, cross-country tracks toward Glacier Point and an ice rink at Curry Village.
Rafting the Merced
Raft rentals run on the flat valley stretch in early summer while flows allow, usually June into July. Life jackets are compulsory and the water is snowmelt cold.