The 50-to-80: A Tahoe Ski Traverse
West of Lake Tahoe, between Highway 50 at Echo Summit and Highway 80 at Donner Pass, lies some of the world’s best backcountry skiing. After exploring this area over several years on shorter excursions, Alex and Emily set a goal of doing the 50-to-80 in a single multi-day father-daughter trip. This article is for anyone curious about backcountry skiing or interested in doing the 50-to-80 themselves.
While every part of the 50-to-80 is skied at least somewhat regularly (see, for example, Bob Akka’s site), we have found only two previous reports of through trips, one from way back in 1978 and then over thirty years later in 2009. We think this trip should be more popular: the skiing, scenery and snow are wonderful and it is more accessible and safer than better known winter traverses of the southern Sierras. What follows is a day-by-day trip report, with a few additional details of the route and discussion of alternative trips at the end.
The Trip
Prelude
Our version of the 50-to-80 would take us 54 miles over six days from Echo Lake near Highway 50 to Sugar Bowl near Highway 80. On the drive up from the Bay Area the night before our start we decided to check the weather forecast one last time. We had already postponed the trip twice due to storms—so far the exceptionally snowy winter of 2022–23 hadn’t provided the six day window of decent weather we needed. It was now the beginning of April and the transition to warmer weather and the start of the melt couldn’t be far off.
Back at home the forecast had predicted three days of clear weather, a day of snow showers, and then a warm and sunny finish to the trip the last two days. Now, just a few hours later, the forecast was for a storm on day four — a small storm with “only” 6–7 inches of new snow, but a storm nevertheless. We had left our pack covers behind, so we stopped at a Walmart and bought the biggest garbage bags we could find to use as substitutes.
The next morning we arrived at the Echo Lake Sno-Park just off of Highway 50 to find the normally spacious parking lot reduced to a narrow loop cut in a mountain of snow. To say we had difficulty parking our two-wheel drive, low-clearance vehicle would be an understatement. After a major struggle we backed into a space where it seemed safe to leave the car for a week.
We apparently weren’t the only ones having parking difficulties. Lying in the road was someone’s bumper, which must have been torn off when it caught on a block of ice sticking up out of the snow. Oh, wait — it was our bumper! We hadn’t even made it out of the parking lot, and already we were having an adventure.
Day 1: 10.5 miles, 1560 feet of climbing
We stowed the bumper in the car and skinned the short distance to the lower Echo Lake. On the way we crossed the divide between the Pacific Ocean and the Great Basin that marks the crest of the Sierras for the first time; we would cross the divide six more times during the trip.
This day was dominated by skinning across lakes: the lower and upper Echo Lakes, and then up and over a ridge to Lake Aloha with its spectacular vast, white basin. From the head of Lake Aloha we climbed to Mosquito Pass and skied down into the Rubicon River valley where we camped for the night.
Given the relatively short days of early spring, we were busy almost until dark setting up the tent, digging a wind-protected cooking area and cooking and eating dinner. But the activity that required the most time was making water from snow: every evening we melted a couple of gallons to get us through the next day. We have almost never found flowing water we could safely collect on ski trips in the Tahoe area and have learned to plan on melting snow for all our water, using two backpacking stoves to speed up the process.
Day 2: 8.6 miles, 1370 feet of climbing
The first night was colder than predicted, so cold that low temperature records for the date were broken throughout the Tahoe area. Our water bottles froze inside the tent and our sleeping bags were covered in frost. Emily wore all her clothes inside her bag along with Alex’s down jacket. We could hear the occasional gunshot-like sound of a tree branch exploding as the sap expanded when it froze. Did I mention it was really cold?
The deep valley of the upper Rubicon River starts out narrow at its head near Mosquito Pass and gradually widens over six straight miles. Once past the mouth of the valley we started climbing to reach the shoulder of Middle Mountain. The entire section from our camp to the top of the climb was frequently open, with great views across the Desolation Wilderness.
After crossing the ridge at the top of the climb we entered forested, uneven terrain as we descended to a creek crossing and then climbed again. Near the top the trees thinned out and eventually gave way to beautiful open slopes with great views as we traversed just below the Sierra crest. For the last mile we had a spectacular ski along the crest itself and camped at a spot with a wonderful view out over Lake Tahoe.
Day 3: 10.5 miles, 1730 feet of climbing
We started the day by enjoying more of the great touring in the Desolation Wilderness as we made our way to the saddle between Sourdough Hill and Lost Corner Mountain, where we climbed to Sourdough Hill’s summit. This relatively isolated high point has good views in every direction. We also noticed that a substantial building we had seen the last time we visited this spot was missing, completely submerged in the snowpack. The ski descent off Sourdough Hill was fast and fun.
At the bottom began four miles of relatively flat, mostly forested skinning until we reached Barker Meadow. We paused often to navigate along this stretch as all traces of the roads and trails we had hoped to follow had disappeared under the snow. At the meadow we crossed Barker Creek and began the main climb of the day. Once off the valley floor we started to get good views of the surrounding area. The Desolation Wilderness had been mostly granite, but now we were in volcanic terrain, with steep eroded cliffs and black summits rising above the snow.
The climb topped out where the Powderhorn Trail begins at a pass on the edge of the Granite Chief Wilderness. The wind was picking up and clouds were gathering ahead of the predicted storm. We had a brief discussion about whether to continue, but it was getting late and the pass had an ideal campsite well-sheltered from the wind. We decided to camp in the safe spot we were in rather than risk having trouble finding a suitable site as darkness and the storm came on.
Day 4: 9.1 miles, 1850 feet of climbing
After midnight it started to snow and we could hear the wind howling above the trees. In the morning we did our entire routine inside the tent, only emerging once everything was packed up. The garbage bags came out and were used as pack liners and improvised pack covers.
Despite the weather we had fun and varied ski touring. From our camp at the pass we first descended into and then up a long valley. We took a non-standard route that stays as high as practical on the valley’s side, which contributed to the interest as it gave us views (when the clouds parted) and several opportunities for skiing. This day had the most downhill skiing of the trip, just over four miles of descents through fresh powder. Our day ended at Whiskey Flat, a large meadow at the valley’s head.
Day 5: 8.5 miles, 3500 feet of climbing
The storm was over. We ate breakfast in the sun as the booms of avalanche control operations from the ski resorts just over the crest echoed off the mountains. Our first goal for the day was to cross the crest at Granite Chief and traverse across the top of the Palisades Tahoe ski resort.
From Whiskey Flat we had a long, beautiful climb to the ski area boundary; we crossed into Palisades Tahoe at the top station of the Granite Chief chairlift. In retrospect, we should have picked a less conspicuous entry point.
One reason for doing the 50-to-80 instead of the 80-to-50 is that Palisades Tahoe bans skinning uphill within the resort. By entering at the top of the Granite Chief chair we could (almost) ski the entire traverse to the opposite boundary. Coming from the other direction there is no way to ski through without using a lift. We were also breaking a rule against crossing the closed ski area boundary, but our previous experience had been that there was some level of tolerance for backcountry skiers who were just passing through.
It only took a minute for one of the resort’s ski patrol to notice us standing near the chairlift stripping the skins from our skis. At first he seemed quite unhappy, probably because he thought we had skinned up through the resort, but when we explained that we had started at Echo Lake and just wanted to ski traverse 15 minutes to the opposite boundary on our way to Sugar Bowl, he relaxed. He had to do his job and explain that we were breaking the rules, but he would let us continue. When everything had been said, we thanked him for our first interaction with another human being in four days and quickly skied away.
The rest of the traverse through the ski area was uneventful, but we still had a lot of terrain to cover before getting to camp. We repeated the pattern of “climb to the crest and ski down” three more times. Each of the previous days had included traversing the length of a valley; this day was all up and down and had by far the most climbing of the trip. It was all spectacular, especially the views from the places we crossed the crest of the Sierras.
We camped for the night on the saddle below Tinker Knob that divides Deep Creek from Cold Creek with a great view out over the area north and west of Lake Tahoe. Low clouds that threatened to engulf us gave way to clear skies as the sun went down, and we could see headlights climbing Highway 80 towards Donner Pass in the distance — we were nearly there!
Day 6: 7.1 miles, 1970 feet of climbing
Three summits dominate the Sierra crest heading north from our last camp. The first, Tinker Knob, and the last, Mt. Lincoln at the top of Sugar Bowl, present no problems, but there is no easy route past Mt. Anderson. Most groups seem to drop below the crest on its west side and traverse along the mountain’s flank. In our experience, this traverse can be anything between easy and truly scary when the long, steep southern face of the mountain is icy.
We took another route, which is shorter and, in our opinion, safer: From our camp at the saddle we skied past Mt. Anderson on its east side, crossed Cold Creek and then did a quite steep climb (probably the steepest of the trip) to a saddle just north of the mountain.
Once on the ridge the rest of the day’s plan was simple: Ski along the crest to Mt. Lincoln. The views as we skinned along the divide were fantastic. We met a group who had stayed a night at the Benson Hut, just a few minutes south of the saddle, and who were also skiing out to Sugar Bowl.
Once at the top of Mt. Lincoln we stopped to enjoy the moment with our new acquaintances, taking pictures of each other and having one last look at the views. Then we stripped off our skins and skied almost two miles down to the Judah Lodge and the end of our trip.
Addendum
Here are links to our planned route and our actual track.
We planned our route with two primary goals: stay out of avalanche terrain and stay as high as possible (to ski on better snow and to minimize the chances of encountering open creeks).
The 50-to-80 can be done with minimal exposure to potential avalanches. Our planned route stayed on slopes below 30 degrees (except for the segment within Palisades Tahoe where there is avalanche control), though our actual track deviated in a few spots on to steeper slopes because conditions at the moment were safe. While the route does not cross avalanche terrain, sometimes the safest corridor is narrow or passes below steep slopes, so attentive navigation and judgment are required. Still, the 50-to-80 has less avalanche risk and is less technical than the better known trans-Sierra High route.
Staying as high as possible is straightforward except for the stretch across the Granite Chief Wilderness. The obvious route descends almost to 6,000' where the Powderhorn Trail meets Five Lakes Creek and then gradually ascends along the stream, only reaching 7,000' again after six miles. Our alternate route along the side of the valley is about a mile longer and involves more navigation, but stays above 6,700', avoids avalanche terrain, and provides more variety and opportunities for (downhill) skiing.
The Palisades ski patrol member suggested that there is a way to do the 50-to-80 without passing through the resort. Instead of crossing the saddle at Granite Chief, cross a saddle just east of nearby Needle Peak. Ski down into the valley and then climb the other side to rejoin the route. This alternative is likely quite safe most of the time, but it is not as conservative as skiing through the resort.
Alternative Trips
There are alternatives to camping every night and for shorter trips.
Huts. The Sierra Club maintains three backcountry huts very close to the route: The Ludlow Hut at Richardson Lake (near Sourdough Hill), the Bradley Hut in the Pole Creek drainage, and the Benson Hut under the north face of Mt. Anderson. When we did the trip lingering concerns about Covid-19 meant that the only booking option was to reserve an entire hut, which made it very expensive for two people, but if booking individual spots were again possible (or cost was no obstacle) some nights of camping could be traded for hut stays. Regardless at least two nights of camping are needed to do the 50-to-80 without some extremely long days.
Several exits along the 50-to-80 make it possible to construct shorter trips of three to five days. A 3.5 day trip that we particularly recommend is to turn off after Sourdough Hill to climb the 4WD road towards Bear Lake and then switch back towards Ellis Peak; great campsites can be found high on the ridge. The next day continue past Ellis Peak and drop down to the Ellis chairlift at the top of Homewood ski resort. Other exits include the McKinney-Rubicon trail from the Ludlow Hut, the road from Barker Pass to the Blackwood Canyon Sno-Park, skiing out to Alpine Meadows from the Five Lakes basin at the head of Five Lakes Creek, and the road from the Bradley Hut to Highway 89.