Yosemite Winter Club Board
Mato-Kuwapi Parker
President
What do you do and how long have you been doing it? I am an Emergency Medical Services Quality Improvement Coordinator with the County of Fresno. I have been involved in EMS operations and education for the last 20 years.
How long have you been a Winter Club Member? Long enough to remember that Beaver had a T-Bar and Eagle was a Center-Post Riblet chair lift! I grew up racing for the Yosemite Winter Club learning from the legendary ski coach Leroy “Rusty” Rust.
What is your favorite Winter Club Activity? Skiing is my favorite, but I have been known to strap on a snowboard as well. I would also like to get into the Yosemite backcountry on some Alpine Touring gear.
What brought you to Yosemite? My grandparents (Julia and Ralph Parker) were long-time Yosemite residents and NPS employees. My dad Louis was also born in Yosemite. It has always been my home away from home!
Board Member Since: 2016
Lucy Royse
Vice President
What do you do and how long have you been doing it? I am the General Manager for a private Timber Farm for 30 years!
How long have you been a Winter Club Member? I have been a Winter Club member since 1990.
What is your favorite Winter Club Activity? Downhill skiing and coaching!
What brought you to Yosemite? My husband grew up here.
Board Member Since: 2015
Melin Ludwig
Treasurer
What do you do and how long have you been doing it? I’m a budget tech for the National Park Service. I’ve only been working here for a year. Prior to this, I was a bookkeeper for a non-profit organization in Mariposa.
How long have you been a Winter Club Member? Two years.
What is your favorite Winter Club Activity? Skiing! Snowboarding!! Any and all activities that my family and I can participate in together.
What brought you to Yosemite? My husband has worked for the Park Service for a while. We are so happy to live here and be able to enjoy an incredible backyard.
Board Member Since: 2020
Rob Grasso
Secretary
What do you do and how long have you been doing it? Fish and Aquatic Biologist for almost 20 years.
How long have you been a Winter Club Member? Three years.
What is your favorite Winter Club Activity? I’m not sure, there are so many!
What brought you to Yosemite? A new career position.
Board Member Since: 2017
Austin Brown
Board Member
What do you do and how long have you been doing it? I run the rental shop at Badger Pass. I have been with the rental shop for 7 seasons now and love it!
How long have you been a Winter Club Member? One year.
What is your favorite Winter Club Activity? Skiing!
What brought you to Yosemite? I have been in Yosemite Valley for 24 years. I went to the elementary school in the valley. Middle school and high school in Mariposa, and college in Sonora. I couldn’t think of a better place to live.
Board Member Since: 2020
Janet Johnson
Board Member
What do you do and how long have you been doing it?
How long have you been a Winter Club Member?
What is your favorite Winter Club Activity?
What brought you to Yosemite?
Board Member Since: 2020
Upcoming Events
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Winter Club History
HOW DID THE WINTER CLUB GET STARTED? “In the fall of 1928, Donald Tresidder, President of the Curry Company [the primary concessionaire in Yosemite National Park] formed the Yosemite Winter Club to ‘encourage and develop all forms of winter sports and to advertise and exploit the great advantages, beauties and healthy benefits of winter in the California Sierra to all lovers of outdoor life.’
Nine decades later to the present day, the winter club has played a leading role in the evolution of winter sports in California.” (Magic Yosemite Winters by Gene Rose; 1999:21). During the first five years of the Club’s formation, Badger Pass Ski resort opened and tobogganing and ice-skating took off in Curry Village.
Backcountry skiing was encouraged when the Tressiders had the Snow Creek Cabin constructed near the north rim of Yosemite Valley. By 1941, a second ski hut was built at Ostrander Lake. Both Snow Creek and Ostrander remain popular overnight, backcountry destinations, while ice-skating at Curry Village, and skiing at Badger Pass remain popular front-country destinations.
Today, the Yosemite Winter Club is comprised of hundreds of members who share enjoyment of winter sports in Yosemite. The Winter Club remains tightly linked with the National Park Service and Yosemite’s primary concessionaire, Aramark.
The purpose of this club is to foster regional amateur and recreational Nordic and Alpine snow skiing, snowboarding, skating competitions and events, while supporting and developing amateur athletes and recreational winter sport enthusiasts for such competitions and events.
The Yosemite Winter Club (YWC) is a non-profit organization bringing winter sporting opportunities to outdoor enthusiast since 1928.
Yosemite Winter Club, P.O. BOX 2002, Wawona, CA 95389 | 501c3 Tax ID number 56-2423307
Sponsors
The Yosemite Winter Club would like to thank our sponsors!
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Interested in supporting Yosemite Winter Club? Contact Us
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Interested in supporting Yosemite Winter Club? Contact Us