TCT #43 -- Jason Torlano

Jason Torlano

In a "Christmas in July" vein, we offer a winter in the heat of summer retrospective with this month's TCT interview.  Our subject: Jason Torlano who, with Zach Milligan, did the first complete ski descent of Half Dome on 2/21/21.  Jason grew up in Yosemite and learned to ski at Badger Pass.  As an adventurous youngster in the park, he acquired some legendary rock climbing and ski-mountaineering mentors and honed his winter adventuring skills.  Jason is credited with over 20 first ski descents in Yosemite National Park including many from the points off of Glacier Point Road.  Jason also discusses his experiences in the Army, as a contractor in the Middle East, and setting ropes for high access work on wind turbines.  We also learn about what's closest to his heart: his family (wife and four kids) and his work in Syria and Myanmar with the humanitarian organization, Free Burma Rangers.

Here's a link to the radio program with the Jason Torlano interview:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yEbMpY_Lx29vsvWHlcy83YpfujxO7STR/view?usp=sharing

Here's a link to the Free Burma Rangers webpage: https://www.freeburmarangers.org/

Interpretive panel at Glacier Point -
Nevada Falls in center

To offer a sense of the scale and scope of Jason's first descents in Yosemite, this month's hike suggestions are all along Glacier Point Road.  For the easy hike, about a half a mile, drive out to the end of Glacier Point Road and walk the loop at the Glacier Point Overlook.  There you'll take in the grand vista of Half Dome, Clouds Rest, parts of Yosemite Valley, up the Mist Trail to Vernal and Nevada Falls, and out to the rugged peaks in the east.  See this link for details and directions:  https://www.alltrails.com/explore/trail/us/california/glacier-point-trail

Taft Point guard rail -- Yosemite Falls to mid-left

For a medium route, first you should drive to Glacier Point and walk that loop then hop in your car and
double back to the Sentinel Dome Trailhead for a 5.3 mile loop that takes you out to Sentinel Dome for great views to the north including stunning Yosemite Falls, then down the Pohono Trail to Taft Point for even more views then a forested walk back to the trailhead.  See this link for details and directions:  https://www.alltrails.com/explore/trail/us/california/sentinel-dome-and-taft-point-loop

View from Dewey Point - 
Bridalveil Falls in center

The challenging hike is a full-day adventure with a lot of driving.  Get some friends and take two cars into the park.  Leave one car at Tunnel View, cram into the other car, and drive to Glacier Point.  Here you'll embark on the Pohono Trail for 14.5 miles back to Tunnel View where you'll cram into the car there and drive back to Glacier Point to pick up the other car.  The point-to-point hike will take about 10 hours including must-do spur jaunts out to Sentinel dome, Taft Point, Dewey Point, and Crocker Point, hiking, resting, photographing, and snacking.  Also for negotiating some downed trees requiring scrambling and some minor re-routing.  It's about a forty-five minute drive between Tunnel View and Glacier Point, so there will be a fair amount of time spent driving, too.  See this link for details and directions:  https://www.alltrails.com/explore/trail/us/california/pohono-trail-glacier-point-to-inspiration-point

Also to consider -- in 2022, Glacier Point Road will close for the entire year for road improvements and rehabilitation.  So, this is the year to get your Glacier on!

And remember -- you need a reservation to enter Yosemite National Park this summer.  Here is a link to the park's website with info:  https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/reservations.htm

The links to the trail descriptions for this month's hikes are all from AllTrails, a hiking trails app with worldwide crowd-sourced trail reviews, photos, and resources.  AllTrails has both free and premium versions.  I use the free version for reference, ideas, and current trail conditions.  I understand the premium version offers tracking.  There are other similar services; for instance, I pay an annual fee for Gaia GPS and track my hikes there, which is a lot of fun!