Winter is making its annual comeback across the California Sierra. In the spirit of the season, we present the second issue of Sierra Snapshots, the new round-up of news about Sequoia National Park, Yosemite National Park and Tenaya Lodge at Yosemite, from Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts, official concessionaire for both Parks. The first dusting of powder has brought a fresh new perspective on the many ways for visitors to explore and enjoy the southern Sierra. For more information about these news items or anything else regarding these destinations, activities or lodging establishments, journalists may contact The Fontayne Group, at 1-800-841-0850 or sierra@fontayne.com.

Yosemite National Park  

Yosemite's New Winter All-Access Pass      
New for the 2007-08 season, the Yosemite Winter All-Access Pass is now available to guests of all lodging located inside Yosemite National Park. The All-Access pass, valid Monday through Friday, Dec. 14 through March 30, 2008, includes an all-day lift ticket at Badger Pass, an all-day rental of downhill skis, snowboard or cross-country skis, a group ski or snowboard lesson, one tubing session, one ice skating session including skate rentals, and a Yosemite Valley Tour – a $123 value available to Yosemite National Park overnight guests for only $29 for adults and $19 for children. The pass is valid for the length of that stay, with each pass component usable one time. (Guests staying four or more nights get up to four Passes for free.) More information can be found at www.YosemitePark.com.

Bracebridge Dinners Serve Up History and Merriment
Yosemite National Park’s Bracebridge Dinner has become a true American tradition since its inception eighty years ago in the magnificent Yosemite Valley. Each December since 1927, The Ahwahnee™, Yosemite’s historic hotel takes on the air of eighteenth-century England. This spectacular Christmastime pageant takes place in the grand Dining Room, which is transformed into the majestic Hall of American author Washington Irving’s legendary “Squire Bracebridge.”

The Bracebridge Dinner is an elegant and artistic four-hour pageant of classic carols, Renaissance rituals and entertainment of the Middle Ages. Over 100 players create the roles of the Squire and his family, their servants, the Lord of Misrule, minstrels and other performers. The centerpiece of this revered event is a seven-course banquet of splendid dishes prepared under the direction of The Ahwahnee’s master chef de cuisine, Percy Whatley.

The 2007 Bracebridge Dinners will be held on December 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, and 26. Attendance at the Bracebridge Dinner is no longer exclusively by lottery. One- and two-night Bracebridge Dinner packages are available for The Ahwahnee, Yosemite Lodge at The Falls, and The Wawona Hotel and include lodging, tickets for The Bracebridge Dinner for two, a portrait sitting and a commemorative ornament. The package at The Wawona also includes round trip transportation to and from the Bracebridge Dinner. Dinner-only tickets for The Bracebridge Dinner are also available on a limited basis for $375.00, tax included. Guests of Squire Bracebridge are also invited to attend complimentary musical performances in The Ahwahnee’s Great Lounge. For reservations and further information, call 559-253-5604 or visit www.YosemitePark.com/Bracebridge.

Yosemite a la Carte
As the season turns to winter, Yosemite’s culinary season kicks off with the popular Vintners’ Holidays now underway at The Ahwahnee™ and running through early December. (There are a few rooms and session slots left for those with a last-minute inclination to learn more about fine wines.) The Chefs' Holidays series in January at The Ahwahnee shifts the focus to food, featuring some of the nation's most innovative and acclaimed chefs.

Each of the eight sessions that comprise the 23 rd annual Chefs’ Holidays program will feature a "Meet the Chefs" reception, cooking classes and demonstrations, behind-the-scenes kitchen tours and the fabulous five-course Chefs' Holidays Gala Dinner in the grand Ahwahnee Dining Room, which was recently inducted into Nation’s Restaurant News’ Fine Dining Hall of Fame. Some of the hottest chefs in West, and beyond, will be featured in 2008 from restaurants that include Abacus (Dallas), Marinus at Bernardus Lodge (Carmel Valley, Calif.), Greens, Town Hall, Incanto and A16 (San Francisco), Osteria Mozza (Los Angeles), Jack’s (La Jolla, Calif.), Five Fifty-Five (Portland, ME), and Vie (Western Springs, IL).

Chef’s Holiday Lodging Packages are available at both The Ahwahnee and at Yosemite Lodge at the Falls. Two-night packages at The Ahwahnee start at $1025 and three-night packages start at $1129. Two-night packages at Yosemite Lodge begin at $570, with three-night packages available from $685. Packages include accommodations for two, admission to culinary presentations, admission to a private Meet the Chefs Reception, two tickets to the Gala Chefs' Holiday Dinner in The Ahwahnee Dining Room, and assorted keepsakes.

Gala Dinner tickets are also available without a lodging package for $155 per person (including tax; gratuity extra). For reservations, call the Yosemite Reservations Office at (559) 253-5635 or visit www.YosemitePark.com/Chefs. Packages are based on double occupancy, additional costs associated with additional persons. Packages do not include tax; prices and details are subject to change.

Yosemite by Satellite
A new way to enjoy the Lower Yosemite Fall area was inaugurated this summer with GPS-guided tours via a virtual tour guide dubbed the “Explorer.” The handheld Explorer device provides recorded interpretive multimedia content based on a guest’s exact location along one of Yosemite’s iconic trails, the gentle, one-mile Lower Yosemite Lower Fall trail. A service created jointly by the National Park Service, the Yosemite Association and a San Jose company called Big Escapes, the Explorer takes you by the hand for a stroll along the scenic travel route with accompanying narrative, lore, trivia, interactive games and imagery. Pick your Explorer up at the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center bookstore. The fee is $9.95 for adults and $7.95 for children 3 to 12. Provide your own headphones, or rent a set for another $1. Yosemite Association members save 15 percent.

Roaring Twenties Return to Yosemite
Yosemite’s Heritage Holidays were introduced in 2002 to celebrate The Ahwahnee's 75th anniversary. The event has grown to become a three-day tradition celebrating the glamour, style, frivolity and culture of the Roaring Twenties and beyond. The 2008 edition will take place March 2-4 and activities will range from Speakeasy entertainment and fashion shows to historic hotel tours and a Gala Dinner. The event reaches its climax with the Heritage Holidays Grand Ball, complete with the esteemed 12-piece Royal Society Jazz Orchestra, dancing and performances by the Deco Belles professional dance troupe.

The event was created by Heritage Holidays co-directors Tom Bopp (DNC Parks & Resorts at Yosemite) and Cherie Oliver (Art Deco Society of California), with the support of the Art Deco Society of California and the Interpretive Services Department of DNC Parks & Resorts at Yosemite.

Two- and three-night Heritage Holidays packages are available at The Ahwahnee® and Yosemite Lodge at the Falls. Packages include lodging for two, two tickets to the Gala Dinner in The Ahwahnee Dining Room featuring a 1920s-themed menu and music, a keepsake vintage gift and access to all Heritage Holidays special events and activities. All Yosemite Heritage Holidays events are free and open to the public, with the exception of the four-course Gala Dinner, which may be booked individually or as part of a lodging package. For more information visit www.yosemitepark.com/Heritage.

Tenaya Lodge at Yosemite

It's Showtime!
Yosemite transforms itself with winter’s first dusting of powder, offering a completely new set of fun activities and scenic vistas. Easily accessible via all-season highways, near Badger Pass Ski Area, and surrounded by fantastic snowshoe terrain, Tenaya Lodge is the perfect resort for a sparkling Sierra winter getaway.

You can snow shoe or cross-country ski right from the front door of the lodge, but you need never leave the property to enjoy Tenaya’s own skating rink, open days and evenings. The 80 ft x 40 ft sheltered rink opens this year on November 21. Rink time and skate rentals are available at very reasonable rates, which cover the costs of grooming the ice several times a day with the resort’s baby Zamboni™. Reservations and information at 1-877-322-5492 or online at www.tenayalodge.com.

Winemaster's Weekend
Talk about an incredible blend: Tuscany meets Yosemite when Tenaya Lodge hosts the 7th Annual Fresno State Winemaster’s Weekend on Leap Year weekend, Feb. 29-March 1, 2008. Super Tuscan wines will headline Winemaster’s Weekend, co-hosted by Tenaya Lodge and California State University, Fresno’s acclaimed Department of Viticulture and Enology. Winemaster’s Weekend includes blending competitions, receptions, workshops, culinary classes and a five-course gourmet wine dinner with the award-winning wines of Fresno State Winery. Tenaya’s Winemaster’s Weekend package includes two nights’ deluxe accommodations, receptions, three workshops and the closing Winemaster’s Weekend Dinner event for $656, double occupancy. Early booking is strongly advised as the event is a perennial sell-out; reservations made by Dec. 31, 2007, get an early bird price of $616 for the same package for two. For those who cannot participate in the entire weekend, but would like to attend the gala dinner, tickets are available for that single event at $115 per person. Reservations and information at 1-877-322-5492 or online at www.tenayalodge.com.

Snow Much Fun
This winter Tenaya is bundling its winter activity options into a new Snow Much Fun package: one night’s lodging and on-property activities for two, including skating rink time and skate rentals, snowshoe hike with equipment rentals, snow disk sledding, a climbing wall session and a S’mores kit. The package is priced from $159 for two persons, double occupancy. Reservations and information at 1-877-322-5492 or online at www.tenayalodge.com.

Go Down Hill at Badger Pass
The Badger Fun Pass kicks it up a notch by combining a stay at Tenaya Lodge with a day at Badger Pass Ski Area, California’s original ski area and known as one of the best places in the West to learn to ski or carve a snowboard. Badger Pass offers five lifts, 10 runs and a new terrain park for lots of good old-fashioned family fun. Tenaya’s Badger Fun Pass package, priced from $209, includes one night’s deluxe accommodations at Tenaya for four persons, and two Fun Passes, which include an all-day lift ticket, equipment rental (a choice of ski, snowboard or cross-country ski), a group lesson and a tubing session on Badger’s groomed sledding hill. Additional Fun Passes for others sharing the same room are $49 for adults and $29 for kids. Lodging valid Sundays through Thursdays and Fun passes valid Mondays through Fridays, January to March 2008, (holidays excluded). The activities offered with the Fun Pass, if purchased separately, are valued at $93 for adults and $68 for kids. Reservations and information at 1-877-322-5492 or online at www.tenayalodge.com.

Winter Warmth ... Just for Two
Tenaya turns up the fire on romance with two popular seasonal specials. The Sweet Surrender package includes a mini-suite with an expansive 550 square feet of living area, private balcony, full wet bar with refrigerator, and an extra large bath with a jetted spa tub separate from the shower. Package amenities include a chateaubriand and wine dinner for two by candlelight at Sierra Restaurant, chocolate dipped strawberries, kisses and roses turndown service, and a romance-themed Yosemite gift basket. Valid January through March, Sweet Surrender is available from $521 per night, double occupancy (of course!). If a more intimate, one-on-one escape is more your style, the Escape to Romance package includes one night’s lodging in a room with spa tub, champagne in souvenir flutes, and those wonderful chocolate dipped strawberries. Valid January through March from $334, double occupancy. Order meals in from any Tenaya restaurant – there’s really no need to leave your hideaway until a late nightcap in front of the roaring fire in Tenaya’s grand lobby. Reservations and information at 1-877-322-5492 or online at www.tenayalodge.com.

Tenaya Spa Special
The Tenaya Spa is the southern Sierra’s most comprehensive, with a mountain-inspired menu of rejuvenating therapies to rebalance and de-stress. The artful application of pure marine extracts, essential oils, botanical infusions, natural mud and sea salt will heal and soothe, send toxins on their way, and produce radiant, hydrated, smooth skin. Treatments range from nine different varieties of facials to body brush and polish, hydrotherapy, therapeutic paraffin treatments. The spa’s signature Warming Mineral Body Glow is one of the most popular, a tingly, full-body exfoliation that will leave guests ready to take on a black diamond run after a long winter’s nap. Tenaya’s Winter Spa package includes one night’s deluxe accommodations, one spa treatment, a plush terry Tenaya logo robes, and spa theme gift basket, is valid January through March 2008, and priced from $306 per person. Reservations and information at 1-877-322-5492 or online at www.tenayalodge.com.

Sequoia National Park

Make Tracks with the Sequoia Ski Explorers Package
Even in wintertime, Wuksachi Lodge is the perfect starting point for exploring Sequoia National Park. It’s ideal cross-country territory, and guests can ski out right from the Lodge’s ski shop. The new Ski Explorers package offers a room and rentals for two, priced from $111 per night. The full-day rentals for both guests include cross-country skis, boots and poles. The offer is valid December 21 through March 30, 2008. Reservations and information at 1-866-786-3199 or online at www.visitsequoia.com.

Make Monster Tracks with the Wuksachi Winter Family Fun Package
Winter at Wuksachi Lodge is also a great place for family adventures in the snow. With the new Wuksachi Winter Family Fun package, a family sharing the same room receives a nights’ lodging at the resort, and free rentals of snow play equipment to use around the property and at the Wolverton Snow Play area nearby. The equipment includes sleds for the kids (which they can keep), standard snowshoes for adults and teens and special “monster track” bear claw snowshoes for children under ten. Prices for the lodging and equipment rental package start at $119 per room. Reservations and information at 1-866-786-3199 or online at www.visitsequoia.com.

Winter Warmth with Wuksachi's Romance Package
No kids yet? Couples can cozy up with the lodge’s Winter Romance Package. Imagine moonlit snowdrifts and call 1-866-786-3199 or check for details at www.visitsequoia.com.

About Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts

Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts is an affiliate of Delaware North Companies and is the authorized National Park Service concessionaire responsible for lodging, dining, guest recreation, retail stores, and transportation in Sequoia and Yosemite National Parks. It also owns and operates Tenaya Lodge at Yosemite, located two miles from the southern entrance to the Park.

Delaware North Companies is one of the world's leading hospitality and food service providers.  Its family of companies includes Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts, Delaware North Companies Gaming & Entertainment, CA One Services, Sportservice, Delaware North Companies International, the Fleet Center in Boston. Delaware North Companies is one of the largest privately held companies in the United States with $1.6 billion in annual revenue and 30,000 associates serving half a billion customers in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.  For more information, visit www.DelawareNorth.com.

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