thinking of a traverse from the eastside to yosmite valley cutting southwest down teneya canyon skinning / riding anybody ever done this whats the lower canyon coverage like on a good year . anybody ever skinned up from the valley?

The canyon has some pretty steep bits... I doubt there'd be enough snow to ride down the rappels. Have you descended it before in summer or fall?

I know a YNP interp ranger that went up the canyon in winter conditions but it was last year with no snow. And I don't think he went past the cascades. Skis are very out of place in Tenaya.

"I know a YNP interp ranger that went up the canyon in winter conditions but it was last year with no snow."

LOL.

Bump for any accounts of going up Tenaya in winter! That sounds super fun, even on snow shoes.

Tenaya Canyon is popular among the canyoneering community. It involves a few rappels and I believe there is one rappel that drops into water. I have not done it so I cannot give any specifics.

If you do a search on canyoneering and tenaya canyon you may get some beta. There is also a canyon called "middle earth" that people do in YNP as well.

You could contact Luke who runs the website "bluegnome". He may have done it and if he has not he will know who has. His website has canyoneering beta for many states, mostly Utah though.

I've descended Tenaya before, spent a night in the canyon, though it was in the summer. I can't imagine how you would skin up the canyon; there are some rappels that would cause some difficulty. Additionally, there are some very exposed 5th class slabs that can be harrowing and if there were ice or snow on those slabs I'm not sure it would be navigable. As already posted, one of the rappels is adjacent to a waterfall.