Zion Ski Traverse
by Rich Henke

In early March 1989, Bob Dudginski, Brian Samuelson, and I did a ski traverse of Zion National Park from the West Rim Trail - in the main Zion Canyon - to Lee Pass at the far northwest corner of the park. The tour is described in Steve Barnett's book, "The Best Ski Tours in North America". According to the Zion rangers, it has seldom been completed and they were not very happy to see us attempt it. Barnett's book described the tour as an easy one, which it was, but different weather and snow conditions could require parties to be skilled in ice axe use for some portions of the tour.

The scenery is spectacular, starting with the long climb by foot up the West Rim Trail with beautiful views of Zion Canyon. The trail was almost clear of snow. But the upper portion of the trail is cut into a rock cliff and at times, you might find the route packed with 45-degree ice above a 500-foot cliff. Skiable snow was reached in about 3 miles and we were on our skis most of the time from that point on until the last 13 miles, which we walked. The snow would be better earlier in late January or early February. But it would be colder and have a higher probability of needing to use an ice axe.

We followed the trail along the rim of Phantom Canyon, which passed through Potato Hollow and finally arrived at Lava Point. From here, we skied a snow-covered road to Kolob Reservoir and west to where it dropped down into Willis Creek. Kolob Reservoir is outside the park and many cabins are located here. Snowmobiles are common, especially on weekends. The steakhouse mentioned in Barnett's book has been closed for many years. There is also a non-technical escape route at this point. You can return to the town of Virgin by skiing and walking south along the Kolob Reservoir Road. On weekends, you could probably get a ride after passing the gate where the road is closed in winter.

After leaving the reservoir, we took a wrong turn on the road, which caused us a 3-hour detour through snow covered scrub oak slopes before we got back on the route. We walked the road down to Willis Creek, but then skied through this narrow canyon with sandstone walls rising on both sides. At La Verkin Creek, the skiing was essentially over since the many stream crossings made it impractical. This was especially true for me, since my old ski binding had fractured due to metal fatigue at Lava Point. I skied the last half or the trip with an improvised cable binding made from leather straps. I could maneuver the ski but it took me several minutes each time I had to put it on or take it off.

The third night of the trip was spent at La Verkin Creek, just upstream from the canyon leading to Kolob Arch. The following morning we visited the arch, which is the largest freestanding arch in the world (largest meaning greatest span). The remaining hike out was very scenic but there was no snow. We saw mountain lion tracks in the soft sand and earlier had seen some on the snow.

We did the trip in 4 days, starting at 10:30 a.m. on the first day and finishing around noon on the fourth. The total distance was 40 miles including 4 miles along the paved road from Lee Pass to the visitor's center. We had hoped to catch a ride here but were unsuccessful. We skied approximately 22 miles and walked the rest. Total elevation gain was about 5800 feet. It is very important to find the trail and stay on it, especially in the area from the top of the West Rim Trail to past Potato Hollow. The few times we were off route found us expending lots of effort skiing over logs and through scrub oak. One can certainly do the trip without using the trail but it might take twice as long.

The tour did not require any difficult skiing. Brian, who is a former ski racer and jumper, did the tour with lightweight touring boots, and no metal edges and I skied part of the route with a broken ski. However, different weather and snow conditions could change all of this. This tour should be treated with the same seriousness that a trans-Sierra tour in California would require.