How Palouse Divide reemerged nearly 90 years after original start

The original ski lodge at Palouse Divide was built in the late 1930s with stone and timber that was collected on-site. According to the Idaho Heritage Trust, it was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps as part of a joint venture between the CCC, the U.S. Forest Service, and what was then Washington State College.

Ski runs were cut in a nearby bowl and a simple chairlift was installed. For decades, WSU operated it as the North-South Ski Bowl.

The university’s commitment began to flag in the 1980s and the little ski area fell into disuse. Over time, the bowl’s open slopes were reclaimed by forest.

Things began to change in 1999 when Lane and Shirley Hathaway bought the moribund ski area and its 60 surrounding acres. They turned it into a private, reservation-only conference center and retreat. Lane Hathaway passed away in 2022, but Shirley continues to own and operate the lodge with the feisty enthusiasm that’s a signature trait.

The lodge is about a quarter mile up the hill from the trailhead, so most skiers never even see it. For the volunteers who groom the trails however, it is a warm refuge from a job that’s often wet, cold, and miserable.

After parking their snowmobiles and equipment in a shed behind the lodge, weary groomers can wander in the back door and pull up a chair in the dining room of a richly appointed mountain lodge. Often as not, there’s a Crock-Pot bubbling in the kitchen and a note, in Shirley’s handwriting, for the groomers to help themselves.

It is a friendly, informal arrangement, and that’s just how Shirley Hathaway likes it.

“Lane and I always wanted to see the (cross-country) ski club grow, and we wanted to see families out there using this country,” she says. “That’s why we bought the place.

“We didn’t make it part of our business. We just wanted to make it available. It’s been a love of ours and I just hope to see it continue.”