“It is important to affirm, and prove, that we go to the mountains to live and not to die, that we are not fanatics but firm believers, and that the few accidents which occur are hard but not useful lessons.” —Italian alpinist Guido Rey
She Completed a 1,600-Mile Ski Journey. Then Tragedy Struck.
A Dream Born in the Mountains
Lena Rowat, a 28-year-old skier from Vancouver, stood at the edge of an audacious dream: to traverse North America’s Coast Range, a 1,600-mile backbone of glaciated peaks stretching from her hometown to the Yukon and Alaska. Known in Whistler’s ski community as a six-foot-tall powerhouse with boundless endurance, Lena was no stranger to epic adventures—skiing, mountaineering, through-hiking, and cycling across continents. Yet beneath her vibrant exterior—marked by thrift-store tights, flowery dresses, and hair dyed bright blue or bleached white—she battled a profound sense of isolation and depression. The mountains were her refuge, the only place where her mind found peace. The Coast Range traverse promised to fill the void within her, a challenge so immense it might anchor her restless spirit.
In 2001, Lena, alongside her sister Ruby, 30, embarked on this unprecedented journey. The Coast Range was a formidable adversary: remote, glaciated, and riddled with crevasses, avalanches, and storms. Many deemed the traverse impossible, a technical ski journey requiring navigation across raging rivers and peaks rising from sea level to 13,000 feet. The sisters faced elevation gains equivalent to climbing and descending eighteen Mount Everests over a distance of nearly fifty marathons. Yet Lena believed it could be done, and Ruby, a compact gymnast with magenta hair, joined her to prove it—not just for themselves, but to model possibilities for women in a male-dominated mountain sports world.
The Storm at Manatee Col
Three weeks into their journey, on March 25, 2001, Lena and Ruby found themselves pinned down by a ferocious storm at Manatee Col, a narrow notch in the mountain ridge. For three days, their tent shook under howling winds, snow piling against its walls, threatening to collapse. The sisters shoveled snow to prevent burial, diving back inside to protect their sleeping bags from soaking. The stove they lit to cook and dry gear—a risky move in a non-flame-retardant tent—melted the snow beneath, pooling water and tilting the floor. Above the wind’s roar, avalanches rumbled ominously.
Lena’s resolve wavered as nausea gripped her, forcing repeated exits into the storm. The physical toll compounded her mental strain, and she considered abandoning the expedition. But the thought of returning to Vancouver’s crippling loneliness kept her tethered to the journey. Unbeknownst to them, another team—four male alpinists led by Guy Edwards—had started the same traverse four weeks earlier, racing to claim the first completion. The sisters, undeterred, pressed on.
A Childhood Forged in Adventure
Lena’s affinity for the mountains was rooted in her upbringing. Born on January 2, 1973, after her mother, Nona, skied Whistler’s slopes while nine months pregnant, Lena grew up in a family that prioritized outdoor adventure. She and Ruby learned to ski young, carrying backpacks on grueling treks like Vancouver Island’s West Coast Trail. Their father, Peter, a neuroscientist, and Nona, a pioneering family doctor, instilled resilience but sometimes prioritized their own pursuits over their children’s needs. Lena recalled feeling loved only when excelling in the mountains, a dynamic that left her unprepared for social connections outside her family.
She Completed a 1,600-Mile Ski Journey. Then Tragedy Struck.
By her twenties, Lena’s life lacked structure. After college, she returned to Vancouver, living in her parents’ basement with no steady job and few friends. Depression deepened, and skiing became her only solace. Volunteering on Whistler’s ski patrol and taking avalanche courses, she embraced a dirtbag lifestyle, sleeping in her car to afford her passion. Yet loneliness persisted, and by the late 1990s, suicidal thoughts crept in. The Coast Range traverse, inspired by a 1999 climb with her father on Mount Waddington, offered a multi-year purpose to anchor her.
A Race Against Time
Lena’s plans accelerated when she learned Guy Edwards, a renowned alpinist, was also planning a Coast Range traverse. With his team—Vance Culbert, John Millar, and Dan Clark—already underway, Lena and Ruby scrambled to start their own expedition. In just weeks, they organized food caches, secured pilots for drops, and acquired gear. Ruby, new to telemark skiing and nursing a broken rib, joined without hesitation. On March 2, 2001, they began skinning uphill from Vancouver, Lena’s spirit lifted by the challenge and her sister’s companionship.
The storm at Manatee Col tested their resolve, but a satellite call to their father brought news: Dan Clark had fractured vertebrae in a fall, leaving Guy’s team short a member. Guy invited Lena to join them for the northern stretch to Skagway, Alaska. Reinvigorated, the sisters descended from the ridge, finding calmer conditions below. Over 54 days, they skied 400 miles to Bella Coola, a day faster than the men. Ruby returned home, while Lena hitchhiked north to join Guy, Vance, and John.
Finding Connection and Love
In Terrace, British Columbia, Lena met John Millar, a 22-year-old alpinist with a quiet maturity and playful humor. His gentle correction of “Leatherman” to “Leatherperson” endeared him to her. As the team skied north, Lena’s initial anxieties about keeping up eased. She proved her worth, anchoring Guy during a crevasse fall and innovating river crossings with her sleeping pad as a raft. Her confidence grew, and so did her bond with John.
On June 1, John kissed her, sparking a secret romance confined to shared tent nights. For Lena, whose loneliness had long been a strangling force, John’s affection was transformative. The team’s journey culminated at the Devils Thumb, a 9,000-foot peak in Alaska. Lena’s attempt with Vance ended in a near-fatal fall when a snow anchor failed, but she survived, her resilience unshaken. On July 16, 2001, the team reached Skagway after 1,200 miles, completing what many call the longest technical ski traverse in the world.
Tragedy on the Devils Thumb
In April 2003, Lena, John, and Guy returned to the Devils Thumb to tackle its unclimbed Northwest Face, a 6,500-foot wall of ice and snow. Lena and her father attempted the south face, while John, Guy, and Kai Hirvonen targeted the more dangerous route. On the third night, Kai turned back, unnerved by avalanche debris. John and Guy continued, their headlamps fading into the night. Days later, with no sign of them, Kai summoned a rescue.
Lena awoke to a helicopter’s roar, learning John and Guy were missing. Searches over days yielded nothing; they were presumed buried by an avalanche. The loss shattered Lena, but the climbing community’s support enveloped her. She found refuge with John’s mother, Eileen, and siblings, forming a new family. The tragedy gave Lena what she’d long sought: deep connections.
A Life Transformed
Lena completed the Coast Range traverse in segments between 2006 and 2009, becoming the only person to ski its entirety. She pursued midwifery, inspired by her mother, and found purpose beyond the mountains. In 2014, she married and later adopted a son. Therapy at 50 helped her confront lingering depression and attention challenges, healing old wounds, including her strained relationship with Ruby.
In 2024, hiking above Squamish, Lena reflected on her journey. No longer needing to prove her worth through extreme feats, she enters the mountains to connect with herself, her family, and the memory of John and Guy. Wearing John’s knitted sweater and keeping their photos on her wall, she feels their presence. Diving naked into an alpine lake, her laughter echoes—a testament to a life transformed not by reaching a summit, but by embracing the journey home.
She Completed a 1,600-Mile Ski Journey. Then Tragedy Struck.
