"The Eiger Sanction" and the Zion Lodge Pool

Earlier this evening, I sat down and watched the 1975 Clint Eastwood feature, The Eiger Sanction over dinner.

The Eiger Sanction used a couple of locations in the U.S. including Monument Valley in the Navajo Nation and Zion National Park.

This blog post will concentrate on one particular location at Zion that is no longer around, which will be the Zion Lodge swimming pool. Other locations include the footbridge that crossed the Virgin River (a short walk from the swimming pool), the Narrows and Checkerboard Mesa.

The Zion Lodge served as George Kennedy's resort where Clint Eastwood trains for his climb on the Eiger mountain in Switzerland.

The last time I actually remember seeing the Zion Lodge pool was in the mid-1970s. It had since been torn down and removed. My family stayed there in 1980, but I don't remember if the pool was still there or not.

After watching the movie, I checked around online for photos and references to the pool and when it was removed but found none (which I found to be rather odd). So, I got the movie DVD out and made a few screen captures of the pool.

Here they are:

Above, George Kennedy and Clint Eastwood arrive at the pool.

Above, Kennedy and Eastwood walk to the pool.

Above, Eastwood and Kennedy talk at the pool bar.

Above, Eastwood returns to the pool after a running and hiking training workout.

Above, Eastwood looks at Kennedy in the background.

There are other scenes in the movie that used the pool. They featured actor Jack Cassidy (his last movie before he was killed in a fire in his Hollywood apartment).

If anyone reading this can find photos of the Zion Lodge pool, I would be grateful if they would pass them on.