Build My Own FeedEMPLOYEE FAVORITES: Bob Downs, The Hanging Garden, Spanish Peaks, MT
Here at Black Diamond, the inspiration to innovate is driven from within. When we're not at the office, our dedicated crew of employees is out cranking at the crags, putting in miles on the trails and questing around the mountains in search of untracked descents. In this ongoing series of posts on the Journal, we'll be highlighting some of our employee's favorite rock and ice climbs, ski descents and trail routes.
This month's favorite comes from Product Developer Bob Downs.
[The tour as seen from Gallatin Peak. Beehive Peak is the prominent peak on the right. The Hanging Garden is the sliver of snow in the shade that almost reaches the top of the peak. The east shoulder is the glorious wide chute just right of center.]
I stood on top of the coveted Hanging Garden, on the north side of Beehive Peak in the Spanish Peaks of Montana, remembering the first time I had come up to ski this line. A steep, narrow and exposed shot, it is one of those ski descents that exemplifies the zone, and defines itself as a classic.
"So where do we drop in?" asked the Doggler.
"Right here," I had replied, almost choking with fear. He looked around in disbelief as if he was missing something. "F@#$ you Bob!" he shouted. The Brad Dogg's eyes went from wide-eyed, to sharply concerned, "F@#$ you." There we were, in a white out—we felt like we were on the edge of the world, but how were we to know? We couldn't see a damn thing in the storm.
[Skiing the upper portion of The Hanging Garden.]
On this trip, I had returned with my friend Henry Munter and much better weather. The plan was to try and link up three classic descents in the area: The Hanging Garden, the east shoulder of Beehive Peak and one of the south-facing chutes at the back of Bear Basin. We had slogged up the rolling terrain of Beehive Basin and boot-packed up the Beehive Couloir. The snow was stable and the weather was perfect. From the top of the Beehive Couloir, we had continued the boot pack up the short and steep ramp to the top of the Hanging Garden. This time, our experience was working for us, and we had a rope to stomp out the pocket that guarded the entrance. "Whoa, this is a little airier than I remember," I tried to casually comment. Lifting my heels up and thinking of the last time I tightened my bindings at this spot, I dropped in. The good weather showed that we were on just a ribbon of snow, with mega exposure—the kind that makes your stomach drop and your heart beat a little faster.
[The Hanging Garden as seen from the bootpack to the east shoulder.]
The top section of the chute doesn't allow for much error. It's a narrow, wind-loaded, double-fall-line, double black diamond, riblet of snow. The skier's right side has an arching rock wall that feels like a wave pushing you left, towards the abyss. The upper chute ends into a slightly larger lower snowfield that still has bad exposure. We quickly skied, with our finger crossed, through the lower snowfield. The thought of this wind-loaded, hanging pocket not being stable enough and ripping out was at the forefront of our thoughts. Skiing down into the basin below was quite a relief. We had passed the crux of the day, but the day was far from over—the trifecta had just begun. We then booted up the ridge to the top of the east shoulder of Beehive Peak. Looking back at the Hanging Garden, Henry astutely commented, "Well, that is as steep as it looks!" We picked one of multiple, wide open, gluttonous shots off the east shoulder, and the snow was good, soft and had a touch of sun.
[Henry on top of The Hanging Garden. The Beehive Couloir and Big Sky Resort are in the background.]
At the bottom of the east shoulder of Beehive, I pointed out the col that delivers one back into Beehive Basin proper to Henry. "So no shit there we were," as I began reminiscing again about that epic day a few years back. The Doggler and I had skied the Hanging Garden in a classic early May whiteout and then arrived at the basin with no map and no idea how to get back to the car! Back then, our lack of experience and strong will congealed into a blind stupidity. We lacked the nerves to boot up the Twin Couloirs and ski out the Beehive Couloir, so we decided on the alternative, which was to ski towards Bear Basin but hopefully make it back into Beehive. We were lost, and for all we knew we were going to end up on Ted Turner's ranch. We skied down into another drainage that we didn't know was there, wrapped underneath two large slide paths and into an upper basin. I could barely see the Doggler as we were walking in such soupy conditions. Morale was plummeting and it was getting late. We needed to get lucky and get a view. We thought the most logical course was to keep heading west, skiing farther up into the mystery drainage. As the evening approached, I felt like a drowned cat and the vertigo increased. We trudged farther up into an unknown amphitheater. Then we finally got our break, the clouds lifted just enough to see the warm glow of the setting sun and the outline of the col. Luck extracted us from our own demise and allowed us back into Beehive Basin. I finished my confession of a story, glad to be alive and all Henry could do was laugh at our debacle.
{An overview of the tour from Google Earth, starting and ending in the upper right.]
After skiing the east shoulder, Henry and I had one more ski descent in order to complete the day's trifecta. We were slowing down and getting tired as we toured up to the Bear Basin divide. We arrived on the South facing line too late. The good weather had warmed the south-facing shots and now they were refrozen. Below us was some of the finest untracked breakable crust a skier could dream of. Looking at my heels flopping around, I assessed my current gear situation and thought about an update to the 21st Century. We skied out Bear Basin a little ways to the final skin track. Our Hanging Garden trifecta day ended with a slow skinner from Bear Basin up to the Beehive Ridge and then an easy ski out Beehive Basin. What amazing day in such an awesome place! I was extremely fortunate to have two memorable days, with good friends, on the classic and venerable Hanging Gardens.
Great Britain / English 
