As he was Secretary of the Treasury during Lewis and Clark's adventure across the west, the duo named many important geographic points after him, as well as other prominent public figures, in order secure favor and thus, more $$. So we have the Madison, Gallatin, and Jefferson rivers and counties, the Madison and Gallatin Ranges, Gallatin Peak, Mount Jefferson... and so on.
So riding on a hunch, and after bailing on plans for a day tour Friday, we waited for Morrison to get his gear together, and set out that afternoon for a weekend of camping.
Addison making his way through Beehive. We went to the head of the basin and took off over the east pass towards Summit Lake, and on towards Gallatin.
We couldn't see shit! Addison getting ready to drop off the pass.
We got to the Thompson Lake area just before dusk, set up the tent, and tried to dry off from all the snow falling. The next morning we woke to clouds, did a little bit of camp work, then set off for the day.
We went a short little way and decided to hit something we could sort of see. Everything disappeared into the clouds, and we took a gamble on one that seemed to go a ways up. Turns out it was a good bet..
This line kept going up and up! Just as we thought we were reaching the col, we spied a chute that continued up towards the east face, then a ridge that kept going from there. I felt we were close to the summit, but the already low vis combined with fading daylight had us debating on continuing up.
We waited a few minutes and my hunch only grew, so up we went again. The boys weren't too keen on the ridge in front of us, so we walked around to the snow-covered east face
A few moments later, after some steep steps on the east face, I reached the summit and collapsed to my knees in gratitude. It was clear here, but you could make out some ridges, and see the clouds roiling where significant peaks were. It was bliss.
We enjoyed the moment of clear weather, but in an amateur move, enjoyed it a little too long and the clouds rolled back in. We had to get back to here:
With only one firm spot at the top of the couloir, it was one of my most enjoyable ski descents ever. Perfect smooth powder with weird vis, rock walls on either side to give some depth, and a solid 2,000' from the summit. Amen.
It was time for one more run before packing up and leaving. There are many options in that area, but with a bootpack set to the summit, it was a no-brainer on where to go: the West Couloir.
It continues up and around to the right behind the large rock to the summit. I heard someone call it the NW Couloir, as it is NW facing, yet it is on the East side of the North Face. I like calling it the Spiral Route, because that's what it seems to do, Spiral to the top. But that's one thing I love about this area: much of it has been skied/climbed and has a name, but the names vary from circle to circle, since much of it doesn't see enough traffic to have established names. Even a spot as popular as Beehive Basin is vague descriptions and differing names.
But we don't need to go into that in too much detail. Back to the facts.
We went down the last pitch, and that was that. We returned to camp and reflected on how lucky and fortunate we had been while Morrison went to retrieve his camera gear.
..and steel ourselves for the last difficulty of the trip: returning to Beehive Basin. We were shooting for the pass, and hoped it wasn't farther away than it looked.
We enjoyed the fading light on the Madison Range, and readied ourselves for the last 3 miles of the trip. We were excited for the dropping temps and thus firm-ish snow for the way out. I knew I would be able to coast and skate most of it, but Addison and Morrison had to posthole through a meadow while I skimmed across. Sorry, boys.
High fives to end an amazing weekend. Oh yeah, these May days put me to 43 months straight of skiing. Cool!
It was TRs such as this that motivated me to move here and do things like this in the first place, and I am honored to attempt to return the favor. Thank you.
Waiting for part 2 - Whoops. thought i posted between parts.
Great TR - Thanks
05-07-2013, 01:31 PM
My Pet Powder Goat
nice! been digging your TR's.
05-07-2013, 01:34 PM
soulturn
very cool.
05-07-2013, 02:03 PM
butterscotch
Great TR! You've had a hell of a second season.
05-07-2013, 02:06 PM
Sirshredalot
Way to get that one! This one was always on my to-do list, and it looks like you did it right.
05-07-2013, 02:33 PM
MontuckyFried
Freaking motivating! Makes me realize just how little I've scratched the surface of the area. Always wondered what that peak was.
05-07-2013, 06:01 PM
tone capone
Hell yeah man, just missed ya, was up there on the 2nd. We went up the spiral route and down the west. Looks like you guys had some great conditions and spent some quality time out there.
05-07-2013, 08:36 PM
CallMeAl
Hey Mark, neat!
05-08-2013, 08:03 AM
goldenboy
Great TR all around, thanks for posting
05-08-2013, 08:14 AM
carlh
Looks awesome, good to hear the snow is doing ok again. Hopefully some of the access roads open soon with this warm weather.
05-08-2013, 08:27 AM
Grape_Ape
Nice. My only trip to Big Sky had me wondering about Gallatin and the Sphinx. That's about as close I got to those peaks.:biggrin:
05-08-2013, 09:16 AM
Tye 1on
FKNA!!!!:D
brings back some outstanding Big Sky/Beehive-Bear memories...well played sir!!!
Glad ya'll enjoyed it, I sure did. Had been wanting to ski off that peak for years and to get two quality, 'classic' runs in has me very satisfied. Really wish the weather would cooperate a little more right now, I'm moving to Durango for the summer and would love to ski up here once or twice more before I leave but it's not looking too good. Oh well.
