Beehive Basin Ski Tour: Peak 10602 | Trip Report

Another last-minute ski tour for the win, planned while lounging in Bozeman Hot Springs for a little contrast therapy.

Beehive Basin had always been on our radar ever since planning the Montana roadtrip; it’s in all the guidebooks, locals rave about it, and its relatively easy access from Bozeman and Big Sky make it a popular destination. Not to mention it’s absolutely GORGEOUS.

After an in-bounds day at Big Sky the day prior and peering out at the Spanish Peaks range from the top of Lone Mountain and saying, “That mountain looks incredible,” we did a little map work and figured out how to make it happen.

The original goal was to ski a line called Peru off the top of Peak 10602, which is adjacent to Beehive Peak proper. There’s another line off the top called Bolivia, and that was a second option. Skiing the face was a third option, depending on conditions and timing (spoiler, this is what we ending up doing).

Approach To Beehive Basin

We headed out to Beehive Basin midweek and spotted two other vehicles in the parking lot. It was a sunny April day, clear-ish skies, and 20-25 mph winds forecasted. Hiking up the valley you’ll be protected from the wind, but once you start skinning up the face at the top of the bowl, the wind quickly hits you all at once.

I cannot emphasize enough how flat Beehive Basin is. The topography is a mild ramp that takes you several miles up the valley into a beautiful basin with jagged peaks. This is wonderful on the way up…and it’s a pain in the ass on the way back since there’s barely any pitch to ski.

Skinning To The Saddle

After the mild valley walk, it felt good to be gaining some noticeable elevation up the sloping bowls on the far side of the basin. Unfortunately, this is where the wind really picked up, and the snow started to get wind-scraped and icy. We were behind a few other groups that morning (hey, we were on vacation, we slept in, okay?), which meant the skin track was getting blown out by repeated uptracks and downtracks.

After a long traverse we opted to get out ski crampons. One kick turn later and we needed to stop for extra layers to protect against the wind. One more kick turn, and we decided just to set a bootpack up to the saddle.

Looking over the pass to Gallatin Peak was a top 5 highlight of the trip for sure. These peaks are spectacular. It’s the type of big-mountain roaming any alpinist dreams of.

Bootpack Up…And Ski Down

We saw the group ahead of us coming back up from skiing the back side, and we decided to hunker down in some rocks to enjoy the view, avoid the wind, and wait for the beta.

We didn’t have to wait long. Those guys were machines and were absolutely cranking out the elevation. It turns out they skied the Bolivia route–Peru was too icy and not deemed worthwhile. We thanked them for the info, then schlepped on our packs and started bootpacking up the mountain.

On the far side of the face we were mostly out of the wind, except for one huge gust that took us all by surprise. Mid-step, we all keeled over into the mountain, swearing and fumbling with poles. We had a good laugh and kept chugging, albeit with more careful and methodical steps.

Each of us took turns setting the bootpack, navigating the low-coverage rock fields toward the windswept summit. When we noticed a thick swarm of clouds progressing closer and closer, we ended up stopping a few hundred feet short of the summit, ripping skins, and skiing down from there. The snowy wind vortex we could see swirling above us plus the looming clouds were a good incentive to get out of there.

This was the absolute worst part, no way around it.

After three or four good corn turns (while getting blasted by the wind, of course), we began the long slog back out the valley.

This traverse was doable on skis, but miserable for a splitboard. With a little skating and some cross-country ski action, we made it pretty far. But eventually we all had to transition back to skins for the last mile and a half out. Morale was low. The goal is always to ride out as far as possible, and it’s no fun to end a tour carrying a snowboard or skating over slush and dirt.

As a skier, I’d say it was a fun tour, and it wouldn’t be hard to convince me to do it again. But splitboarders beware. The views are only so worth it if there’s too much work for very little play.

Takeaways

• Bacon-wrapped dates are THE BOMB and a literal calorie bomb to keep you fueled for a full day in the mountains. They are a new favorite trail snack for sure.
• Don’t be afraid of a good bootpack. If you’re like me, it’s probably a more energy efficient method anyway–I’m much better at hiking uphill with weight than messing around with ill-functioning skins on steep hills. Make good decisions about your gear and your capabilities.
• Accept that some ski tours are less fun than others. It’s all training…and you can convince yourself that the views are still worth it.