Climber’s Experiences Serve Him Well in His Assault on Business

In April 1980, Peter Metcalf and two buddies set off for Alaska to attempt the first alpine-style ascent of the 7,000-foot south face of Mt. Hunter, a neighbor of Mt. McKinley.

Rather than tote heavy gear for base camps in classic expeditionary style, the climbers carried only what they needed. Food was slashed to a frugal six-day supply. Tents were left behind.

Fourteen days and several blizzards later, the emaciated, frostbitten trio emerged, exhausted but charged up, after having negotiated the treacherous climb, traverse and descent.

It was great training for starting a company.

“Alpinism and business entrepreneurship require very similar qualities, temperament and motivation,” Metcalf, chief executive of Black Diamond Equipment Ltd., told an audience in a UCLA auditorium one recent evening.

“You need an attitude, you need confidence, tenacity, hard work, unlimited positive energy and an undestroyable vision and belief in your project, in your ability to accomplish your project and in your willingness to sacrifice or commit nearly everything to that goal.”

Now, some might argue that there are less life-threatening ways to train for the rigors of running a business. But Metcalf makes a good case for his theory that the disciplines and endurance required for scaling peaks can come in handy when one is attempting to ascend in the business world.

Black Diamond, based in Salt Lake City, is a leading designer and maker of equipment for climbing, mountaineering and back-country skiing. The company sprang from the wreckage of Chouinard Equipment Co., which in the 1970s and ‘80s evolved into the Ventura-based Patagonia clothing empire.

Chouinard Equipment was created by Yvon Chouinard, a climber and tinkerer who in the late 1950s began making pitons and carabiners, vital tools for climbers. He was also credited with a long list of first ascents, notably the North American wall of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park.

Chouinard’s business grew slowly until 1972, when he added rugby shirts to his catalog and the clothing business took off. Over the next decade, the founder’s interest in the equipment side flagged, and gear sales began to slide.

Enter Metcalf, hired as sales and marketing manager in 1982. He rebuilt the company and restored some of its luster by renewing focus on the climbing market and entering the fledgling business for telemark skiing (which uses boots and bindings that allow the skier’s heels to lift off the skis).

In the late 1980s, however, a rash of product liability suits and philosophical disagreements prompted Chouinard to unload Chouinard Equipment. Metcalf was demoted, and Chouinard Equipment was placed in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Court protection to shield other holdings.

Metcalf, a dropout of Claremont Graduate School’s executive MBA program, knew nothing about buying companies or overseeing back-office operations. He was young (36) and of limited means, and his wife had just given birth to their daughter.

But he did not want to see an American climbing icon die, taking 50 employees with it. Leveraged buyouts were the rage, so Metcalf liquidated his and his wife’s savings and told Chouinard that he wanted to buy the equipment company. Although Chouinard was skeptical about Metcalf’s ability to pull off such a purchase, he reluctantly acceded. But he refused to allow the use of his name.

What transpired was the business equivalent of Metcalf’s assault on Mt. Hunter. Like the “six-day climb” that stretched to 14, Metcalf embarked on a business effort that he thought would take four months but clocked in at nine--nine months of 14-hour days and seven-day weeks.

Using an employee stock-ownership program, Metcalf enlisted staff members in his quest to salvage what became known as Black Diamond Equipment. He also won financial support from wary suppliers, offshore distributors and domestic retailers.

Metcalf ultimately raised close to $4 million. Unwittingly, though, he had begun the deal just as the market for high-debt deals was collapsing. It was, he said, “like a race to the drawbridge of a castle as it was going up.”

His group also had to overcome the stigma of product liability suits (by building stronger products and labeling them more carefully) and convince suppliers, distributors and retailers that his novice team could come through.

Nearly seven years later, Black Diamond, with 210 employees, is thriving in Utah, where it relocated in 1991 to save money. Sales have grown to more than $20 million, and the company has played a key role in advancing the popularity of indoor “sport climbing.”

“For an alpinist,” Metcalf said, “unexpected challenges are what make the route. For the entrepreneur, the ability to perceive every problem as an opportunity is what separates the successful from the failures.”

Does your company have an innovative approach to management? Tell us about it. Write to Martha Groves, Corporate Currents, Business Seciton, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053. Or send e-mail to martha.groves@latimes.com