Living in Bozeman Montana, I choose to ride at Bridger Bowl. With the mountain less than twenty minutes away, I can ride constantly. Days I have class in the after noon I can still catch first chair and the foot of fresh snow that fell over night. I can ride for a few hours and still be a responsible human being.
It is nearly impossible to pick the best day i’ve had at this mountain. Everything is so varied, from the number of runs in a day, to the terrain we chose to ride. I’ll soul carve groomers all day, ride pow, icey mogul fields, scrape over rocks and run over trees. Bridger is famous for its moguls and traverses. If you don’t want to deal with them then stay away and go to big sky, or just leave Montana alone altogether
We take pride in the community feeling and if you make to the Schlasman’s lift on a powder day you’ll see the smiles hidden beneath the powder-covered beards. If put your time in you’ll start see the same faces. The people that put in 100 percent effort get the smiles and the turns that make Bridger bowl special. This community of diehard skiers makes it a competitive place for fresh turns, but at the end of the day, everyone is laughing, sharing stories over PBRs on the porch of the Grizzly ridge.
Montana is famous for the cold smoke powder, but we also enjoy scraping over rocks and climbing through the technical trees that the Bridger ridge has to offer. We are a community of Billy goats and if it is skiable, it gets done. Keep your eyes open and you’ll find lines that you didn’t even know existed; I’ve only been riding Bridger for three years. I still haven’t skied a large portion of the lines. With amazing side country access, it will take you many, many years to ski it all, and for the record, you probably never will.
I attend Montana State University, and this place has been a breeding ground for incredible skiers and riders; including the likes of Doug Coombs, and Scot Schmidt. They mastered the “smear” turn and in the Bridgers you better have that in your bag. It consists of straight lining down the mountain and being able to shed all of your speed in one turn so you can ride the lines that were deemed un-rideable. This mountain will dictate your riding style.
Here in Montana, the locals are genuine skiers and riders. On hikes you might not hear a word about where anyone is going. The locals have to protect the powder. People try to stay quiet about their previous run in the lift line, but some have trouble. Just remember that the guy in line next to you probably goes way bigger than you, so do your best to stay modest.
I might get in trouble for having said this much already, but lets pretend like you don’t know about Bridger Bowl or Bozeman Montana. Because after all, there are so many rocks, trees, traverses and moguls to ruin your day that this place isn’t even worth your time.
