MSU crew in fall 2013

ha. no.

when you do real skiing on real mountains, 9-4 is all you need. plus it gets so fucking cold and windy here, night skiing would be a stupid investment

also concerning park only lifts: no

you have to ski runs to get to the park, but the parks at both places are decently long, and then there's a road or flat section afterwards. and the lifts that access the park also access a lot of other dope shit. At Big Sky there is a great back way to the park that involves trees, hips and smoke shacks.

 
two of the cats are broken so they couldn't groom it as regularly as they usually do. normally that run only goes without a cat one day max, and it got so soft this week that shit got pushed around real easy then froze overnight. also the shacks aren't that easy to just happen upon, especially the one before the park. you kinda have to be shown where they are.

were you up there this past week? I may have seen you. I'm the only girl lifty who works Swifty this time of year and I'm there like err day
 
Yeah i was there from monday-saturday. I was a snowboarder riding with 3 skiers if you saw that haha.

I saw you and i thought your last name was Colorado for like 3 days until i realized it was where you are from.
 
it was super easy to find. I was skiing down the woods right at the top of the six pack and continued into the next patch of trees where it flattens out, there was only one trail into those woods that people had skied so I followed it to the shack
 
i'm talking about the one at big sky, there's a new one this season that's tricky to find but its huge and super legit
 
Fuckkkk can't decide if I should just scoop a 319 moonlight pass or use some student loan money and get a big sky pass... tough life decisions.
 
Most of the NSers here are BS or Moonlight fans, but I enjoy skiing Bridger a whole lot more. Slushmans offers access to some of the most gnarly in bounds terrain I've seen, and if you are down to hike you can get some great lines on the ridge. If you want to ski park, Bridger definitely isn't the place to go. Hit me up if you got any questions.
 
Good luck with that man, everyone and their mother tries to get a job as an instructor or patrol at Bridger in Bozeman, and i was just kidding when i said the all 3 up there...
 
Fack, pretty sure I'm getting a moonlight pass but I feel like I am going to be missing out on Big Sky :( is the terrain decent at Moonlight as well? Because I'll be riding park but do love to ride real terrain about an equal amount. I'm sorry if I am bothering with all the post whoring but this is a critical decision for next year!
 
I've skied Big Sky for 2 years now. I love big sky but I think sometimes people like myself overlook who you are skiing with for where. If all the people you want to ski with ski Bridger and you're that asshole that skis Big Sky you're going to have a fun time since its Big Sky, but its still not the same.

I've had some of the most fun of my life at some of the shittiest mountains in existence because of who I was skiing with not where. I'm opting for a moonlight pass this year for the fact that its cheap as fuck, I won't be skiing as much due to classes plus i know a lot of people that are skiing there next winter that I actually want to ski with. Yea Big Sky is the tits, but honestly a lot of the people that ski there unless you know them personally aren't in my opinion the people that you can just latch on with since many already have their groups of friends and have been skiing there for a number of years.

Thing about Bridger that everyone overlooks is the community of college kids that ski there, granted its a buttfuck in the lift lines sometimes and you have to hike the ridge for good terrain, plus the snow is all skied out by noon, but whenever i have skied up there I have ran into someone friendly I know and enjoyed shredding with. not that I'm saying you should shell out 580 for a Bridger pass if you're over the age cap by any means but I'm stating that skiing is a social thing and to way that into the equation as well. You'll have fun anywhere here, Big Sky is Dope, Bridger is Dope, Moonlight is also Dope and unless you're coming from summit country, utah or the AK you're probably upgrading from you little hill in gods knows where in the midwest or icecoast regardless where you go.

sorry for how long that was but I hope it was helpful to at least someone
 
Im going bridger and freq days at BS. Im not that worried about riding much park other than late season though
 
Not much. Still deciding on Moonlight or Big Sky.

For all you experienced in the area, how's Moonlight for not park, like cliffs, tree skiing, natural kickers and fun stuff like that. I don't ski park as much as I used to and that's ^ the stuff I enjoy. I still go in every once in a while but that's not the most important thing.
 
So worth it, especially if you qualify for the Junior rate. Its super easy to find rides in between classes, and Bridger has some of the most fun terrain ever. I went from being an east coast park rat, to only getting a bridger pass. Their park is fun for what it is, and a run or two through it everyday was enough for me. Most of the time Bridger was so much fun park never even crossed my mind. Finding the right friends who have the capabilities to do urban is key for getting your rail fix as well.
 
Moonlight has a series of chutes called the headwaters and they're super sick and great skiing. The only problem is you have to hike to them. Besides the headwaters moonlight has some glades that can be fun to ski around in.
 
if you're down to live on the magic carpets. first year big sky instructors rarely get to do lessons that aren't the begginerest of beginner.
 
The headwaters region is awesome, but you'll have more variety at Big Sky. Based on what you're saying I'd go Big Sky for sure
 
Reading all these posts has me a bit worried, do most people at MSU ski Bridger? I'm confused would they would want to wait in liftlines and pay more money. How many kids at MSU ski Moonlight?
 
Most MSU students go to Bridger, its closer than Moonlight and has some advantages. Which mountain you like best is really just personal preference. Bridger has some of the coolest/ hardest inbounds terrain in the US if you have a beacon, but most of it is hard to get to and most people who move here from the East or aren't use to skiing side-country and difficult route finding never get close to most of it. On the other hand Bridger's lower mountain is limited and shelfy, all the easy to get to areas get skied off early, and the slushmans line can be bad (BUT no worse than the tram line on a pow day at BS) and the park isn't very impressive. BS has a better park, is a lot bigger, ,and has more vertical, but there's not as much variety of terrain. The harder stuff: upper mountain (tram), areas off of Challenger, and the AZ chutes are all pretty much the same; steep, usually chutes, a couple of drops, usually chakey and windblown, and the landings always have pepper rocks. The rest of the mountain is pine tree skiing with the occasional cliff and the park. I haven't skied Moonlight, but the drive is long enough that it can be hard to go up before or after class.

Big sky gets more constant snow but Bridger goes off bigger. I've skied bridger the last two years but I'll probably get a big sky pass next year just to ski something different.
 
A lot of people go there due to its proximity. If you just have morning or afternoon classes its easy to go shred up there for a couple hours, not as feasible with BS or Moonlight. However quite a few MSU kids choose BS or Moonlight over Bridger, especially NS type kids. You're gonna get a lot more of the earn your turns, granola and duct tape brother! kids at Bridger and a lot more park kids who also want to ski other shit, but like to do park when the snow sucks at BS/Moonlight. Its really a matter of preference.

All of the ski areas are dope as fuck, I prefer the kind of skiing that BS/Moonlight offers over Bridger, but I can understand Bridger's appeal.

Also regarding the tram line, yea, its gonna be big, it can only take 15 people up at a time. But I'll take waiting in line for 30 min for a 3 min lift ride to the peak over a 30 min line then a 15 min lift ride and then a hike to find something that isn't tracked to shit. But I'm lazy and don't like to hike much. That's the beauty of Big Sky, you can find so much sick shit that you don't have to hike to.
 
Got one more year until I go to college but I've been to Bridger a fair amount, so here's my input on it.

The snow at Bridger is so good, almost always a couple inches of fresh and when it dumps it doesn't stop. Everything below the ridge gets tracked out fast though, still GREAT lines accessible from the lifts (The Fingers on the South Bowl is my favorite) but by 12-ish or 1 a lot of the mountain turns into moguls.I don't have a beacon by I would imagine slushmans (I think thats the lift) would be the shit, otherwise you have to hike the ridge. The thing that frustrates me the most about Bridger is how short a lot of the good stuff in bounds is, you get a few hundred yards of great skiing then its flat ALL the way to the lift, and then when you get there there's a big line and the lift is slow. The park is Ok usually only one jump, some pretty good rail features usually though, but is really not why you ski Bridger. Fun mountain to ski overall though and it;s so close I'd imagine that would make it worth it by itself. Havent been to Big Sky or Moonlight yet.
 
I have skied BS and Moonlight and had a pass at bridger, and id have to say for your first year GET A BRIDGER PASS even if its a midweek. If you're 18 you still get the junior rate, so the majority of your friends will have bridger passes. Kids with BS and Moonlight passes are in the minority and often times try to pass swap to ski bridger anyways. You will also ski many more days at bridger, since finding a ride is incredibly easy and it's easy to go between classes. If you only get a BS or Moonlight pass you will feel left out. But if skiing park with randoms is your thing, go for it. I would suggest getting a frequent sky card which gives you the first and last weeks at BS free and a bridger pass so you can try both. Also befriend a moonlight pass holder as they get $15 friend days and its a good way to try skiing there. But getting to and from BS can be a challenge, and is really the biggest reason why the large majority of MSU skis bridger. Also other than the tram BS terrain is kind of mellow. Not bad, Bridger just has better terrain by percentage. Also moonlight is probably my favorite on a non-pow day, since it has the longest, least crowded runs and the best park. But still, for your freshman year, get a Bridger pass. If you don't you will probably regret it.
 
After shredding at either mountain for more than a day or two they won't be randoms anymore. Most of the park kids become one conglomerate crew after the first week.
 
There is a bus for less than 2 dollars a day. Getting to and from BS isnt a challenge at all.
 
Runs every day. but they cut the 8 bus midweek.Thing bout the bus, it leaves only in the morning and comes back only in the afternoon, so if you want to take the bus you gotta take a whole day. Plus i was hearing rumors about it being shut down or really cut back since there isn't really a return.

Latest bus from 7th and Grant that leaves during the week (easy walk from the dorms or even a bit off campus) is 7:20 and Friday Saturday Sunday its 8:10 I think.

Bus cards are cheap, 23 roundtrip rides for 40 bucks and you can share punches between people. Bus back is technically free.
 
I dont know anything about the changes, I moved out of Bozeman last year, but yeah, it really is convenient if you wanna spend the whole day there. Plus you can sleep on the way there, and drink after skiing however much you want and not have to worry about driving home. All around a sweet deal.
 
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