Up on the Ridge

Today Sean and I went up to Bridger in the afternoon. We figured it would be time better spent than time spent at work.
If you would like to know where we skied and what we did you can refer to the Bridger Bowl trail map here.

We got up and got on the #6 lift, Powder Park at about 12:30. We skied to the right and over to the lift #2, Alpine. We headed to the left and went down the little bowl right under the chair at #44. Then we headed through the forest crossing #41 and #40. Of course right before we get to the open I hit a stump that is hidden under barely any snow and I crash pretty quickly. No harm done. Back on the skis and over to life #1, the Bridger Lift.

I know what you're thinking. There's nothing but black diamonds and double black diamonds! Where would you go down! So we didn't go down. We went up. One of the special and unique features of Bridger Bowl is the Ridge. You can ski off of nearly the entire ridge line of the mountains above Bridger Bowl ski resort. The only problem is that it is not lift accessible, you have to hike it. You are only allowed up to the ridge if you have a Avalanche Transceiver and you have at least one other person that you're skiing with.

From the top of the Bridger Chair Lift you basically hike straight up the mountain. This is picture I took a few winters ago looking up the hike, from about halfway up the hike. The lift line you see is a pommel life and is for ski patrol only. They need to be able to get up to the Ridge quickly incase anyone is in need of help. Having the hike itself is a deterrent to skiers who are not advanced enough to handle the terrain and the danger.



Once you reach the top you are at the top of the Bridger Mountian range. I always felt that they should have a welcoming committee with huge banners that say "Welcome to the Ridge" and serving hot cocoa. But that's probably just me, since I'm not super hardcore like some of the people who do it and I feel like it's a huge accomplishment when I make it.

Here is a picture (from a few winters ago, again) looking out across the Ridge. The little dots along the crest are people, and the first one happens to be my brother Brian. Sean and I hiked halfway up the slope to that hightest point and then traversed along the face past (if you refer to the Bridger Ski map) Bridger Gully and the Apron. We didn't actually go too far past the Apron, but pretty much right to the Northern Boundry. This area is called the Northwest Passage.



There is a fairly large chute that you ski out of first and then you get to a wide open and huge field of powder. After that you ski through some nicely spaced out trees and after that you are above the Alpine ski lift again and you just ski into the normal ski area.

Here are a few pictures that Sean took of me coming down. The powder was probably shin to knee deep and pretty light and fluffy. One bad thing was that my goggles were pretty fogged up for most of this, so I couldn't see all that well. Luckily the ski down is pretty easy, the traverse was the hard part, and I had my goggles up for that.







The first two are shots coming out of the large chute, and then the third is a shot of me coming down the big powder field. I really have to thank Sean for bringing the camera and whipping it out to take a few shots. The snow was really coming down hard, which is why everything is so white.