Big Sky passes? wtf?!?!?

Since when do you have to be under 21 to be considered a "student" for the discounted student pass?

I knew JHole said the max you could be was 21, but as far as I knew at Big Sky your age didn't matter. I knew a ton of people over that age who got the discounted pass @ BS, and they didn't lie about their ages.

What makes it foggy is, if you scroll further down the page, it says that "to receive the discounted college pass, no matter your age, you must present valid proof of enrollment, in the form of a student schedule or tuition bill."

I'm assuming there's a loophole here, since they specified that you have to show proof no matter your age.

I'm making a stink here, as it's almost 500 dollars in difference in cost.

If I have to pay over a grand for a pass...hmm, the Moonlight passes are only 300 bucks...Bridger mid-week AND Moonlight pass, maybe...

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Originally Posted by Jumper Bones

Since when do you have to be under 21 to be considered a "student" for the discounted student pass?

I knew JHole said the max you could be was 21, but as far as I knew at Big Sky your age didn't matter. I knew a ton of people over that age who got the discounted pass @ BS, and they didn't lie about their ages.

What makes it foggy is, if you scroll further down the page, it says that "to receive the discounted college pass, no matter your age, you must present valid proof of enrollment, in the form of a student schedule or tuition bill."

I'm assuming there's a loophole here, since they specified that you have to show proof no matter your age.

I'm making a stink here, as it's almost 500 dollars in difference in cost.

If I have to pay over a grand for a pass...hmm, the Moonlight passes are only 300 bucks...Bridger mid-week AND Moonlight pass, maybe...

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apparently its just a poor choice of wording. From what i have heard, the discount is for anyone under 21 and college students of any age.

btw, with college id, a moonlight pass is only 250. midweek bridger 335 i think. get them both for just slightly more than a full bb pass.

edit: Whoops, just read the other post, and it sounds like you really are moving. Anyhow. Something about your Crystal pass working just fine at Big Sky because of Boyne, etc... Anyhow...

Either way, you're better off NOT skiing at Pig Sty unless you can afford multiple pairs of skis in one winter, and enjoy skiing 3 inches of pow while the BBC unloads 30" on Bridger. It's amazing what 60 miles will do to the geology and weather patterns. If you INSIST on driving one of the scariest roads (check out all the white crosses on the side of the road - 3 or 4 people died the winter I was living at Big Sky) you can find in the winter, at least drop the money on Moonlight Basin, who deserve it far more than BS.

It's SUPER hard to motivate oneself to drive 1+ hours to Lone Peak when BB is 16 miles away. Unless its a weekend. Then you just need to buy a sled. Bridger sucks on weekends. Hell, Bridger sucks on pow days. I would never live in Bozeman again without a sled. And then I'd ski the area until 11, and get out, because the area turns into one big mogul field, and it is only getting worse every year. But that's just me of course, and I can't stand a line longer than about 10 chairs.

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Originally Posted by BakerBoy

edit: Whoops, just read the other post, and it sounds like you really are moving. Anyhow. Something about your Crystal pass working just fine at Big Sky because of Boyne, etc... Anyhow...

Either way, you're better off NOT skiing at Pig Sty unless you can afford multiple pairs of skis in one winter, and enjoy skiing 3 inches of pow while the BBC unloads 30" on Bridger. It's amazing what 60 miles will do to the geology and weather patterns. If you INSIST on driving one of the scariest roads (check out all the white crosses on the side of the road - 3 or 4 people died the winter I was living at Big Sky) you can find in the winter, at least drop the money on Moonlight Basin, who deserve it far more than BS.

It's SUPER hard to motivate oneself to drive 1+ hours to Lone Peak when BB is 16 miles away. Unless its a weekend. Then you just need to buy a sled. Bridger sucks on weekends. Hell, Bridger sucks on pow days. I would never live in Bozeman again without a sled. And then I'd ski the area until 11, and get out, because the area turns into one big mogul field, and it is only getting worse every year. But that's just me of course, and I can't stand a line longer than about 10 chairs.

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Never ended up getting the Crystal pass, so the transfer days wouldn't work - besides, it's only good for 15 days I believe

Nieder, you hit it right on the head on your Bridger comments in that last bit. After two hours on a pow day, the place is downright unpleasant, and if it's been a big dump then everybody in the valley descends on the hill. It sucks, I've stood in line almost an hour, just for the Alpine chair - the Bridger chair was even longer! Plus it's rare for the ridge to be open right away, so all those people contained in a small area...yup, bump fest. I had a Bridger pass all four years there, so I think I'm pretty much over it, although it'd be fun to go back and hit the ridge a couple times - plus, I never really got to do the southern stuff (Z Fan, etc). Anyway.

I began to ride Big Sky more and more in my last couple years there, and I just love the vertical, plus the no-hike factor - you don't have to hike to get to all the good lines like you do at Bridger. Also since the pass prices were relatively the same between BS and BB, you're getting way more bang for your buck at BS. But, you're absolutely right on the tear-up-skis issue - I hacked the edges on my Iggies away pretty good, put tons of case hardened stuff all up and down. Since I just threw a ton of money at new gear (new Seths and Kahunas within the last year), I'm not too stoked on trashing the new stuff, but I guess I still have the Iggies and I know they can take it.

I'm not sure when you attended MSU, but the BBC largely went away in my last years there. I remember it being around a lot my freshman year (98-99), but after that it was pretty much gone. Climate shifted quite a bit too, in that the gallatin valley always got socked in with high pressure systems that pushed storms north and south, and usually Big Sky would catch storms that Bridger wouldn't even get. So basically it was the opposite as you said, but climates can change back just as quick and it could work out the other way around. I suppose what it does will depend on where I get my pass, right? :mad:

On the other hand, I guess I'd be way more stoked to give my money to Moonlight than the Boyne corporate juggernaut, although the pass would be good for 15 days at Crystal, and since I'm going to be a Reservist I'll be coming back to Tacoma every once in awhile for drill weekends...free skiing when in town.

Oh yeah - I know all about Hwy 191. I worked at the Yellowstone Club for a summer, and drove it every day, so I know the road quite well - and all the crosses too. I almost was one myself, I ended up going off the road at 70mph at the Squaw Creek turnoff on my motorcycle; luckily I walked away without a scratch, while the bike went into a ditch and got fucked up. I missed getting wrapped around a guardrail by about a foot.

A sled is definitely on the agenda, I guess it all depends on if I land a good job out there or not. Hopefully I can work out at the airport, deicing airliners and working on learjets or something. If so, then I'll run right out to get my sled too, I imagine it'd be a blast in that area.

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Originally Posted by BakerBoy

It's SUPER hard to motivate oneself to drive 1+ hours to Lone Peak when BB is 16 miles away.

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pfft. Thats NEVER been a problem for me.

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Originally Posted by Castro's

pfft. Thats NEVER been a problem for me.

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HOLY SHIT !!! TAKE COVER!!!! I SEE A BIG COCK FLYING IN FROM THE NORTHWEST SKY!!! :D

The BBC isnt gone, but its pretty much a crap shoot on which hill will get the better snow out of any given storm. For the most part it seems to even out over the course of a season. At least last season it does if you forget about that huge christmas storm cycle at Bridger!! :D Plus at BS at least you get to ski more of the powder that falls since it isnt as crowded, combined with faster lifts and more vert makes it pretty compelling. At BS the key is to know how to work the exposures. What blew off, what blew in, where the sun hit, stuff like that.

I've gotten pretty fed up with Bridger. They have done nothing since I have been skiing there (6 yrs now) to improve the skiing experience for the average local. Nothing to relieve pressure on the hill, no new terrain, no terrain parks, no open gates. Hell, for a couple hundred bucks to get signs made, they could put gates at south boundary accessible off PK and one at north boundary accessible off Alpine. That would take tons of pressure off the hill. Combined with the stealth early closing last season, BB is making it clear it's pass holders are simply cash cows to finance pretty new lodges none of us will ever enter since they arent serving beer in the new lodge. Its almost hard to say which is the more out of touch ski corp, BS or BB, anymore.

So its the Moonlight student deal and my snowmobile for me!