Stepping Up - A Guide to The Ridge at Bridger Bowl

[FreakofSnow]

Telepath

I have no clue as to how it works in the US, but in La Grave, Chamonix and similar places such guidebooks have been around for ages. They don't really bring more people; those who have anything to do in certain lines go whether the book is around or not, those who shouldn't go get in trouble and/or get hurt anyways and don't come back.

gonzo

lameduck, i hear what you're sayin...but i'm guessing the only people that buy, read, and learn stuff from books about skiing tech lines are the people that ski the tech lines to begin with. if i were at bridger, squaw, etc. on a powder day, i am going to be in line/hiking early and will find stuff to ski whether i have read the book about the place or not.

doubtful gapers that don't ski these or similar lines already will pick up a copy and change their approach to the sport.

Excellent points. Believe me we have argued this issue to no end and I have to say that I agree with gonzo and Telepath (obviously, or I wouldn't be writing it). You guys said it well, enough said.

There is some serious greed and localism when it comes to hills. It can get old and tiring.

I'd like to hear more.....

[-D-]

I want to pre-order one, but I think MT got me covered.

[kailas]

You do realize your precious ridge will beome a bump field
once everyone reads your work.

[Professor]

I heard it already was a bump field.... Oh wait, that is just the rest of the mountain

[Jumper Bones]

You do realize your precious ridge will beome a bump field
once everyone reads your work.

people will still either be too lazy to hike, or too poor to buy a tranciever.

those two keep the riff-raff out.

[kyle christenso]

I have been told the freeride competition starts off on the traverse, which eliminates most of the technical lines. Why would they hold the competition on the mellowest slope on the ridge? I am not claiming that I am to good for Bridger Gulley, but it seems that steeps are necessary in a freeride competition. The black line represents the approximate location of the traverse.

[FreakofSnow]

I have been told the freeride competition starts off on the traverse, which eliminates most of the technical lines. Why would they hold the competition on the mellowest slope on the ridge? I am not claiming that I am to good for Bridger Gulley, but it seems that steeps are necessary in a freeride competition. The black line represents the approximate location of the traverse.

Unless you buy one of the books, I am afraid I cannot divulge that information.





jk, I hear what you are saying I entered a few years back (and ate shit I might add) and wondered the same thing. While there definitely is not the steeps that you would find say right above, there are some pretty good lines to be had. If you look closer towards the Apron, there are a few large airs that have some tight entries, I think both winners from that last 2 years have hit something over in that area. I would advise taking the time in advance to go suss them out. Good luck.

[baseWeldr]

yeah it'd be fun to do the freeride above the North bowl or something (as they did for an extremo contest some years ago), bGully is pretty much a three turn entrance type move/air into the big turn pow field below, don't think 3bears is part of it but I could be wrong on that (you'd have to be way out on the flats to see bGully AND the 3bears rollover..... edit- 3bears was part of it, the judges were way down on the flats.....

don't think the book will increase the overall traffic much as all the terrain is inbounds anyway and most folks who want to get up there do -and the avy safety is assumed to be handled by the patrol. I could see some folks exploring around up there more when they get armed with more knowledge of the terrain. Doesn't the Wasangeles Chuting guide cover quite a bit or mostly OB stuff? Books that document these off piste and uncontrolled areas would require obvious disclaimers to that effect and may have the potential to encourage more skiers to go out to places that are beyond their abilities in skiing and/or snow safety. The ridge isn't that exotic or huge but its got a lot of nooks and crannies that can have grave consequences as well as many different names to different people. A guide like this only helps to get folks on the same page.....

here's a Valentine's Day pic of me killin speed for spray in Never-Never Land above the rollerball cliffs- look it up!

edit- bout a foot of lovin Vday Monday

[Jumper Bones]

I'd have to agree.

The patrol has sold "Ridge Guides" for years, but the one I have is very, very vague.

You really need to be careful on the Ridge, as the terrain varies from mellow pow fields to little 5-10-foot rollovers to 200+ft. cliffs. You need to know where you're going up there.

I think a guidebook like this would make the Ridge a more enjoyable experience to the crowd already committed enough to be up there. Also, I think it might take some of the strain off of the obvious runs, and spread it around to some of the not-so-obvious areas. There are still pockets of relative insanity that would require an extremely committed skier...so I don't think such a book would have an unde effect on the terrain up there.

Where all will this book be sold in town - Barrell? NorLights? MSU Bookstore?

[MT]

Looks like it's snowing up there this evening. I'm headed out of town in the morning, so have fun in the fresh snow and good luck to anybody that skis in the comp.

[FreakofSnow]

shameless bump>>>

Things are moving and shaking. We expect to have the books in hand by March 7th. So we should be able to start shipping books to folks that have expressed interest shortly there after. We'll be in touch with payment details soon!

We are even getting a bit of press too, for anyone interested:

http://www.bozone.com/display.php?ty...23&mo=&yr=&cd=

KIR

[Jumper Bones]

NICE! Anyway I can pick me up a copy from you's? I'll be swinging through Bozeman around Easter...

[Turn Up The Gravity!]

shameless bump>>>

Things are moving and shaking. We expect to have the books in hand by March 7th. So we should be able to start shipping books to folks that have expressed interest shortly there after. We'll be in touch with payment details soon!

We are even getting a bit of press too, for anyone interested:

http://www.bozone.com/display.php?ty...23&mo=&yr=&cd=

KIR

"a huge learning experience"

It must have been! Congratulations - it must feel great to have put this together.
I hope you have March 8th marked down as a day to sleep.

[Samwich]

have you ever skied squaw?

if you want to huck adreniline you go huck it. no book is going to make it look any easier or less huge than it looks from cornice 2.

its not as if people look at the cliff and say, man i wish i knew what thats called. if i did, then i'd huck it. but since i don't know the name, i wont.

It's an interesting question. Ever since I saw the Waterfall at Whistler in an old Warren Miller movie (it might have been a Stump film, actually, i don't remember, it was too long ago), I've wanted to hit it. There are plenty of other cliffs at Whistler that are just as fun, but because I'd seen it in a movie and could put a name to it, I wanted it. Now I want Air Jordan, for the same reason.

There are plenty of other lines at Whistler that I want just as badly, too.

FreakofSnow and MT: you guys rock. I'll have to check Bridger out someday.

[Ak_pride]

Looking forward to reading this. Will it be on shelves around bozeman on the 8th?

[slippy]

I don't see the point of telling people where to go. Exploring and route-finding is a really fun part of skiing The Ridge. Take the adventure out of it, and I think new skiers who come and buy this book will be missing out. Making it easier and safer for everyone is the American Way, I guess.

Spreading people out to the less-obvious stuff means they're going to ski where I do. The unknown intimidates many people up there. This was a good thing. At Squaw, you see stuff from the lift. On The Ridge, nothing is marked and there are no ropes, cliff signs, or anything. This isn't about naming stuff for everyone, it's route finding for new people.

I hate to be the only negative person about this, but I'm not gonna lie either. But what done is done. Another part of Montana is mapped out for the masses. I'm not gonna lose sleep about it though, good luck with the book, guys. No hard feelings on my part, just an opinion.

As for greed and localism, this is Bridger Bowl after all. I've never come across either here. I've shared my knowledge of lines with plenty of people, so just because I disagree doesn't make me an asshole.

[vinnay]

sick job for sure. i think in general the idea of these guides is awesome, squallywood is a sweet one for sure, though i dont have the cojones to get back there.

one curious detail, is the picture you posted the production cover??
it appears to say "tavis" not "travis", hence the concern.

[MT]

Vinnay, Tavis is correct. You just have to give his parents a hard time for giving him a funny name

edit: can't spell

[vinnay]

Vinnay, Tavis is correct. You just have to give his parents a hard time for giving him a funny name

edit: can't spell

no thats sweet if his name is tavis, it was my bad, someones reply had travis not tavis and i got confused. book looks sick, congrats.

[MT]

NICE! Anyway I can pick me up a copy from you's? I'll be swinging through Bozeman around Easter...

The books will be in Northern Lights, Barrel, PhD, Round House etc. so hopefully you should be able to find one fairly easily. Thanks for your interest.

[lemon boy]

Three Words:
INTERNET ORDERING BITCH!!

[slippy]

Might as well bump this since I'm using this thread to PM people....

[Jumper Bones]

Three Words:
INTERNET ORDERING BITCH!!

Yes, but by driving through Bozeman I save on shipping

Plus, maybe I can get me an autographed copy (or go out with some Bozeman mags for a beer) that way.

[verrückter]

The house in that wide shot of the ridge looks vaguely German- strange to see in MT.

[FreakofSnow]

Fall bump for the masses. We still have a huge stockpile of books. The sales have been slow during the summer (as expected), but hope that they pick up this fall winter.

Get'em while they are hot!

http://stepping-up.net/purchase.html