Skiing Bridger Bowl : The South Bowl

The South Bowl at Bridger Bowl Ski Area

The South Bowl at Bridger Bowl ski area consists of some absolutely wonderful lift-served ski terrain. None of it is for beginners, though. So if you are a beginner skier, stay away from this part of Bridger Bowl.

The South Bowl is essentially divided into two parts – the “Bridger Lift” section and the “Pierre’s Knob” section. Each section is accessed by different lifts and has different types of skiing terrain available.

Click to See South Bowl Map

Skiing the South Bowl – “Bridger Lift Part” Section

This part of the South Bowl can be accessed by two different chairlifts. The main lift used is the Bridger Chair, which can also be used to access the North Bowl. To get to the terrain of the South Bowl from the top of the Bridger Chair, just stay to the south of the lift (or your left when riding the lift).

An incredible variety of expert and advanced ski trails can be accessed off the Bridger Chair in the South Bowl. The terrain consists of a mix of chutes, open terrain and glades – all of it on very steep slopes. Be prepared to some tired legs – the vertical rise is over 1300 vertical feet – all on a sustained expert level gradient.

The second chairlift to access this terrain in the South Bowl is the Deer Park Lift. This lift sort of runs parallel to the Bridger Lift, but starts below it and doesn’t go quite as high up the mountain as the Bridger Lift does. The Deer Park lift has a vertical rise of 1100 vertical feet.

The Deer Park lift, in addition to allowing access to some excellent advanced ski trails, provides access to some great intermediate ski trails – particularly Bridger Run, Boot Hill, Powder Horn and Hanton’s Hollow. To access these ski trails (which the chairlift sort of goes right above), just go the left at the top of the lift – following a twisty cat trail called Deer Park Road until it ends.

Now, it is true, you can access these intermediate ski trails from the Bridger Lift. Indeed, the Bridger Lift goes right over them. However, to get to these intermediate ski trails from the Bridger Lift means skiing down some pretty steep expert slopes initially – all of which tend to be full of bumps.

Skiing the South Bowl – “Pierre’s Knob” Section

The Pierre’s Knob section in the South Bowl provides a great variety of terrain. And unlike the Bridger Lift section of the South Bowl, numerous intermediate ski trials are easily accessible. This part of the South Bowl is served by the Pierre’s Knob Triple Chair – which runs up the southern flank of the South Bowl to a knob on the ridge called, appropriately enough, Pierre’s Knob.

The South Boundary at Bridger Bowl

The Pierre’s Knob section of the South Bowl consists of a mix of relatively short but very steep expert and advanced ski trails as well as some very nice groomed intermediate runs. The total vertical rise on this section is 1200 feet.

Expert skiers have several choices on where to ski off of Pierre’s Knob. The most challenging skiing is found by going down the very steep trails that cut there way down from the ridge, back underneath the lift. These ski trails, Last Chance and Flippers, are challenging to say the least – especially since they tend to be bumped up.

More “sedate” expert level skiing can also be accessed by following the South Boundary trail. This is a great ski trails that provides access to some wonderful open terrain skiing – although it is not as long as some of the other expert level ski trails at Bridger Bowl. At the bottom of this ski trail, you then cut over on an intermediate cat trail. This trail then provides access to some more expert level ski trials, although they are short in length.

About the only bad part of skiing these expert level trails is that, once to the bottom, you are greeted by a relatively long, flat traverse to get back to the lift. During cold weather when the snow is firm, this is not a big deal. But during warm weather when the snow is sticky, be prepared for some poling and have some good speed built up.

Intermediate skiers will also find some good, groomed runs from the top of Pierre’s Knob. These intermediate level trails make their way down along the top and backside of the ridge. The trails have a nice gradient to them and are pretty wide, too. While these ski trails are groomed daily, during busier times when there is fresh snow or when the snow is wet, don’t be surprised to find a few small bumps on them.

Next Page : Skiing the Ridge

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