loadedburritoIm moving to montana after december and i will be skiing bridger bowl pretty much every day. My brother skis there everyday currently and prefers a much stiffer and hard charging ski (not full twins) for bridger bowl. I personally love playful skis but it doesn't really matter. was looking at the wildcat 116, billy goat, arv 116, catamaran, and the rustler 11 but just wondering what you guys thought what ski would do the best at bridger

I haven’t personally skied Bridger but I have put my time in at revelstoke. I’m a big of my black ops for being burly but still fun. They can charge pretty hard for their mount point but are still decent to play on. Caution though as they are fairly demanding due to there heft and shape.

I yearn for a black ops 108 that you can ski the other days where the 118 black ops is too much.

Wildcatz

First of all, welcome to Montucky! BBowl is my home mountain and I have two seasons there so far. I will say, I do daily Billy Goats at bridger and they are a pretty perfect ski for the mtn. Stiffer tips for charging and a smaller tail for slashing speed down the steeps on the ridge and Slushmans. I am 5'9 ~180lbs and ride the 186s from 2015? (Pre asym tips). That being said, I have a few skis I bring up often because the conditions on that mtn varry a bit. I probably put 50-60 days on the Goats and 30 or so days on some other sticks. Some criteria I always have in mind for bridger is a stiffer ski with quick turn-ability and something on the heavier end of the spectrum. IMO light skis get tossed around too much when runouts of drops, chutes, and cliffs get chopped and all bumped out from skiers riding around them.

The wildcat 116s are a good option for a more playful ski around the mountain if you have a park background and want to make the mountain a little more of a playground for tricks.

The Billy Goats are in my eyes a more directional Wildcat/Bibby and make a great ski for busting through crud, sending drops deep, and ripping down everything. The heavier tips and farther back mounting point make spins a little more off-balance and wonky but the Asymetrical tips on the newer goats are supposed to combat that.

The ARV 116 and Catamaran in my opinion would be better as a dedicated powder ski in a 2 or 3 ski quiver as they are softer and get bounced around a bit on the mountain so if you have a backup daily these would make a good powder tool for fun deep days but may not hold up as a bridger daily as well.

I don't have much knowledge on the Rustler 11 but from looking at them, the flat tails, stiffer construction, and reviews would put them at a simliar stance as the Billy Goat but with less hooning ability for when you get inevitably rowdy on the mountain.

Some other skis I'd recommend -

Meridian 117 - Stiff like the Billy Goats but built in a full rocker construction. This makes the ski quick to pivot and slarve for trees and scrubbing speed and very quick on edge to edge as the first contact points are underfoot. As well, they have a nice swing weight and would bridge the gap between the Wildcat 118 and the Goats as a playful ski capable of fucking on any condition.

Woodman 108 or 116 - Again, bridging the gap between the Wildcat and the Goats, the woodsman is a freeride oriented ski capable of charging and having fun. I put the 108 in there as I don't know your budget but it would make a great daily to be paired with a powder/touring dedicated ski.

Armada Tracer 118 CHX - Similar shape to the Billy Goats with a larger tip splay and progressive stiffness throughout the ski. Good for charging and a lighter weight construction for touring if you have a setup for that. (Not too light that they get bounced around tho) The Declivity X is another ski in Armada's lineup meant to be a "Big Boy" version of the Tracer 118 with a stiffer/heavier construction and meant for big lines.

Candide 5.0 - Same dimensions as the old 4.0 but with a wood core for more durability. I rode a pair of old 4.0s for some of last season and 10/10 loved them but snapped them on day 15 because fuck a foam core. Really chargy skis but full rocker shape (like the meridians) with alot of potential for being a bridger daily even at 122mm underfoot.

Gotta love procrastinating finals to browse NS but if you have any other questions about skis, the mountain, or Bozeman let me know! A whole bunch of NSers live in Bozeman and are always willing to lay down some info or help out!