Antelope Butte offers free skiing to those under age 18

Antelope Butte Mountain Recreation Area is offering free season passes to anyone under the age of 18 during its 2024-25 season.

The ski area, located in Wyoming's Bighorn Mountains, is scheduled to open on Dec. 20. Adult season passes cost $399.

The hill features 28 trails for snowboarding and downhill skiing on a mountain that annually sees about 250 inches of snow. The base elevation is 8,400 feet. The ski area operates Wednesdays through Sundays and daily during holidays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The mountain closed in 2004 after 44 years of service. It was reopened for limited use in 2018 and was fully operational the following year. The mountain is overseen and funded by the nonprofit Antelope Butte Foundation.

Another small Wyoming ski area, Sleeping Giant located west of Cody in the Absaroka Mountains, announced it will not be open this season for a variety of reasons. Last winter's snowfall was skimpy, then a lift was vandalized in August.

"None of these problems are insurmountable," the ski area posted on its website, "but taken together with the need to hire many seasonal staff made it clear that rushing to try to get open for the season did not make sense."

Sleeping Giant is the country's eighth oldest ski hill, dating back to the winter of 1936. The mountain features 184 acres of skier- and rider-accessible terrain.

After struggling to remain open, in 2020 the ski hill was purchased by Nick Piazza. Under his leadership the mountain expanded to offer a zipline, snowbikes and terrain park. The ski area's website said the owner plans to make improvements to facilities during the down time.