Keystone Resort Colorado Review
Keystone Resort Colorado Review
Keystone Resort Website: http://www.keystoneresort.com/
Rating: ★★★ (3/5 Stars)
Summary: Keystone offers a wide variety of terrain and is perfect for the intermediate snowboarder or beginner skier. Located right down the street from neighboring A-Basin, this resort is a lot more commercial in feel which has its positives and negatives. Walking to the base you pass a variety of restaurants and shops which are nice to enjoy after a hard day of the slopes or for someone looking to skip shredding the gnar. Keystone brings the crowds though, so be sure to get there early to get a good parking spot and avoid long lift lines. Terrain wise, Keystone has everything you could imagine. Trees? Check. Open Bowls? Check. Greens galore? Check. Park with massive hits? Check. Boarding at Keystone is really what you make out of it. The terrain is extremely variable and each day you spend at the mountain can present completely different opportunities for you.
Strengths: Keystone offers trees galore. I find that the more I ride Keystone, the more tree stashes I can find. Keystone also offers $10 snow-cat rides to upper bowls. This is a great way to ski or ride fresh turns even when it is not a powder day. Most of the hike-to terrain is not terribly difficult, so its a nice way to slowly work an intermediate rider or skier into tougher terrain. If riding the bowls are not your thing, don’t worry, Keystone has a variety of terrain for any level of winter athlete. Keystone is also home to a huge park for those looking to practice small or LARGE. Looking to keep those laps going after the sun goes down? Keystone Resort is one of few mountains in Colorado that offers night skiing/riding with a wide variety of terrain to choose from.
Weaknesses: Keystone can get very crowded due to its proximity to Denver, “lower” lift ticket price, incentives to families, and easier terrain. Unlike other mountains, Keystone does not have that many main lifts, so lines can get pretty lengthy (especially on windy days when the gondola goes out of service). However, don’t let the crowds scare you away, once you get a good feel for the traffic of the mountain, you will be able to plan your routes and avoid lines accordingly, for a while at least. If you want really tough terrain – Keystone does not offer a lot of that, so its your best bet to find another mountain.
Mick’s Tip: Get to Keystone for first chair and get back to the outback for 2-3 solid runs with smaller lift line waits. While you are out there, take advantage of the relatively cheap ($10) snow-cat rides which can save you some time hiking towards the North and South bowls. Typically these bowls do not open until January or February though.
Parking: Parking is free and their main lot is within walking distance of Gondola. If that fills up, there are other free lots that have shuttle service to the main lifts. Be sure to lookout for signs that say the main lot is full, it will save you a lot of time driving around.
Photography: If you are lucky enough to visit Keystone on a night that offers skiing (generally January-March), the sunset towards the top of the Gondola can be very spectacular. There is a fence that borders the learning area which is a great spot to prop a camera or phone for a time-lapse of the sunset on the surrounding mountains.