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Keystone

It’s the Spaces, Stupid

I think that I shall never see
A line that can’t be improved by a tree…

Make that a lot of trees.

There are a lot of trees at Keystone.  Had Joyce Kilmer been a skier, he’d have wept at Keystone’s trees.  There are tight trees, well-spaced trees, thick trees, skinny trees, steep trees and, well, beginner trees.  Trees, trees, trees.

There are also a lot of open spaces at Keystone.  Enough to satisfy anyone with a penchant for strapping skis or snowboards onto their feet.  Boasting 3,148 skiable acres and 3,128 vertical spread over three peaks and five bowls, there’s terrain to suit every ability, distractions to suit every attention span and, defying everything you think you know about on-mountain dining, arguably one of Colorado’s best restaurants perched atop North Peak.

But the Ski la Vie tour is all about skiing, not dining, not tubing, not snowbiking.  And Keystone skiing — a word broad enough to include boarding, in case there was any question — is as spirited an affair as your skills, lungs and legs can manage.  The self-defined split at Keystone is 19% easiest, 32% more difficult and a whopping 49% most difficult.  The vagueness of that description is, perhaps, indicative of the litigious nature of the state’s tort bar.  Regardless, there’s plenty of everything for everyone here.

Beginner skiers can begin to question their selection of mountains when they look at Keystone’s trail map.  There is very little green to be seen.  But there’s a lot of yellow tinged runs with black and yellow dotted lines and all are gentle, highly-groomed runs — slow school zones — meandering from the top of Dercum Mountain back down to the two base areas, River Run Village and Mountain House.  Don’t worry; be happy.

If you need to feed your need for speed though, give Dercum a pass and head down the backside on a run named Mozart to gain access to North Peak and, after that, The Outback.  Choose carefully, my intermediate friends, the blue runs are bona fide blue runs and offer plenty of challenge.

Suppose bowl skiing is what you’re after; it’s there to be had.  But be prepared to hike… or pay big bucks or, surprisingly, little bucks, to board a cat to gain access.  Independence Bowl, Bergman Bowl, Erickson Bowl, North and South Bowls are all in-bounds.   They’re also all a hike of anywhere from one to two-and-a half miles… at better than 12,000 feet, huff, huff.

As you might expect of any terrain that comes at such a dear price — money or effort — tracks are as fresh as the latest snowfall and as steep as most mortals care to pursue.  Be very conscious of the wind though.  Keystone isn’t as wind-scoured as its across-the-valley neighbour, Breckenridge, but the wind is enough of a factor that you’ll be skiing styrofoam if you choose the wrong line.

The best bargain on the mountain though is the five-buck cat ride, from the top of Outback Express lift, up the mile long ridge to the entry to either North or South Bowl.  On a busy day the cat driver will generously exceed the 12-passenger seating limit but nobody after powder seems to mind the sardine-like experience.  From the end of the cat ride, you can hike another mile-and-a-quarter for even fresher lines or take your choice of diamond runs on skier’s right that lead into Coyote Caper drainage or the skier’s left, South Bowl runs.

Or, if you’re skiing with a friend like Brad, who knows Keystone like I know Whistler, you can plunge into generously-spaced trees near the resort’s western border, pick a knee-deep snowy line and get spit out into a terrain park of a drainage called Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, a roller coaster of run offering deeks into and out of more trees along the way.

After that — the bowls all close pretty early — there are more tree lines off of Santiago Express (North Peak) or Outback Express than can possibly be named.  If you have a Kilmerian love affair with skiing trees or if you just want to get better at it, Keystone’s got the best I’ve found so far on this tour.  Just remember though: Keep an eye on the spaces between trees, not the trees themselves.  It is the spaces, stupid!

Check it out : keystone.snow.com
Stay : At a friend’s house.  Don’t got a friend, try keystone.snow.com/indexlodging.asp for lots of good mountain base suggestions
Eat : Cheap: LaBonte’s Cabin has real BBQ.  Try the brisket sandwich.  Blow the budget: The Alpenglow Stube is the sit-down, slip your feet into fuzzy slippers, eat good food place
Après : Kickapoo Tavern at River Run Village: funk to funky.
Dine :  Dam Brewery, back near the Interstate in Dillon.  Fresh, delicious beer, good food, nice prices, busy as hell.

 

Frozen in Time.

Good Sun, Bad Coffee.

 

Whaddy Mean You Don't Date Mascots?