0
0
Share with your friends










Submit
  • Home
  • About
  • Advertising
  • Privacy
  • Property
  • Contact
  • Sitemap

Logo

Navigation
  • Ski Resorts
  • Where to Ski
  • How to Ski
  • Snow
    • Snow Report
  • Gear
    • Ski Clothing
    • Ski Equipment
  • Family Skiing
  • Ski Holidays
  • Deals
  • Summer

Keystone, USA

By Sean Newsom | on August 31, 2012 | 0 Comment
Ski Resorts
Keystone, USA | Welove2ski

Photo: © Julia Vandenoever

The Stats

Altitude: 9,300ft

Top Lift: 11,980ft

Ski area: 3,148 acres of terrain

Adult lift pass: $420-564 for six days

site Official Site | site Ski Map | site Webcam

In a Nutshell

Keystone is a schizophrenic ski resort, mixing long nursery slopes and child-friendly activities with powdery mountain bowls, tough bump runs and steepish pistes. For a week’s holiday, it’s best targeted by energetic and adventurous families. Everyone else should regard it as a short-break destination, or an essential day trip from neighbouring Breckenridge.

Essential Advice for the Perfect Trip

There are all sorts of things to like about Keystone. At 3,148 acres, its ski area is a decent size for North America, and offers good, sometimes superb, terrain for all levels of skier.

But that doesn’t stop it being overshadowed by its near neighbour Breckenridge – and the reason why is pretty obvious. Breck is a Wild West mining town with some cool old-school architecture, a buzzing apres-ski scene, and a core of ski-mad inhabitants who give the place some soul. Keystone is a mountain with holiday condos attached. Whatever the virtues of its ski area, most who come for more than a weekend would rather holiday in Breckenridge – and then day-trip to Keystone if they get bored of Breck’s skiing.

It’s marketed primarily as a family-friendly resort

Given how quiet it is at night, especially midweek, it’s perhaps no surprise that Vail Resorts, Keystone’s owners, market it as a family-friendly ski resort. So alongside its inherent attractions – the roomy condos, the lack of boisterous revellers, the good beginner terrain – the resort has added a range of child-friendly activities. These include long, lift-serviced tube riding, an enormous ice-skating rink, and the world’s largest snow castle (snowfall permitting). They’ve even created a special Kidtopia programme, with a weekly parade and daily street performers and several family-friendly features at its ski school. Not surprisingly, kids love the night-skiing here. Prices tend to be slightly lower than in neighbouring Breckenridge too.

We think this resort works best for kids who can already ski a bit – because despite the long beginner runs on Dercum the other trails in Keystone tend to be steeper than the Colorado norm. But for a mid-priced Colorado family skiing trip, it’s worth serious consideration.

But the best terrain is for advanced skiers and boarders

Despite the family-friendly image, the best skiing in Keystone is for more advanced skiers and riders – courtesy of a large area of wide open mountain bowls at the top of the ski area, served by snowcats. There are other treats in store too, including long bump runs, a highly-rated terrain park and great tree skiing.

So does that mean stronger, more confident skiers without children should target Keystone too? No. We agree with the prevailing wisdom. Make Breckenridge your base – and then day-trip to Keystone when you’ve got bored with the terrain in Breck. It’s only a 30-minute drive, and your Breckenridge lift pass will let you ski there at no extra cost. Day-tripping to Keystone a couple of times during your holiday will add enormously to the richness and variety of the skiing experience.

The Loveometer

Where to Ski Loveometer 72% | Welove2ski

We Love

We Hate

tick The extent and variety of skiing on offer, if you add Keystone’s neighbours of Breckenridge and Arapahoe Basin into the equation.
tick The cat-skiing at the top of the ski area.
tick The tree-skiing and the night-skiing.
tick The frequent free shuttle buses around the base village.
tick The fall-line pistes.
tick Lunch at the Alpenglow Stube.
tick The empty slopes mid-week.
tick The giant snow castle at the top of Dercum mountain – part of the resort’s family-focused atmosphere.
cross The fact that the village isn’t really a village at all, but a sprawl of different accommodation centres.
cross The under-powered apres-ski.
cross The lack of variety in the accommodation – nearly all of it is in condos.
cross Given the amount of self-catering accommodation in the resort, it could do with a wider variety of food shops, too.

Continue Exploring Keystone

  1. Guide to the Mountain

    Guide to the Mountain
  2. Where To Stay

    Where to Stay
  3. Where to Eat

    Where to Eat
  4. Where to Learn

    Where to Learn
  5. Where to Party

    Where to Party
Share this story:
  • tweet

Tags: Ski Resorts

Recent Posts

  • 5 Ways to Make Your Tirolean Ski Holiday More Sustainable

    January 23, 2023 - 0 Comment
  • 7 of the Best Wines to Sip on A Dolomites Ski Trip

    January 20, 2023 - 1 Comment
  • Innsbruck: the Perfect Base for a Ski Weekend or a Freewheeling Ski Safari

    January 18, 2023 - 1 Comment

Related Posts

  • Innsbruck: the Perfect Base for a Ski Weekend or a Freewheeling Ski Safari

    January 18, 2023 - 1 Comment
  • Gurgl, Austria: High, Snowsure and Charming

    December 31, 2022 - 0 Comment
  • Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn: Four Resorts In A Huge Ski Area

    December 2, 2022 - 0 Comment

Author Description

Sean Newsom

As well as founding Welove2ski in June 2007, Sean has written about skiing and snowboarding in the British press for 28 years. For the last 20 of them, he’s also been the ski travel editor at The Sunday Times.

No Responses to “Keystone, USA”

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Free Updates

Join 16,000 clever people who get the latest Welove2ski content delivered to their inbox

RSSSubscribe 15185 Followers 10135 Fans

The Loveometer

Zermatt: Cool Chalets, Certain Snow and The Majestic Matterhorn
100 %
Tweenager Tips: How to Enjoy Ski Holidays with Older Kids
98 %
How to Go Green On Your Ski Holiday
98 %
St Anton, Austria: Wild Nights, Steep Pistes and Challenging Backcountry
97 %
Weird and Wonderful Ski Fads and Fashions
94 %
  • Home
  • About
  • Advertising
  • Privacy
  • Property
  • Contact
  • Sitemap
© 2020. All Rights Reserved. Created with love by WL2S