It's rare that a mountain can equally rave about its fun and flowing greens as much as its backcountry bonanza of bowls. Keystone has earned its bragging rights by being a mountain that is both family friendly and chock full of advanced terrain, featuring some of the best hike-to and cat skiing in Colorado.
Keystone Mountain at night. — Photo courtesy of Courtesy of Keystone Mountain.Keystone's frontside (which has a number of lit blues and greens for night skiing) has several feature-heavy blues that cut in and out of the trees, especially the runs off the Montezuma lift. Beginners and those in the mood for a scenic mountain cruise will delight in the lengthy green runs, highlighted by School Marm. Those who want to fly through the air with the greatest of ease can test their meddle in several terrain parks ranging in difficulty from beginner to out-of-your-mind-insanely huge.
The backside of the mountain has a wealth of great bump runs that feature sustained moguls varying in size from soccer balls to Volkswagon Beetles. Check out Cat Dancer and Black Hawk for some of the best bumpy glades on the mountain. If you're ready to hoof it (or take the more casual ski-cat for a few bucks), there are five bowls to explore. The most remote of these, the Independence Bowl, has a European off-piste feel and there are seldom any crowds to fight for powder. The North and South Bowls are accessed via the Outback Express. Skiers and riders can drop in anywhere along the ridge for a long and exciting tour of the deepest part of Keystone.
If you still have some pop in your legs, stick around for the aforementioned night skiing.And if it happens to be a snowy evening, cap off the day with a visit to one of the on-mountain restaurants and take the gondola down – a perfect extended ski day with a full belly? It doesn't get much better than that now, does it?
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