Change happens. The only way to avoid it is the ostrich head in the sand trick. Skiing has had changes and more will come. For instance. Helmets. Now common, rumors spreading maybe mandatory. Where did the helmet idea come from? Snowboarders, as skiers of thirty years ago rarely wore them. With snowboarders came the half-pipe. Now skiers are starting to rule the pipe. What was freestyle, now is big mountain free skiing. Roughly an hour plus drive from Denver, is a ski resort that embraces change, is on it, and has one of the best terrain parks for skiers and snowboarders in all of North America, as they have used a key to open the stone door, Keystone, Colorado.
Only three resorts in North America stay away from snowboarders, not Keystone though. To be able to sit on any chair, at any resort, and see skiers and snowboarders flying high above you, like a soaring winter bird, is a rarity. The key has unlocked the terrain park at Keystone and lookers will marvel at what is now happening with winter rad tricks, ones that were not in existence thirty years ago. Thirty years in the future will have a new change, and the key to that stone door lives at Keystone.
Pound for pound one of the strongest mammals on Earth is the wolverine and a slope here is named for that strength. Perfectly spaced trees, on a perfect pitched slope, awaiting to catch the perfect winter powder storm, awaits the soul of any, just insert the key, and at the bottom you may feel stoned. An elusive animal is the wolverine and this Keystone slope has an elusive entrance. You will need to find the key to get in.
Keystone sits off to the side of the Vail Resort family of mountains, glistening above them all, as the elevation here reaches the highest of its sisters. A+ also is graded here, as Russell Carlton, a constantly on it marketing dude, has forward thinking, expecting change, knowing it will come. Denverites sneak here on route 6, bypassing Montezuma, a current relic of what used to be a mining town. Newcomers to Keystone should step up here or step into some skates on the ice rink. Not tired of stepping down slopes at sunset, keep stepping, as Keystone has terrific night skiing, the only resort holding the key to the lights of a winter night on the front range.