| Keystone Resort | |
| Location: | White River National Forest Summit County, Colorado, United States |
| Nearest City: | Keystone, Colorado |
| Pushpin Map: | Colorado#United States |
| Pushpin Relief: | 1 |
| Coordinates: | 39.605°N -105.9542°W |
| Status: | Operating |
| Owner: | Vail Resorts |
| Vertical: | 3128feet |
| Top Elevation: | 12408feet |
| Base Elevation: | 9280feet |
| Skiable Area: | 3148acres |
| Number Trails: | 135 total (19% beginner 32% intermediate 49% advanced) |
| Longest Run: | Schoolmarm – 3.5miles |
| Liftsystem: | 29 total (2 gondolas, 10 chair lifts, 2 high speed six packs, 4 high speed quads, 1 fixed grip quad, 1 triple chairlift, 3 double chair lifts and 6 surface lifts) |
| Snowfall: | 230 in/year (5.8 m/year) |
| Snowmaking: | 662+ acres |
| Nightskiing: | 15 trails |
Keystone Resort is a ski resort located in Keystone, Colorado, United States. Since 1997, the resort has been owned and operated by Vail Resorts. It consists of three mountains (Dercum Mountain, North Peak, and the Outback) and five Bowls (Independence, Erickson, Bergman, and North and South Bowls). The three mountains are connected by a series of ski lifts and gondolas with access from two base areas (River Run and Mountain House).
In the 1940s, Max Dercum left his job as a forestry professor and ski racing coach at Penn State University to work for the Forest Service as a forester and fire spotter in Colorado. He and his wife Edna first lived in Georgetown before settling on a ranch outside the village of Keystone. Max served as a rodeo clown at the Summer Rodeo. Their passion was skiing.[1]
They skied at the Climax Mine, Loveland and Berthoud Passes, Loveland Ski Area, and Steamboat. After a race at Loveland Pass, Max filed mining claims for land around an alpine cirque that he hoped to develop into a ski area. Max served as the head coach of the ski school, and Edna quickly followed as the first female instructor at the school.
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Max hiked and scouted the mountain, drew up plans for the ski area, and created a papier-mâché model of the mountain ranges. After discussing the plan for the New Year's party (1968–1969), Bill Bergman, a corporate lawyer from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, agreed. At 3 a.m. on New Year's Day, Bill and Max founded the Keystone International.[2]
Bill and Max hired lumbermen to hand-cut the ski trails, which Max laid out to follow the natural contours of the mountain. They used the old timber and mining roads and installed the lift towers with helicopters. A wetland easement was also included in the development, so no building would be directly on the Snake River.[3] Keystone was opened on November 21, 1970.
In May 1974, Keystone was acquired by Ralston Purina.[4] [5]
Independence Mountain was an Olympic finalist and nearly selected for the alpine skiing downhill event for the 1976 Winter Olympic Games, initially awarded to Denver, United States.[6] Lands owned by the Denver Water Board at the base of Independence Mountain were given consideration by the Forest Service as an alternative second base area. Speculation about conflicts in the Snake River Valley with the lynx reintroduction program stifled further study and land allocation. Prior to the formal expansion of the Keystone ski area onto Independence Mountain, this terrain was under permit by multiple guides and outfitters in the 1970s and 1980s using snowcats and helicopters for alpine skiing.
North Peak opened for skiing in 1984. Two trails, Diamond Back and Mozart, allow access to North Peak from Dercum Mountain. North Peak initially featured seven trails, serviced by two Lift Engineering triple chairlifts. Santiago serviced the North Peak pod, while Teller, now known as Ruby Express, provided egress back to Dercum Mountain. As part of the expansion, a second base area was opened at River Run, with a gondola running all the way to the Summit House. Several trails in the Spring Dipper area, and a new triple chairlift, Erickson, was also introduced.
In 1986, the original River Run Gondola was removed and replaced with a new gondola constructed by Von Roll, reusing the original gondola terminals.
In 1990, Keystone entered the detachable industry as Doppelmayr constructed two high speed quads to replace aging lifts on Dercum Mountain. The Peru Express lift replaced a Heron Poma double, providing access from the Mountain House base area to the Packsaddle Bowl and the west side of the mountain. It was supplemented by the Montezuma Express lift, which replaced a Yan triple chairlift and provided access to all trails on the upper and central part of Dercum Mountain.
In 1991, Keystone opened an expansion into the Outback, located beyond North Peak. Doppelmayr constructed three new lifts to service the expansion. A two-way gondola, known as the Outpost Gondola, was built from the summit of Dercum Mountain over to North Peak. A new high speed quad known as the Outback Express was built to service the Outback trails, and a fixed-grip quad known as the Wayback was built to service two access trails leading to the Outback as well as provide egress from the area.
In 1996, Vail Resorts announced plans to acquire Keystone and Breckenridge's parent company Ralston Resorts Inc. from Ralston Purina. The merger was approved by the U.S. Department of Justice on January 3, 1997.[7]
In 1997, the Erickson triple chairlift on Dercum Mountain was removed and replaced with a new Doppelmayr high speed quad, named the Summit Express, running parallel to the River Run Gondola for its entire length. That same year, a new triple chairlift known as the Ranger was built to open up a learning area at the summit of Dercum Mountain.
In 1998, the Santiago Express was built to replace the Santiago triple chairlift on North Peak.
In 2000, the original Ruby (then Teller) lift was removed and replaced with a high speed six pack. The Ruby Express was constructed by Poma and provided faster egress out of North Peak and the Outback.
In 2008, the River Run Gondola, nearing 22 years of continuous service, was retired and replaced with a new gondola. Doppelmayr constructed the replacement River Run Gondola, which had its base area terminal moved from adjacent to the Summit Express to a new location across the river. The new gondola also features a mid-station, allowing guests to upload or download from midway up Dercum Mountain, as well as a new learning area.
In 2014, the Outback Express was given a capacity upgrade to 2,400 pph, using chairs transferred over from the Peru Express and Montezuma Express lifts.
For the 2017 season, Keystone built their second high speed six pack, bringing in Leitner-Poma to replace the Montezuma Express lift. Parts from the old lift were relocated to Beaver Creek Resort and used to construct the Red Buffalo Express.
In 2021, Keystone completed the upgrade of the Peru Express lift, replacing it with a high speed 6-passenger chair. Part of this project also included removing the Argentine Chair, which was an original lift from the resort.
In 2022, Keystone will be expanding its lift-serviced terrain into the Bergman Bowl, including a new chairlift, new trails, new snowmaking and a ~6000 sq ft expansion of the Outpost Restaurant.[8]
Keystone Resort features the "A51 Terrain Park" on Dercum Mountain, which has been noted as one of the more progressive terrain parks in the region.[11]
| Name | Type | Manufacturer | Built | Vertical | Length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| River Run Gondola | Gondola 8 | 2008 | 2307 | 9587 | Main lift out of River Run Village to Dercum summit. Has a mid-station for loading and unloading. | |
| Outpost Gondola | Gondola 6 | Doppelmayr | 1991 | 1198 | 7522 | Transfer lift that travels between North Peak and Dercum Mountain summits. Riders can load cabins on either side. |
| Ruby Express | 2000 | 1600 | 5864 | Replaced a Yan triple in 2000, that was previously known as the Teller Lift. | ||
| Montezuma Express | 2017 | 1667 | 7031 | |||
| Peru Express | 2021 | 1558 | 6332 | Upgraded from a high speed quad in 2021. | ||
| Bergman Express | 2023 | 1078 | 4722 | Named after the Bergman family, that founded Keystone Resort in 1970. | ||
| Outback Express | High-Speed Quad | Doppelmayr | 1991 | 1482 | 5846 | |
| Summit Express | 1997 | 2303 | 9403 | Runs parallel to the River Run gondola. | ||
| Santiago Express | 1998 | 1600 | 4438 | Main lift to the summit of North Peak. | ||
| Wayback | Quad | 1991 | 1300 | 3930 | ||
| Ranger | Triple | 1997 | 193 | 1022 | ||
| A 51 | Double | Yan / Riblet / Doppelmayr / Skytrac | 1974 | 953 | 4190 | Dedicated terrain park lift that was shortened in 1976. A 51 has a Skytrac return, Yan towers/drive, Doppelmayr sheaves/lifting frames, and Riblet chairs. |
| Discovery | 1976 | 105 | 685 | |||
The Teller Lift was a Yan 1000 model triple chair installed in 1984 as part of the North Peak expansion. On December 14, 1985, the upper bullwheel disconnected from the main gearbox shaft, resulting in dozens of lift riders being thrown from their chairs onto the slope below. Two riders were killed and an additional 47 were injured.[13] Faulty welding was blamed for the accident.[14] The lift was rebuilt by Yan as the Ruby Lift, free of charge. Settlements between Yan and injured skiers topped over seven million dollars.
During the summer, visitors to Keystone resort often participate in hiking, horseback riding, fly-fishing, whitewater rafting, paddle boat and standup paddle board rentals and mountain biking. Additionally, Keystone provides lift access for mountain hiking events and hundreds of miles of single-track mountain biking.
Keystone Resort is also home to two 18-hole championship golf courses, The Ranch and River Run. The Ranch course was designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. and is situated next to a historic ranching homestead.
In the winter, Keystone offers night skiing, a five-acre resurfaced ice skating lake, sleigh rides, and several fine-dining restaurants.[15]
Keystone ski area operates on National Forest System lands under a special use permit from the Forest Service. The 30-year special use permit assigns to the permit holder only a portion of the bundle of rights normally associated with real estate ownership. For the privilege of using federal lands, the ski area pays an annual fee of about one dollar per skier visitor to the U.S. Treasury. Twenty-five percent of those fees are returned to Summit County, Colorado, for roads and schools. The Forest Service approves development plan revisions. The 1984 Land and Resource Management Plan and 2002 Revision, authored by Erik Martin, program manager for ski area administration (1972–2003), WRNF, established the final expanded boundary perimeter for Keystone Resort, including the eventual expansion of developed skiing onto Independence Mountain. The 2002 Forest Plan Revision suggested an aerial transportation corridor and south portal be constructed in the Swan Valley to provide direct access between Keystone ski area and the Town of Breckenridge.