Colorado Keystone tips on trees/glades

[Eagle93]

Hello all,

My college-aged son and I will be spending a week in Keystone shortly after the New Year. We have skied Keystone once before, but only at Thanksgiving (2014?) which was a good start to the season, but only had a dozen or so runs open on Dercum. Our last day they did open a run or two on North Peak (via Gondola) but we didn't realize in time and missed out on that.

While we enjoyed Spring Dipper, Wild Irishman, and the other open runs that year, we are looking forward to getting back to North Peak and the Outback for some tree skiing and presumably less crowds. A few years back (2016?) we spent a week at Winter Park, mostly in Vasquez Ridge and Mary Jane skiing and we are comfortable with gladed areas and tighter trees, as well as, moderate steeps. I've dropped some smaller 5'- 10' drops in the past, but not sure my son is ready for anything like that. Of course, him being a college kid, he would probably do better than me at this point

Anyway, looking for tips and recommendations from those who have skied Keystone more on areas or runs to look at. I've spent a little time on Google Earth and think Outback's Porcupine/Pika Glades would be a good start for us have some nice trees around them, but hard to gauge from that for sure. We may spend the $20 for a trip or two on the snowcat shuttle to Bergman/Erickson Bowls (assuming it's worth the $?), but the $450 snowcat adventure is certainly out of our budget. We may also take a day and ski A-Basin or Loveland.

For those that are wondering why Keystone - the $249 4-pack was an attractive price point, we found an acceptably priced condo, and we've not spent much time skiing there in the past. We did consider Winter Park, Steamboat, and other Vail Resorts, but total cost made us lean Keystone.

Thanks!

 

[Ken in LA]

Have you checked out the excellent Unofficial Guide to Keystone on Pugski written by @John Fritz ?

 

[Long Hair Hippy]

Keystone often gets a bad rap but I have a blast every time I ski there.

It’s hard to go wrong with anything in the Outback area. It’s usually less crowded and not quite as crazy as Dercum mountain. Some of my favorites are-

Pika Trees- Nice fairly low angle and wide spaced glades
Timberwolf- Nice glades and less people
Bushwhacker- Great bumps and glades- less people. Great view of North Peak from here too!

I’ve also taken a few cat rides from the Outback peak to the North bowl. It was like $10 several years ago. Definitely worth it if the coverage is adequate.
Hopefully you’ll find what you are looking for!

Here are a couple of pics from Bushwhacker I think. Last pic was taken in the Pika trees.

 

[Green08]

One important variable in your question is A-Basin/Loveland. If you plan to ski a day at either of those locations, those days should be focused on skiing lift served terrain above treeline and using the free cat on the Ridge at Loveland. Keystone has limited good terrain above treeline, and none is lift accessed. If you are skiing Keystone only, then you may want to consider the $20 cat from North Peak. However, even then I would not expect conditions to be on par with Parsenns Bowl at WP.

Your read of the trail map at Keystone seems pretty good. Pika Glades is going to be your easiest tree skiing. You can get a test for snow conditions by skiing Oh Bob or Porcupine (if not groomed), before venturing into the woods. The Black Forest, which faces north, is steeper and tighter trees than Pika, but should hold better snow.

Regarding the Outback. Lines can get long at times on that lift. Both the bottom of Anticipation and the Willows are extremely flat--especially hard to cary speed into and through the Willows.

Anything and everything groomed off of Ruby or Santiago should be something you enjoy, based on your last visit.

 

[Lofcaudio]

Some of my favorite runs at Keystone are Wolverine and Wildfire off the Outback lift. There is a not-so-enjoyable run-out that you'll have to slog through at the bottom (which will remind you of Winter Park), but the runs themselves are moderately pitched with nicely spaced trees and are usually VERY quiet. If you want something with more challenge, the runs off the other side of the Outback lift (Bushwhacker, Badger, The Grizz) are tighter and steeper. Should be plenty for you to enjoy if that part of the mountain is open.

 

[Nathanvg]

Overall Keystone is a great fit for what you like to ski. There is nothing that requires mandatory air or is expert-level steep so explore the whole mountain. North peak is mostly long bump runs and the outback has a ton of glades, none of which are overly steep. All runs are long (1.5 to 2.5k vertical)

Base depth and open runs should be good in early January but some runs may still be closed. I doubt the cats will be running that early. In general, it takes more snow to open all of Abasin and Loveland, so I'd probably stick to Keystone. Enjoy

 

[Eagle93]

Thanks for the responses (and photos) everyone! And I have not yet stumbled on the unofficial guide to Keystone linked above, so I will definitely check that out.