Ski List: 5 highlights for families at Keystone Resort

Not surprisingly for a resort with a family focus, Keystone's Ski and Ride School teaches thousands of children's lessons. The school has facilities at both the River Run Village and Mountain House base areas. The Mountain House center is particularly extensive with a fun indoor maze for kids to practice walking in ski boots. A mock-up of a snowcat by the check-in area is another popular indoor play and photo opportunity before getting started on a lesson.Keystone's tubing hill is found near the top of the gondola on Dercum Mountain. For $31 a person, kids (more than 42 inches tall) and adults can reserve an hour time slot on the rather lengthy hill with six lanes. A covered conveyor lift provides a ride back to the top of the hill. On evenings with night skiing, the hill stays open until 7 p.m. with disco lights adding to the nighttime atmosphere.Each season, Keystone builds a huge snow fort near the top of the gondola on Dercum Mountain. A snowmaking gun fires up early in the season to provide the raw material. Hewn with chain saws from this mound of manmade snow, the fort takes about 10 days to construct. Ready just before each holiday season in December, all evidence of the fort melts away usually by the end of July. However, visions for the next season's version are always in store. View the list »
Keystone Resort in Colorado caters to families for skiing and other activities.

Snow Sports newsletter

Keystone Resort in Colorado likes to think of itself as "family-focused," rather than merely "family-friendly." Keystone's "Kids Ski Free" program helps make a family ski vacation there much more affordable. By booking two or more nights at any of the lodging properties that are owned and operated by Keystone, any children 12 and under receive free lift tickets. The simple program does not have any blackout dates or other restrictions.

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Located in Summit County, Keystone has plenty of competition with Vail, Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, Loveland, and Arapahoe Basin all within about a 45-minute drive. As a result, the resort has honed in on the family niche. Under Keystone's "Kidtopia" banner, the resort makes a concerted effort to give parents and their kids a complete vacation experience.

Disclaimer: Travel accommodations were provided during visit to Keystone Resort.

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  • Each season, Keystone builds a huge snow fort near the top of the gondola on Dercum Mountain. A snowmaking gun fires up early in the season to provide the raw material. Hewn with chain saws from this mound of manmade snow, the fort takes about 10 days to construct. Ready just before each holiday season in December, all evidence of the fort melts away usually by the end of July. However, visions for the next season's version are always in store. 
  • Keystone's tubing hill is found near the top of the gondola on Dercum Mountain. For $31 a person, kids (more than 42 inches tall) and adults can reserve an hour time slot on the rather lengthy hill with six lanes. A covered conveyor lift provides a ride back to the top of the hill. On evenings with night skiing, the hill stays open until 7 p.m. with disco lights adding to the nighttime atmosphere.
  • Not surprisingly for a resort with a family focus, Keystone's Ski and Ride School teaches thousands of children's lessons. The school has facilities at both the River Run Village and Mountain House base areas. The Mountain House center is particularly extensive with a fun indoor maze for kids to practice walking in ski boots. A mock-up of a snowcat by the check-in area is another popular indoor play and photo opportunity before getting started on a lesson.
  • Schoolmarm on the frontside of Dercum Mountain serves as Keystone's quintessential beginner run. The ski area's longest trail at 3.5 miles winds all the way down from the top of the gondola to the Mountain House base. A return to the River Run base requires just a short detour at the end on the green Ina's Way trail.For younger children, the full run of 2,360 vertical feet may actually be too long to tackle. In that case, families can branch off of Schoolmarm onto another green trail, Last Chance, and then take the Montezuma Express chairlift back up to the summit. From there, tired kiddos can download onto the gondola back to the River Run base area. Using that strategy cuts about a third off the full Schoolmarm trek. The top part of Schoolmarm is generally more interesting terrain anyway, because the trail tends to be more of a catwalk closer to the base.
  • Keystone Resort knows that most small children have a tough time carrying their own skis and poles. To help families schlep their gear, the resort has placed small wagons at stations throughout the base village. The practical sharing program makes for happier kids and parents.
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, Skiing Examiner

Eric Wagnon is a freelance writer and television producer. His work has aired on NBC, CBS, and ESPN. Despite his current home base in the flat and warm environment of Jupiter, Fla., Eric continues to add to his total of more than 40 ski resorts visited across the country. Eric may be reached at ...

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