# Keystone advice



## neednsnow (Nov 30, 2007)

I don't think Keystone holds boarders in such a low regard. Surely, it'll be nothing like how you were percieved in TAOS! 

I can't speak much for the town feel of Keystone (not much), but Breck isn't too far if you want a foolish evening out, and I think there is a local shuttle that runs that way. Personally, unless I find a Gem of a mountain (like Kirkwood) I like to get a little variety in. You could do Breckenridge (very expensive) or do Arapahoe Basin (more of a locals mountain). Both are pretty close to Keystone and well worth the one-day experience.....you might be able to exchange your conference ticket for Keystone to a day at Breck, I'm not sure.


----------



## SnowProRick (Jan 13, 2009)

They have a park with it's own chair that is open at night, and pretty good. They have no ill will towards boarders.

Now the speed patrol is probably another story (but they are all all the Vail resorts). BurtonAvenger can speak on a more personal level about the speed patrol.

--rick


----------



## Milo303 (Apr 6, 2009)

I've had 0 issues with patrol in Keystone... And I've never felt like an outsider there either. Honestly the only place I've really felt like a minority around Summit County would be Beaver Creek, but I dont give a dam, I'm riding the Beav.

There's not much of a "town", Breck is where the good times go down.

Holla when you're around and maybe we can shred. I mostly do weekends though.

But ya your pass should transfer between Key, Breck, A-Basin..


----------



## earl_je (Oct 20, 2009)

liftopia is your friend 

Breck has a great nightlife, had more trouble with their patrol there though. But then again it was on a packed weekend. 
Keystone, town is ok, a few funplaces to hit. As of last weekend their runs were crap though.


----------



## BurtonAvenger (Aug 14, 2007)

Keystone is the shittiest resort in summit county. The park closes at 6 it's not lit at night anymore. As far as the patrollers anyone that thinks they don't single out anyone on the way to the park is full of shit and has no idea. As far as a town it's not really a town as just a giant block of buildings shoved together that have resort priced food and beverages, take the bus to Breck if you want to escape. As far as tickets it's good at Breck and you can hop the Swan Mountain Flyer I think it's 20 after that it runs to Breck or maybe it's 20 till I can't remember either way it'll get you there in about a 20 minute bus ride. A basin is up the road and if they're getting snow it's generally good. The dates you have picked for some reason are actually going to be busy, there's something like a 90% booking rate from the end of this month through the 15th of next from what the guys at Resort Quest and Grand Timbers were telling me. But then again bookings like that don't always mean a shit ton of people on the hill.


----------



## AWNOW (Sep 12, 2009)

If you are hanging out in Keystone at night make sure to hit up The Snake, they pull in quality bands on the weekends. Goat is alright, a bit of a dive but some good music here and there.


----------



## bryantp (Dec 1, 2008)

*Keystone*

I like Breck better but I've never had any problems at Keystone that snow didn't cure.


----------



## dickisnc (Jan 6, 2010)

Keystone doesn't hold boarders in a low regard by any means. Check out Area 51 their big park- a huge stomping ground for boarders. Never had any problems with the patrol- ever. Find the tiger woods shack off mazart and enjoy! As far as nightlife- there are a lot more options at breck- but between key, breck, and a-basin you'll be able to find any type of riding you wanna do.


----------



## surfstar (Mar 6, 2009)

Well, here's how our trip went... 

Got into Keystone where we were staying Sun night, caught the superbowl and settled in. I had to wait for my friend to do his 'work' conference Mon morning, so I could get in on the discounted tickets. 4 day pass for $240 was worth the wait. We hit Keystone all Mon afternoon and loved the runs; snow was good packed powder. By the time we went to A51 it was late enough that we only got two runs in and didn't get to the 'small' features. Most of A51 is HUGE hits. I don't do rails/boxes and stick to small/medium jumps and felt that the park was just too damned big for me. Later in the week we hit the small jumps and had fun on those especially as we could take the run all the way down to Peru express and get in jumps plus a great run instead of just lapping a park. 

Tue morning I tried A-basin for a couple hours while my friend was in meetings. Chill resort, but SLOW lifts and it was toe-numbing cold that morning. As in 0* in Keystone, so, much colder on the hill with wind chill. My size jumps there and early morning empty runs. Charged over to Vail for the afternoon, just to try it b/c you never know when/if we'll be back. Didn't have enough time to properly check it out, but had some fun runs. Snow was HARD and nearly icy - we assume it was from the ass-cold morning, and the snow for the rest of the trip was noticeably harder than our first day on Monday. Vail is frickin huge. Not a fan of the snobby town and no free parking to be found. 

Wed I hit Key in the morning and then we went to Breck for the afternoon. Loved the runs and snow at Breck. The medium sized jumps had lines which I hate waiting for (especially if its a larger jump that is gonna test my nerves), so we hit the smaller jumps and checked out some of the Peak 10 groomers. Some really, really fun black runs. Pretty dang empty too.

Thu was our last day boarding and we just stayed local at Key again. One thing I noticed about the mountains in Summit County vs CA was that many runs had either service roads or just natural mounds on the runs that were super fun to haul ass and boost off of. Mammoth doesn't have anywhere near as many. This also led to my worst fall of the trip when I was charging fast down Ballhooter on the left side, hit one of those mounds and went airborne without wanting/trying to boost. I would have recovered fine, but where I landed was on the uphill of the next mound so instead of landing, I just bounced (still upright) and knew it wouldn't end good. Nothing serious at least - just a high-speed wipe out, saved for the last day at least. 

Night life was limited to the Goat, which wasn't bad for what it was. Beat out the Alley Cantina in Taos. Met a ski-instructor from Vail who was in Key for work and the guy was a complete ringer at foosball. I mean like pro-level. Fun to try and watch; all you'd see is a blur and he'd place the ball wherever he wanted in the goal. Friendly locals and bartenders - even got a couple t-shirts on our last night.

Great trip - glad I got to check out as much as I did. Weekday riding meant NO CROWDS, which I always love. Heading to Mammoth in the morning and hoping to not catch weekend crowds, but at least we're there till Tue and don't have to board everyday


----------

