Keystone

Keystone Resort spreads across three distinct mountains in Summit County, Colorado — Dercum Mountain, North Peak, and The Outback — each with its own character. With 3,148 acres, 20 lifts, and 235 inches of average annual snowfall, Keystone is one of the largest ski areas in Colorado. It's also one of the few in the state that offers night skiing, extending the day on Dercum's front side well into the evening under lights.

Keystone opened in 1970 as a Ralston Purina development, with the original terrain on Dercum Mountain. The resort expanded to North Peak in 1984 and then into The Outback in 1990, adding progressively more advanced terrain with each phase. That layered expansion gives Keystone an unusual structure: beginners and families claim Dercum's gentle front-side runs, intermediates push into North Peak's steeper groomers and glades, and advanced skiers work the bowls and chutes of The Outback — all connected by a logical lift progression.

Today, Keystone operates under Vail Resorts and has invested heavily in terrain parks, particularly the A51 park on Dercum Mountain, which has hosted professional competitions and remains one of the best freestyle setups in Colorado. But the quieter draw is how well the mountain works for groups with mixed abilities — a family can split up in the morning, ski genuinely different terrain, and meet for lunch at the mid-mountain Outpost without anyone feeling like they compromised. The peak elevation reaches 12,408 feet, and the Bergman and Erickson Bowls off The Outback deliver above-treeline skiing that feels far more remote than its proximity to I-70 would suggest. Mtns Co carries Keystone gear because this is a mountain that quietly delivers more terrain than most people expect.