CMC Steamboat Springs student Dustin Eldridge recently headed south down Hwy 9 to catch opening day at Keystone. Below is is quick sum-up of opening day, first published in his CMC blog, Steamboat Livin’.
This past weekend I was able to spend a couple days riding at Keystone Resort, about 1.5 hours south of Steamboat. Steamboat’s perch atop northern Colorado gives the adventurous skier/rider a good base camp to go explore Colorado’s other mountains. And with Steamboat’s opening date set to Nov. 21st, there is still plenty of time to get the legs in shape before opening day.
Loveland, Arapahoe Basin, Copper, and Keystone were all open this past weekend. From now on, the next weeks of the season will see the opening of most of Colorado’s resorts from Aspen to Silverton. Colorado hasn’t seen much natural snowfall yet, which means that groomers and terrain park are the name of the ski-game for now. Be careful trying to venture into the trees and near the sides of runs, you might just happen across a season-ending surprise.
As always, Keystone set up an incredible opening day terrain park, quite possibly the best in the world at the time. The park had 25 features and some incredibly unique features to boot. Keystone used the 3-person Ranger chair to cater to the park crowd, while there were three other chairs and four runs for those outside the park. As expected of opening weekend, conditions were a little icy and crowded, but the pure joy of standing strapped in on some snow overcame any feelings of jealousy or anger.
It’s early in the season, so get out there, make some turns, and stay healthy for the long winter ahead. Breckenridge opens next week, and Steamboat shortly after that. Soon we will be able to venture to the trees, and out of bounds, but be patient, you wouldn’t want to end your season early.