Snowing on arrival .. gradually visibility improved and the sun came out for a while. Very cold (sub zero Fahrenheit all day) so virtually no queues at any time.
4-6" fresh snow over night, so this was another powder day. All of the groomed runs had the overnight snow, the ungroomed runs were all very soft.
I headed to Keystone virtually at opening time and rented some K2-FOUR side-cut skis - a little longer than on previous days (and I felt the difference in my legs).
Flying Dutchman provided a great intermediate warm up run and after my second trip up the gondola, I headed for the Outback.
Diamond Back on the backside of Keystone mountain was a long, not particularly difficult black.
Anticipation, the run down from North Peak was a long intermediate groomed cruise.
Outback, the newest area of Keystone to be opened offers a tremendous variety of runs and seems to have been designed to allow intermediates to try more difficult terrain. All three of the main runs were wide and groomed on one side only.
Oh, Bob was the only ungroomed intermediate run. Apart from a short steep section at the bottom, the run is easily graded and the soft snow meant that it forgave mistakes - a great confidence builder.
Wolverine is a rare intermediate tree run. It is graded "blue-black" and it is necessary to turn quickly and under control to avoid trees. The deep powder made it more difficult, but more forgiving.
As the legs got tired, I headed back towards the base area. This means taking the lift up to North Peak, skiing down and taking the lift up the backside of Keystone Mountain.
Cat-Dancer down from North Peak looked inviting. The top section was ungroomed, but soft and easily graded. Very deceptive! Overall, the run was not incredibly difficult, but at 2000' of vertical, unrelenting moguls once the short top section was passed, it was very tiring. A combination of soft snow on top of some pretty big moguls did not allow any time for relaxing.
Another great day!
| Lift | Vertical | Intermediate Runs | Top Intermediate Runs | Advanced Runs |
| Skyway | 2340 | Midland, River Run, Flying Dutchman | Jackwhacker | |
| Skyway | 2340 | Diamond Back | ||
| Santiago | 2000 | Anticipation, Shortcut, Spillway | ||
| Outback | 1800 | Elk Run, Oh, Bob! | ||
| Outback | 1800 | The Willows, Porcupine | ||
| Outback | 1800 | The Willows | Wolverine | |
| Break | ||||
| Outback | 1800 | Oh, Bob! | Escape | |
| Outback | 1800 | Porcupine, The Willows | Pika | |
| Outback | 1800 | Oh, Bob! | ||
| Wayback | 1800 | Cat Dancer | ||
| Ruby | 2000 | River Run, Flying Dutchman | ||
| Total vertical | 23080 |
Last updated: 12/01/97