Keystone has three mountains for skiing, Dercum Mountain (11640'), North Peak (11660') and Outback (11980'), and only one green trail from the top of a mountain was called Schoolmarm at Dercum. Despite the fact that the slopes at Keystone are steeper and longer than most trails we skied on before, we felt at ease with whatever trails we were on at Keystone, green, blue, even black!
First day at the ski resort, we were surprised by no lines at the rental house and lifts. With our spring break ahead of most other schools I guess we had this advantage
J The first trip downhill was an easy one, we took our friend and her son via Peru Express lift to get to the half way of Schoolmarm - the sun was shining, the sky was blue with scattered white clouds, and the crowd was thin. It was a perfect time for us to ski down this trail with beginners. Afterwards, we separated by skill levels.
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| Schoolmarm trail at Keystone |
Nicholas, Anthony, Allan and I took the Peru Express up again to ski down via Schoolmarm and turned to Dercum Dash to get to the base of the Summit Express lift, which brought us to the summit of Dercum Mountain. We skied together for a few runs on blue trails, Frenchman, Bachelor, Flying Dutchman ....before we separated again. Allan and I cruised down blue trails from the mountain top non-stop, without the usual pausing at each "slow" sign. Flying down the mountain was exciting and frequently adrenaline pumping. With years of skiing experience under our belts, our confidence level had a qualitative gain this year.
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| Nicholas and Anthony were skiing buddies for the first two days |
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| flying down a slope - 1 - see the splash |
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| flying down a slope - 2 |
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| flying down a slope - 3 |
On the second day we had gorgeous weather. We decided to
explore the terrain.
Most of the lifts here have the trail map on the bar of the chairs, making it convenient to plan out our trails. We
took the lift up, planned our route on the chair, and flew down the mountain to
catch the next lift. Within hours we had skied
all the blue trails here J
As we were wondering what else to do on day 3, Nicholas led
us to try some black trails. Pika trail at the back mountain looked short
enough on the map, but when we got there we realized it was through the trees.
We decided to give it a try with Nicholas leading the way gingerly maneuvering
through the moguls and between the trees. After some slow pace moving down, we
got out of the woods and enjoyed our speed downhill on blue.
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| entering moguls in the woods |
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| skiing on moguls in the woods for the first time |
Perhaps Oh, Bob
trail would be better since it’s in open space. Little Anthony had no concept
of fear and led the way down first. I was busy taking photos and was left way
behind. Looking at the bumpy road ahead of me, I wasn’t sure how I was going
down. Luckily Nicholas was waiting for me ahead and coached me on how to turn and
maneuver through the moguls. After a few falls, I was very happy to see that
Nicholas was waiting for me at the escape exit
J
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| The boys were on the moguls and I took pictures of them and my shadow |
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| Escape from Oh Bob |
In the afternoon, Allan and I skied by ourselves again, we waltzed through the easier trails interchanging blue and green
until our legs were burning.
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| taking a break |
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| taking a break |
