Keystone, CO – Colorado’s list of open ski resorts will expand from three to five tomorrow with the addition of Keystone and Copper Mountain.
Keystone will make its season debut with 65 skiable acres on Dercum Mountain, and a weekend of events and activities to animate the start of another ski season. Lifts will open at 9 a.m. Friday, with skiing and riding through 4 p.m.
The resort will open with top-to-bottom skiing and riding on the intermediate Spring Dipper and River Run trails. The River Run gondola, Summit Express, Montezuma and Ranger lifts will provide uphill access for skiers and riders. For beginners, the resort is offering a learning area at the top of the mountain on the Endeavor trail, complete with a carpet lift open to the public. Keystone’s ski and ride school will also have ski and snowboard lessons available beginning on Friday. Additionally, the resort’s A51 Terrain Park is debuting the largest early season park in the country with more than 20 features on the Scout trail, all accessed by the designated Ranger chairlift. A beginner, intermediate and more advanced line will be available in the park, each comprised of a selection of boxes and rails.
Guests can begin the morning with a treat of warm doughnut, as well as hot chocolate and coffee at the base of the River Run Gondola. In honor of the resort’s 43rd season, the first 43 guests in line at the River Run Gondola will receive a Starbucks mug and gift card, while the first 200 skiers and riders in line for first chair will receive a raffle ticket, making them eligible for a number of prizes including a GoPro Hero 3, a Never Summer snowboard and Keystone logo wear. On Opening Day, Epic Passholders will be eligible to receive a free Epic knit hat as one of the first 150 passholders to “flash” their pass at the Epic tent in Gondola Plaza.
The weekend’s festivities will continue Friday and Saturday evening at the Get Stoked movie festival at Warren Station, located in the heart of Keystone’s River Run Village, featuring some of the year’s best ski and snowboard films. Free parking will be available in all resort parking lots Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Across Summit County at Copper Mountain, the American Eagle chairlift starts turning for the public at 9 a.m. tomorrow and at 8:30 a.m. on weekends and holidays. Throughout opening weekend, guests can experience top-to-bottom skiing and riding off the American Eagle chairlift and in the Easy Rider learning area. Woodward at Copper will feature over ten terrain park features in Woodward’s Eagle Terrain Park, catering to all ability levels.
Throughout opening weekend guests can get lucky on Copper Mountain’s Loot Lift, a contest based on the NYC hit Cash Cab. Guests riding the Loot Lift (a.k.a. the American Eagle chairlift) are randomly selected and quizzed on their ride to the top of the mountain, earning prizes as they go. Be sure to freshen up on Copper Mountain trivia, for prizes include complimentary Copper lift tickets, village gift cards, GoPro cameras and more.
The newly renovated Woodward at Copper Barn will be open daily starting Friday, from 1:30 to 8:00 p.m. The GoPro Digital Media Lab will also be back in action in Burning Stones Plaza during the weekends starting on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. GoPro Hero 3 daily rentals are available to capture the day on the hill for $29. Save the date for Woodward Remix, Nov. 30, including free sessions, skate and BMX demos and free kids skate jams.
The only full-length downhill training facility in the world available early season,The U.S. Ski Team Speed Center, opens for training on Copper’s opening day. The U.S. Alpine Ski Team will begin their road to Sochi training on Colorado snow at Copper Mountain. The full team of Olympic hopefuls, including Ted Ligety, Bode Miller, Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin will be introduced on Friday, Nov. 8, during the Nature Valley First Tracks Alpine Team Naming – a free all-American pep rally open to the public to kick off the ski and snowboard season. The full day event allows fans to catch the U.S. Ski Team training, participate in a fan-led parade and official naming ceremony, followed by an athlete autograph session and headlining band The Swon Brothers, recent finalists on NBC’s The Voice, in Burning Stones Plaza, located in Center Village.