Founding the Resort

With a knowledge of forestry and skiing, Max determined that it would be an ideal place for a ski area. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Max hiked and scouted the mountain, drew up plans for the ski area, and created a papier-mâché model of the mountain ranges with his dream ski area on it. After discussing this dream at a New Year's party (1968-1969), Bill Bergman, a corporate lawyer from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, also fell in love with the idea of Keystone. At 3 am on New Year's Day, Bill and Max made a handshake deal to found Keystone International, with a goal to create a ski resort.^[2]

The summers of 1969 and 1970 were nothing but action and activity. Bill and Max wanted to respect the mountain environment and history of the area in the development of a year-round resort. They hired lumbermen to hand cut the ski trails, which Max laid out to follow the natural contours of the mountain. Rather than build additional roads on the mountain, they utilized the old timber and mining roads and installed the lift towers with helicopters. A wetland easement was also included in the development so no building would be directly on the Snake River.^[3]

Keystone opened on November 21, 1970.

In May, 1974 Keystone was acquired by Ralston Purina^[4][5]

1976 Winter Olympics

Independence Mountain was an Olympic finalist and nearly selected for the signature alpine skiing downhill event for the ill-fated 1976 Winter Olympic Games initially awarded to Denver, USA.^[6] Lands owned by the Denver Water Board at the base of Independence Mountain were given serious consideration by the Forest Service as an alternative second base area for Keystone ski area to reduce vehicle and skier congestion at the existing portals, and as an alternative ski lift connection and new portal serving the backside of Arapahoe Basin ski area. Speculation about conflicts in the Snake River Valley with the lynx reintroduction program stifled further study and land allocation. Prior to formal expansion of Keystone ski area onto Independence Mountain this terrain was under permit by multiple guide and outfitters in the 1970s and 80s using snowcats and helicopters for alpine skiing.

North Peak expansion

North Peak opened for skiing in 1984. Two trails, Diamond Back and Mozart allow access to North Peak from Dercum Mountain. North Peak initially featured 7 trails, serviced by two Lift Engineering triple chairlifts. Santiago serviced the North Peak pod, while Teller, now known as Ruby Express, provided egress back to Dercum Mountain. As part of the expansion, a second base area was opened at River Run, with a gondola running all the way to the Summit House. This easterly expansion of Dercum Mountain also saw the introduction of several trails in the Spring Dipper area, and a new triple chairlift, Erickson, to service them.

In 1986, the original River Run Gondola was removed and replaced with a new gondola constructed by Von Roll, reusing the original gondola terminals.

1990s

In 1990, Keystone entered the detachable industry as Doppelmayr constructed two high speed quads to replace aging lifts on Dercum Mountain. The Peru Express lift replaced a Heron Poma double, providing nonstop access from the Mountain House base area to the Packsaddle Bowl and west side of the mountain. It was supplemented by the Montezuma Express lift, which replaced a Yan triple chairlift and provided access to all trails on the upper and central part of Dercum Mountain.

In 1991, Keystone opened an expansion into the Outback, located beyond North Peak. Doppelmayr constructed three new lifts to service the expansion. A two-way gondola, known as the Outpost Gondola, was built from the summit of Dercum Mountain over to North Peak. Within the expansion, a new high speed quad known as the Outback Express was built to service the Outback trails, and a fixed grip quad known as Wayback was built to service two access trails leading to the Outback as well as provide egress from the area.

In 1996, Vail Resorts announced plans to acquire Keystone and Breckenridge's parent company Ralston Resorts Inc. from Ralston Purina. The merger was approved by the U.S. Department of Justice on January 3, 1997.^[7]

In 1997, the Erickson triple chairlift on Dercum Mountain was removed and replaced with a new Doppelmayr high speed quad, named the Summit Express, running parallel to the River Run Gondola for its entire length. That same year, a new triple chairlift known as Ranger was built to open up a learning area at the summit of Dercum Mountain.

In 1998, the Santiago Express was built to replace the Santiago triple chairlift on North Peak.

2000s

In 2000, the original Ruby (then Teller) lift was removed and replaced with a high speed six pack. The Ruby Express was constructed by Poma and provided faster egress out of North Peak and the Outback.

In 2008, the River Run Gondola, nearing 22 years of continuous service, was retired and replaced with a new gondola. Doppelmayr constructed the replacement River Run Gondola, which had its base area terminal moved from adjacent to the Summit Express to a new location across the river, shortening the walking distance for guests. The new gondola also features a mid-station, allowing guests to upload or download from midway up Dercum Mountain, as well as service a new learning area.

2010s

In 2014, the Outback Express was given a capacity upgrade to 2,400 pph, using chairs transferred over from the Peru Express and Montezuma Express lifts.

For the 2017 season, Keystone built their second high speed six pack, bringing in Leitner-Poma to replace the Montezuma Express lift. Parts from the old lift were relocated to Beaver Creek Resort and used to construct their Red Buffalo Express.

2020s

In 2021, Keystone completed the upgrade of the Peru Express lift, replacing it with a high-speed 6-passenger chair. Part of this project also included removing the Argentine Chair, which was an original lift from the resort.

In 2022, Keystone will be expanding its lift-serviced terrain into Bergman Bowl, including a new chairlift, new trails, new snowmaking and a ~6000sqft expansion of the Outpost Restaurant. While this area of the resort is currently open for hike-to accessed skiing and riding, this project unlocks access for novice and intermediate guests and provides expanded entry to expert terrain in Independence and Erickson Bowls.^[8]

Elevation

• Base: 9,280 feet (2,830 m)
• Summit: 12,408 feet (3,782 m)
• Vertical Rise: 3,128 feet (953 m)

Trails^[9]

• Skiable Area: 3,149 acres (12.74 km²)
• Trails: 130 total (12% beginner, 39% intermediate, 49% advanced/expert)
  • Bowls: Independence, Bergman, Erickson, North, and South
• Longest Run: Schoolmarm - 3.5 miles (5.6 km)
• Average Annual Snowfall: 230 inches (580 cm)
• Terrain Parks:
  • The A51 Terrain Park, a section of the resort with various features including for trick performance.
  • 51 rails and funboxes.

Slope Aspects

• North: 47%^[10]
• East: 13%
• West: 30%
• South: 10%

Terrain park

Keystone Resort features the "A51 Terrain Park" on Dercum Mountain, which has been noted as one of the more progressive terrain parks in the region.^[11]

Lifts

• Keystone has 12 chairlifts,^[12] and 8 surface lifts.

• Keystone has 8 surface lifts: Midway Carpets (2), Kokomo Carpet (2), Double Barrel Carpet (2), Triangle Carpet, Ski School Carpet, and the Tubing Hill Carpet

Teller Lift Accident

The Teller Lift was a Yan 1000 model triple chair installed in 1984 as part of the North Peak expansion. On December 14, 1985, the upper bullwheel disconnected from the main gearbox shaft, resulting in dozens of lift riders being thrown from their chairs onto the slope below. Two riders were killed and an additional 47 were injured.^[13] Faulty welding was blamed for the accident.^[14] The lift was rebuilt by Yan as the Ruby Lift, free of charge. Settlements between Yan and injured skiers topped over seven million dollars.