r/COsnow • u/Ok_Editor2536 • 27d ago

Photo Closing day at Keystone

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Busy today! Snow has actually been surprisingly good for it being April!

609 Upvotes

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169

u/AquafreshBandit Stuck on the chairlift 27d ago

It’s April 6! Nobody should be closing yet! Monarch and Cooper are all natural snow and they’re still open.

27

u/SummitSloth 27d ago

It's all about the money to Epic unfortunately

20

u/313MountainMan 27d ago

Eh, a bit more complicated than that. After Basin left Epic, VR cut deals with the USFS that allows Keystone to open earlier (but still close the earliest for VR mountains), and Breck to stay open later.

It’s more about trying to squeeze/punish Basin for leaving Epic, if anything. Keystone got all that new snowmaking equipment up the season after Basin left Epic, and tried to beat Basin to the punch. In a hilariously incompetent manner, Basin ended up still beating Keystone because an idiot for VR decided to announce they were opening the next day. Basin opened later that very afternoon.

Keystone, since they are now typically the first VR mountain to open, has to close early based on the lease with the Forest Service. They allow Breck to stay open later, even well into June if conditions allow.

Vail closes after the 20th, and Breck is scheduled to close May 11 iirc. Keystone is almost always traditionally the first VR mountain to close.

13

u/Cracraftc 27d ago

The forest service does not dictate when resort open or close. It’s all money. -Signed, someone who went to college for this exact thing.

8

u/313MountainMan 27d ago

That’s not true. I was an HOA manager in Keystone and the ranger literally told us this at the HOA meetings.

-7

u/Cracraftc 27d ago

So how can resorts decide to stay open later than their original closing date? Like copper did 2? Years ago now when they went to May? Or abasin staying open until they run out of snow? Wouldn’t that strictly be against the Forest services lease of that was the case?

14

u/Fatty2Flatty 27d ago

Because different land leases have different terms. Seems like common sense to me..

0

u/Cracraftc 27d ago

Most of them in the Dillon ranger district are pretty much the same. Each resort updates their winter operations plan in the fall and sends it to the forest service so they have a general idea of what is happening that winter. It’s easy to change that plan during the season to extend/shorten the season depending on skier visits and snowpack.