SKIERS, ’BOARDERS TAKE TO THE SLOPES UNDER THE LIGHTS
Most resorts shut down the slopes before dark. Others offer skiers and riders an experience that’s hard to come by in Colorado.
KEYSTONE» Three hours after dark fell on Summit County during a vigorous January snowstorm, most skiers and riders were wrapping up runs in 3 to 4 inches of freshies under flurries that shimmered in the slope-side lights. Near the bottom of the mountain that boasts Colorado’s largest night-skiing operation, Dillon residents Ryan and Jessica Grafmiller were finishing off their last run with their 4-year-old daughter, Olivia.
It was Olivia’s first time skiing without Edgie Wedgies attached to her tips to assist her in holding the pizza position, and she made it top to bottom — all 2,200 feet of Keystone’s vertical drop — on the 3.5mile Schoolmarm run.
“She did awesome, we’re proud of her,” Ryan said. “That’s a lot of vertical feet to ski on those little legs.”
It was one snapshot in a gallery of scenes. Night skiing may not be as popular among Colorado skiers as it is for their counterparts in the Northeast or Midwest, but those who took advantage of it along with the Grafmillers on Wednesday night were enthusiastic.
“I love night skiing because I work Monday through Friday during
the day,” Jessica said. “I would much prefer to be out in the evenings on the weekdays than be out on the weekend.”
Keystone and Steamboat are the only major Colorado resorts that offer night skiing, although Purgatory is offering it this season for the first time in many years because its tiny sister ski area, Hesperus, has been unable to open due to lack of snow. Steamboat began offering night skiing four years ago.
Keystone installed lights in 1985, when the Summit County ski areas had different owners. It was a way to differentiate Keystone from rivals Breckenridge and Copper Mountain, and it still serves that purpose in an era when Keystone and Breck are part of the Vail Resorts empire. Keystone is open from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
“We have the longest ski day in Colorado,” Keystone spokesman Russell Carlton said. “It adds value to the experience for local guests and destination guests. For our local guests, it’s included on their season (Epic) passes. If they are working and it’s a day like today when it doesn’t start snowing until noon or 2, they can get out of work and get some runs in.”
It also can be a sweetener for Front Range weekend warriors, allowing them to avoid the aggravation of peak traffic on Interstate 70 by heading west after the early-morning rush, skiing until closing and heading home long after eastbound traffic has thinned out.
Skiers and riders who grew up in the Northeast and Midwest can be taken aback by how night skiing is so uncommon in Colorado. One reason is location. Ski areas in the Midwest, for example, tend to be small operations near big cities. A famous one is tiny Buck Hill, a 300-foot hill in a southern suburb of Minneapolis by Interstate 35 where Lindsey Vonn and other future Olympians learned to ski.
Fred Klaas, the general manager of the small Echo Mountain ski area high above Idaho Springs, grew up skiing the little areas along the MinnesotaWisconsin border near the Twin Cities, and he knows Buck Hill well.
“It’s cool because on the back side of it is a neighborhood,” Klaas said. “Half the people who commute from those southern suburbs in the Twin Cities, they’re probably commuting by Buck Hill on their way home.”
Klaas wants Echo to become a Colorado version of that experience. Echo, which is in its second year under new ownership after the previous owner went bankrupt, is only 25 miles from the Denver metro area and is open until 9 p.m.
“With what we’re trying to do here, distance can be significantly advantageous,” Klaas said. “We may not have as much vertical (as major Colorado resorts), we may not have as much volume of terrain. But you can get a lot more laps in here, the terrain is great for anyone of any ability, and you can be home and in bed in 30 minutes.”
There are other reasons Coloradans aren’t as fond of night skiing, which usually comes with relatively cold temperatures. The state is spoiled by 300-plus days of sunshine and bluebird skiing with inviting snow conditions. Midwesterners can’t afford to be as choosy. Jason Martin of Minneapolis, who was at Keystone Wednesday night, helped explain the mind-set.
“For two weeks it was zero degrees or less in Minnesota,” Martin said of a recent arctic blast back home. “You don’t want to ski in that. So when it is good weather, you want to ski as long as possible.”
The fresh snow Wednesday brought out lots of Summit County locals, packing gondola cars all night.
“The snow is really good,” Ryan Grafmiller said. “It’s not too cold, nice fresh air, pretty quiet. Dur- ing the day there’s more terrain open, but it’s pretty special to be able to come out here and do this at night, too.”
On clear nights, the view from the top of Keystone takes in the lights of Dillon, Silverthorne and Breckenridge far below. Only Steamboat can offer a similar view among Colorado resorts, and Keystone offers twice the vertical of Steamboat at night.
“You’ve got to fit in as much riding around work as you can,” Keystone regular Lindsay McDermott, who works in Frisco boutiques, said. “I like the stars at night, they’re beautiful. And less people. With a full moon, that’s always fun.”
One man on the mountain Wednesday night earned his turns. Erik Severinghaus, a Chicago entrepreneur, skinned up the mountain on alpine touring gear, wearing a red headlamp to warn descending skiers of his presence. Severinghaus is in Colorado training for a trip to Mount Everest in March. Monday night he skinned up Steamboat.
“I love it,” Severinghaus said. “There’s something about being out here at night time. It’s just so much fun.”
There’s a little more fun on Saturdays at Keystone with fireworks at 7 p.m.
“I just love riding at night,” Scott Meyer, a photographer who lives in Keystone, said. “There’s not as many people out. The fireworks are cool. It’s always a good time. It’s really the best time to meet up with friends and ride.”