Unlike the panorama you often get when approaching a big resort, a good deal of Keystone's assets are hidden and it is easy to under estimate a Keystone ski vacation. That's because the resort's second peak, North Peak, is hidden behind the first one, Dercum Mountain (named after Keystone's founders Max and Edna Dercum), and the third peak, The Outback, is hidden behind the second. Get back to either North Peak or The Outback and there are Rocky Mountain panoramas sure to satisfy.

Over the past few years Keystone, one of North America's busiest resorts, has made a number of improvements-some would say it's been more of a transformation-to keep the crowds coming back. Along with yearly upgrades of its snowmaking capacity (which now covers over 600 acres) even more important changes, such as the building of River Run Village, should make the resort more attractive. River Run, with its collection of shops, boutiques, restaurants, bars, and condominiums at the base of the River Run Gondola, gave Keystone a needed focal point. With the rebirth of the Mountain House area, Keystone resort's original locus, as an under-25 gathering point-along with a huge lighted terrain park in Packsaddle Bowl-Keystone has staked a claim for the youth market as a stand-alone group.

That said there's plenty of family terrain at Keystone. Long green and blue cruisers wind down from the summit of Dercum Mountain. Further back on North Peak the blues give way to a few more blacks, while way back in The Outback North and South Bowls and the forest below them offer plenty of true black diamond terrain, much of it underused. Keystone has recently added 861 acres of snowcat-accessible bowl and tree-skiing, and has increased its overall vertical another 500 feet adding to is vacation experience.

The skiing and riding need not end when the sun goes down, because on most Wednesday to Sunday nights (and other selected dates) Keystone lights 15 trails, a half pipe and a terrain park.