Keystone Beginner Skiing

Making up 19 percent of 3,148 acres, the Keystone beginner skiing accounts for a nice chunk of the pie. Beginners will find they can get high up on the mountain and enjoy epic views of Keystone’s Independence Mountain, Keystone Peak and Wapiti Peak. Not every resort can offer beginner skiers this kind of high alpine experience.

Keystone Beginner Terrain

Beginners at Keystone will appreciate the “learning area” at the top of 11,640-foot Dercum Mountain. There’s also another area at the base area, featuring the Discovery chairlift and several magic carpets. But, from Decrum Mountain beginners can soak in the views and see more of what Keystone terrain has to offer. This learning zone is a designated “slow skiing” area, ensuring beginners feel safe and comfortable when learning new skills. This area features a magic carpet for “never evers” and a small chair lift, Ranger, for beginners with a little more experience under their belt. Ranger is a great chairlift to learn on.

Once beginners feel ready to ski longer novice trails, they can simply hop right on the Schoolmarm trail, which abuts the magic carpet and take that to the either the River Run or Mountain Home base area. From there they can get on either River Run’s gondola back to the top or Argentine to Montezuma Express, both routes take beginners back to the summit of Decrum Mountain. The Schoolmarm trail and the other green circle trails, like Schoolmaster and Silver Spoon, that surround it are all in a “slow skiing” area, so this section is great for learning, and it’s a great zone for kids, since there are fun and easy tree trails and mini camps along the way.

Keystone Ski School

Both kids and adults will love learning to ski with the help of Keystone Ski School. Never-evers will appreciate Keystone Ski School’s approach, since they ease you into skiing. Keystone Ski School recommends that the first day on skis should be a half-day, since it takes a bit of time to simply get used to the equipment. But, in a matter of days, beginner skiers will be able to ski most of the Keystone beginner terrain thanks to knowledgeable ski instructors and their proven method.