Snowmaking enhancement project
Update: October 12, 2019 is Opening day!
It’s here – the moment we’ve been waiting for! Keystone will open Saturday, October 12 for our earliest opening in over 20 years! Check out the snow we got yesterday 😍☝️❄️ Thanks to our #KeyPeople who helped upgrade our snowmaking system this summer, we’re positioned to be the first ski resort in North America to open for the 19-20 season! Lifts will start turning as early as possible, so stay tuned for details. Buy your pass today, ski tomorrow, (prices go up Sunday). We’ll see you tomorrow for #KeystoneKickoff
Update: Oct 9, 2019 – Snowmaking science
💧+ 🌬= ❄️? How do these snow guns actually make snow? Water, air and cold temperatures are a good start! Soon enough, Mother Nature will provide a helping hand… We can’t wait to share #KeystoneKickoff with you! 🚀❄️
Update: Sept 25, 2019 – Our water source!
Adam walks us through how water travels from the Lake Dillon Reservoir to Keystone snowmaking and back again! Snowmaking is largely non-consumptive with water returning to the local watershed in the spring, but make sure to enjoy the snow while it’s on the mountain!
Update: Sept 12, 2019 – Control room
Today we chat with Ben Fisher, a snowmaking tech at Keystone, about the control center at the heart of our snowmaking operation!
Update: Aug 28, 2019 – Snowmaking automation
Lights off at night, internal weather systems, and articulating snow guns… listen in as Tracy Bartels, (Keystone’s senior director of mountain operations), walks us through some of the automation benefits of our new snowmaking upgrades!
Keystone Kickoff is right around the corner, and progress continues!
Update: Aug 14, 2019 – New pipe
This summer, our teams are hard at work! Check back here for updates as the season grows closer.
Devin Edwards, Snowmaking Manager at Keystone diving into some tech specs on the pipe install that will make snowmaking even more efficient this season!
Get ready for winter and stay tuned for updates!
Aug 1, 2019 – Snowmaking upgrades!
Keystone’s own Loryn Roberson is sharing the exciting updates to our snowmaking systems!
We’re upgrading our snowmaking system to a state-of-the-art, automated, energy-efficient system that will assist in allowing us to operate more productively in the early-season.
This investment in snowmaking will help to position Keystone as one of the first resorts to open in Colorado and the U.S. each season. This could bring our opening day forward by up to three weeks!
The project consists of power upgrades, digging new pipes, and the installation of new, high-efficiency snowguns that are able to make more snow using less energy. In September, the entire snowmaking system will be ready for testing and charging. In ideal conditions, snow can begin to be made in early October.
Our team is busy working on this project now, and it is expected to be completed and available for use beginning with the 2019-20 season.
The capital investment plans at Keystone Resort focus on Dercum Mountain and will automate snowmaking and add additional snowmaking hydrants across 44 acres of terrain, as well as replace aging infrastructure in order to operate more effectively and efficiently in narrow early-season production windows. The upgrades to Keystone’s existing snowmaking infrastructure will take advantage of improved technology to make snow in a more energy-efficient manner.