Journal

Notes from the valley

Trip planning, trail and path guides, gear notes and Keystone basics — written by the people behind the counter, not by a marketing agency in Denver.

Latest posts

The paved bike path descending Vail Pass beside I-70
Summit County trip planning
18 June 20266 min read

Which Vail Pass shuttle trip should you pick?

Twelve, eighteen or twenty-four miles — all three start with the same van ride to the summit. The honest differences are how long you are out and how much of it you pedal.

An aspen grove in Summit County
Trail & path guides
11 June 20265 min read

Where to ride your first Summit County singletrack

The Frisco Peninsula is the friendliest dirt in the county and fifteen minutes from the shop. What to expect, what to rent, and when to turn around.

Buffalo Mountain above Lake Dillon in summer
Summit County trip planning
4 June 20267 min read

Keystone to Breckenridge and back on the rec path

Fifty paved, car-free miles link five towns and two passes. Here is how to ride the best of it in a day without a roof rack or a parking fee.

Keystone Lake and the resort village
Summit County trip planning
21 May 20265 min read

Three days in Summit County without a car

The Summit Stage is free and stops outside our door. A realistic three-day summer itinerary built entirely around it, with the bike rental doing the rest.

Night skiing under the lights at Keystone
Keystone 101
28 January 20264 min read

Night skiing at Keystone: what to expect

The biggest night-ski operation in Colorado is three miles from our door. Which runs stay open, how cold it really gets, and when to pick up your gear.

The Tenmile Range from the Schoolmarm trail at Keystone
Trail & path guides
15 January 20264 min read

Schoolmarm top to bottom: Keystone’s green runs

Keystone lets a first-day skier descend from the summit to the base on a green. That is rarer than it sounds, and it changes how you plan a beginner trip.

A skier in a Keystone bowl
Gear & tuning
10 December 20256 min read

What a stone grind actually does to your skis

Structure, base bevel, side bevel and wax — in plain language, and why a ski that works at Keystone in January is not the one you want at A-Basin in April.

A child on the magic carpet at Keystone
Gear & tuning
2 December 20254 min read

Bring the right socks: how we fit a rental boot

One thin pair, not two thick ones. The five minutes at our counter that decide whether your first day is fun, and what to say if something hurts.

Ski tracks looking back toward the Outback summit at Keystone
Keystone 101
20 November 20255 min read

9,400 feet: what the altitude actually does to you

About two thirds of the oxygen you get at sea level. What that means for your first day, your sleep, and the one drink that feels like three.

Why we write these

Local knowledge is the whole product

Anyone can rent you a pair of skis. What a shop that has been in one valley since 1983 can actually give you is the answer to the question behind the question — which trip to pick, when to be off the high ground, whether your kid is ready for a board, what the altitude is going to do to your first day.

These are the answers we give at the counter, written down so you can read them before you arrive. If yours isn't here, call us — we answer the phone.

Plan your trip
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(970) 468-0396