How Keystone Resort Claimed the First Chair of 2025

On the morning of Saturday, October 25, 2025, the leadership team at Keystone Resort in Colorado had a big decision to make: were they ready to open? 

That question was on the minds of local skiers, too. Keystone had spent the days prior posting Instagram photos of snowcats, snow guns, and snow-covered slopes—all signs that an announcement was coming soon. Meanwhile, the staff were working hard to prepare the ski resort. 

Keystone relies on snowmaking to establish an initial skiable surface that spans about two miles. But this October in Colorado, the snowmaking conditions weren’t great, said Keystone’s senior director of mountain operations, Kate Schifani—if it isn’t cold enough, the snow guns can’t pump out flakes. 

With around four days of solid snowmaking, though, the Keystone team got creative. They tried stringing snowguns through the woods, creating new configurations to hit weak spots that needed more snow. 

They also reconsidered how much snow they really needed. Safe, groomable, and fun terrain are obvious prerequisites. But “Once we get there, we don’t need any extra, and so I think the team really leaned into that kind of mindset,” Schifani said.

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In the lead up to Saturday, Schifani walked the trails Keystone planned to open: Schoolmarm and Silver Spoon. By Friday, the slopes were skiable, and Schifani rode them alongside the ski resort’s snow surface director. They identified areas that weren’t ready yet. While the conditions looked favorable, it was still too early to make a call.

The next morning, they checked out the trails again, convened with the resort’s other leaders, and turned on the figurative green light. 

“Everybody had a chance to say, ‘Is this the right thing to do for Keystone?” said Schifani. “Unanimously, the answer was, ‘Yeah, let’s do this.'”

That translated to a buzzy social media post from Keystone. At 3 p.m. on Saturday, the resort would become the 2025-26 North American leader. In doing so, Keystone inched ahead of its neighbor, Arapahoe Basin, Colorado, which has a reputation as one of the first—or the first—ski resorts to open on the continent.

The timing lent the announcement a touch of lighthearted drama. 

Only hours earlier, Arapahoe Basin had said it would first welcome skiers and boarders Sunday morning. Below Keystone’s post, the upset seemingly left one commenter unable to contain themself. “TODAY IS MY SUPERBOWL THIS IS EPIC!” they wrote. 

While Keystone has opened on the same day as Arapahoe Basin or shortly afterward in the past, it hasn’t been the first ski resort to open since 1997. 

“Our team was really, really excited,” said Schifani. “We’re running high right now.”

The quick move mirrored a stunt Arapahoe Basin pulled several years ago. In 2019, Keystone was almost the season frontrunner, but Arapahoe Basin—just like Keystone this October—underwent a quick afternoon opening to sneak into first.

“We’ve been waiting for them to get us back from that year. So I can’t say we were crazy surprised,” said Shayna Silverman, Arapahoe Basin’s communications manager.

For Schifani, it felt good to win, but she explained that being first wasn’t the driving force behind the resort’s opening. Instead, she said, Keystone’s staff had decided that day to inspect the terrain, and if it were ready, they would open it.

Silverman said that Arapahoe Basin isn’t racing other mountains; instead, it’s focused on getting its guests back on the slopes as soon as possible.

Race or not, the back-and-forth between Keystone and Arapahoe Basin is friendly. 

“We’re excited for them. We were excited to kick off ski season,” said Silverman of Keystone’s opening. “It’s all for good fun.”

Wherever it happens, the moment a new ski season starts is electric. One member of Keystone’s staff spied someone speeding towards the base area on an e-bike with a snowboard strapped to their back, only minutes after the ski resort announced its afternoon opening. Later, the first skiers and boarders in line burst through an opening day banner atop the River Run gondola.

“It really felt like a local celebration, and it was just great. Everybody was in the best mood,” Schifani said.

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