Backcountry Skiing at Keystone

Just because the lifts are closed doesn't mean there isn't still good skiing available! A few friends and I headed up to Keystone for a great day of in-bounds backcountry. Keystone closed two weeks ago, but recently received over 9 inches of fresh powder; it was surprisingly crowded (there were about 2 dozen people on the lower slopes just hiking up to grab some of the new snow) but once we got above the first 1000 feet, it cleared out quickly. We climbed 2300 feet over 2.2 miles - it took us about 2.5 hours to get to the top (a far cry from the typical 8 minute gondola ride) but we had wonderful untracked snow most of the way down!