Keystone

The praise starts with night skiing - there is more of it here than anywhere else in Colorado, and the floodlit terrain is varied rather than one nursery slope. Reviewers note the terrain parks, the wealth of intermediate runs, the grooming and the heavy snowmaking, along with the fact that the resort is friendlier to families and to wallets than its neighbours.

Snow draws the criticism: Keystone gets the least natural snowfall in Colorado, roughly a third less than neighbouring Breckenridge. The second complaint is crowds: proximity to Denver, a cheaper ticket and easy terrain pull in the numbers, and the main Schoolmarm run gets congested. Strong skiers find little that is genuinely steep.