Jay Peak Surf Series(Photo: Courtesy of Jay Peak)
It’s been a scorcher this summer on Colorado’s Front Range. My respite: escaping to some of my favorite ski resorts. Yes, ski resorts. I’ve lived in Colorado for over a decade and have spent most winter weekends riding the lifts at resorts like Vail, Keystone, and Snowmass. As soon as the snow started to melt, so did the appeal of those ski villages. Throughout summer, I’d pass them without a second thought, as I drove toward a trailhead or campsite. And if I was in a mountain town like Steamboat Springs or Winter Park, I’d explore the surrounding wilderness rather than make the short drive to the ski areas, which felt like they went into hibernation come spring.
Ski resorts dazzle winter visitors annually with new investments like high-speed, heated chairlifts, expanded terrain, and big-name DJs headlining après-ski bars. But in the last few years, assnow seasons become shorterand less predictable, ski resorts across the U.S. have been quietly enhancing their post-winter allure beyond scenic lift rides and hiking trails. New mountain bike terrain,via ferratas, wave-riding experiences, amenity-laden boutique hotels, and cool festivals and events are capturing the attention of outdoor enthusiasts, myself included.
My partner and I recently went to a wedding near Colorado’s Keystone Resort, which I’ve always viewed as a day-trip destination, even in winter. But the ski area welcomed its first full-service hotel,Kindred, this May, giving us a basecamp steps from the The River Run Gondola which takes riders up to the top of Dercum Mountain. Kindred’s dining venues—from a sushi restaurant to a burger-and-beer tavern—communal lawn, swimming pool, and novel summer programming such as silent morning nature walks, culinary workshops, fire-pit storytelling, and astronomy nights with the Keystone Science School, created an energy that hadn’t previously existed.
We planned to spend one night so we could check out the Keystone Bike Park, which had just completed a new trail,WD-40. Their first new mountain biking trail in nearly a decade is a cruisy blue (medium-difficulty rating) with jumps and wooden features built from reclaimed Keystone’s Bergman Bowl snow fencing. It allows riders to bypass the easiergreen trail and reach the switchbacks and berms of theMosquito Coasttrail much faster.
When I learned about Keystone’s Summer Afternoon Club—free gondola rides from 4 to 7 P.M. every Thursday up to Dercum Peak (dogs included!) for a free concert and barbecue, we decided to stay an extra day. Once we arrived and discovered it was theWine and Jazz Festivalweekend, we extended our stay even longer. We were completely surprised by how much there was to do.
More than 50 ski resortsacross the West closed early this winter due to poor snow conditions. To ease the financial blow, many got their summer operations up and running ahead of schedule. Winter Park, 67 miles from Keystone, typically opens Trestle Bike Park in mid-June but had riders on the trails by Memorial Day weekend this year. The ski area also introduced a family-friendly 2.4-mile out-and-backAlpine Fairy Trailand its newly upgraded, 3,000-foot-longalpine slide. Vail is enticing visitors this summer with a handful of newsignature summer programsranging from high-alpine Jeep tours that culminate in chef-curated mountain-top picnics to guided cycling adventures paired with yoga and a sound bath.
And about a 2.5-hour drive from Winter Park,Steamboat Resort is luring visitors to the mountain with Friday nightcomedy showsheld at 9,000 feet in Thunderhead Lodge, Saturdaymovie nightsandconcertshosted in the village plaza, and Sunday yoga classes on the lawn outside of Thunderhead Lodge (allfree or by donation). The resort continues to expand its hiking and biking trails, but this August, endurance junkies can test their mettle at a29029 event. Ski resorts have become perfect host sites for this unique endurance challenge. Also known as Everesting, participants bag 29,029 feet—the equivalent height of Mount Everest—by hiking up and riding the gondola down over 36 hours.
Summit Observatory Accessible for All
Big Sky Resort in Montana proves it lives up to its name with this summer’s debut ofKircliff, a futuristic, steel-and-glass observation deck built at the 11,166-foot summit of Lone Peak. Visitors—including wheelchair users—can ride the new Explorer gondola from the base, connect to the Lone Peak tram, which travels 2,000 vertical feet in four minutes, and be deposited at Montana’s highest scenic overlook. On a bluebird day, visitors can see more than ten mountain ranges across three states—Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming—withYellowstoneand Grand Teton National Parks visible in the distance. And the addition of the Explorer gondola now makes it easier to access the resort’s 50-plus miles of mountain bike trails.
In Aspen, the mountains have largely been a pretty backdrop to summer events like the annual Food and Wine Classic and Aspen Art Week. That’s changing. “Summer is an increasingly important part of our business, and we’re investing in it accordingly,” Susan Cross, vice president of mountain operations for Aspen Snowmass This year, she shared they’ve doubled bike haul capacity on the new Elk Camp Chair at Snowmass, expanded family access to Snowmass’ Lost Forest and Elk Camp Gondola, as well as the Silver Queen Gondola on Aspen Mountain.
Other reasons to ride the gondola in Aspen this summer included aJuly wellness eventhosted in collaboration with global morning dance community Daybreaker, andon-mountain Sunday brunchesat the Cabin and Elk Camp in Snowmass and the Sundeck on Aspen Mountain. Tamarack Resort in western Idaho just upped its summer game with a new100-slip public marinaon Lake Cascade that rents paddleboards and kayaks; rentable private cabanas line the beach and a waterfront Hawaiian food truck almost (almost) makes you feel like you’re on the shores of Oahu or Maui.
On the East Coast, the summer thrills to be had at Killington Resort in Vermont are reminiscent of the boardwalk rides of my childhood summers on the Jersey Shore. The mountain’sadventure centeralready had more than a half dozen attractions, including a 4,800-foot-long alpine coaster that twists and turns through the woods with 360-degree corkscrews and Soaring Eagle, a sort of inverted roller coaster set 100 feet off the ground that glides for 600 feet at 30 miles per hour.
This July, as part of a $215,000 investment in summer activities—one of Killington’s largest summer capital expenditures in the past decade—the resort added a 24-foot climbing wall, a 24-foot tower of webbed netting which you climb up and slide down, plus an enhanced bungee-assisted trampoline jump. “Investments like these enhance the guest experience and reinforce that there’s plenty of fun to be had here long after the snow melts each spring,” says Josh Reed, a spokesperson at Killington Resort.
Each summer in the Poconos Mountains of Pennsylvania, Camelback ski resort turns intoCamelbeach, the state’s largest outdoor waterpark, boasting 39 waterslides, a wave pool, and a lazy river. This summer, the family-friendly attraction transforms into an adults-only beach club on Saturday nights with live DJs and extended hours for some of the most popular slides.
First DarkSky Ski Resort and New Via Ferratas
In Sun Valley, the late-night draw isn’t DJs, but the quiet of the night sky. The resort recently earned an internatioanlDarkSky certification, marking a milestone for U.S. mountain ski resorts andastrotourism. Snow King Mountain in Jackson, has also bet big on astrotourism, recently investing in the country’s only mountain-topobservatory and planetarium. In mid-July, adventure-minded boutique hotel brand Trailborn opened in the base area.
I was in Teton Village at Wyoming’sJackson Hole Mountain Resort in early July and while the town swelled with tourists, the ski area, located 12 miles or a roughly 30-minute drive depending on traffic, felt quiet. Last week, afree shuttleconnecting Town Square and Teton Village was announced in an effort to get more visitors to the mountain. Other big draws: the newCorbet’s Couloir via ferrataacross one of North America’s scariest ski runs, and the food atSure Hand, the restaurant in the new Faraway hotel at the base.
Jay Peak in Vermont has also been investing in summer restaurant programming, like weekly themed dinners at both the Foundry and the Clubhouse Grille, to give both locals and guests more reasons to visit the resort. The mountain’s big summer draws have been its golf course and waterpark. Last summer, Jay Peak tapped the top U.S.-ranked FlowRider athleteMonica Caffreyto teach an eight-week lesson series insideVermont’s only indoor waterpark. The series culminates with the park’s annual FlowRider competition.
Jay Peak’s Goatscaping Chew Crew Attracts Visitors
But the most unexpected pull for visitors has been Jay Peak’sChew Crew, a herd of Vermont-raised goats and sheep that naturally maintain ski trails through goatscaping. What started as a pilot last year has become a guest attraction in its own right, with visitors hiking out to watch and snap photos of the animals at work. Last year, the goats even made an appearance at Jay Peak’s annualBean & Brew Festival.
“For mountain resorts, summer isn’t simply the off-season anymore,” says Steve Wright, president and general manager at Jay Peak. “It’s become an opportunity to introduce new audiences to the mountain in ways they may never have considered. Whether that’s live music, surfing, goats on ski trails or simply spending an evening outdoors over dinner, every experience helps build a year-round relationship with the resort while easing the concentration of visitors in traditional tourism areas.”
We still have six weeks of official summer left, plus fall foliage on the way. Until that first snowfall, I’ll be riding the chair lift to other seasonal alpine adventures and practicing my après ski game at upcoming mountain events like theBig Sky Food & Wine FestivalandWhistler Village Beer Festival.
Jen Murphy is a regular contributor toOutside.Based in Colorado, she regularly hits the ski resorts of Keystone and Snowmass in the summer and fall to hike and mountain bike.