If you are curious about the giant construction project surrounding Keystone’s River Run gondola, it’s a village-sized resort that will change the look of the main base area.
Kindred Resort, set to open in the spring of 2025, is touted as “the most luxurious new slopeside property in the Colorado Rockies.”
Part of Vail Resorts’ RockResorts brand, the property consists of 107 high-end hotel rooms, 95 one-to-four-bedroom residences, a private club, spa, ski valet, the new headquarters for Keystone’s Ski & Snowboard School, upscale retail shops and three restaurants, all within steps of River Run Gondola.
“Kindred is going to be a game-changer,” says Ken Riley, the first mayor of Keystone, which became an incorporated town last February.
“It does feel like this is a missing link to what a top family-friendly resort can offer.”
While Keystone has long since boasted fine dining haunts like the Ski Tip Lodge and (located on one of its two world-class golf courses) Keystone Ranch, as well as a massive conference center and upscale spa at Keystone Lodge, it has always positioned itself as a more affordable family destination than surrounding ski resorts.
Despite the upscale developments starting with Kindred, Keystone still offers free parking within walking distance of lifts at River Run and Mountain House, family amenities, and lodging packages, including free lift tickets for kids.
Incorporating the town was crucial to Keystone’s journey toward improved infrastructure and offerings. Unlike neighboring Breckenridge, established as a town during the Gold Rush and built around the mining industry, early residents Max and Edna Dercum founded Keystone in 1970, built expressly as a ski resort.
Overseen by Keystone Resort’s first president, Bill Bergman, and his wife, Jane, the terrain initially consisted of a single mountain — Dercum Peak. Acquired by Ralston Purina in 1974, the resort expanded to include North Peak and then, in 1991, The Outback. Vail Resorts took over ownership and operations in 1997.
There were no further expansions of the ski area until last winter when Keystone added a high-speed chairlift to serve Bergman Bowl, a 500-acre area of open high alpine terrain previously only accessible by those willing to hike. The bowl is uniquely suited to skiers and riders of all ability levels.
“Where else in Colorado and probably the whole country can you have an above-treeline bowl experience that’s accessible to beginner skiers?” Riley says.
“The intermediate runs are tremendous. Even the more advanced runs that aren’t groomed provide a great opportunity for young intermediates to experience that next level with small moguls and softer snow. Bergman has changed how people move around the whole mountain. It was long overdue. Then you have Kindred, which will have a tremendous impact on River Run and future development in Keystone.”
Kindred Resort is expected to have a similar impact on River Run Village as the upscale Arrabelle Resort had on Vail’s Lionshead Village when it opened in late December 2007, transforming the entire aesthetic of that area.
Following Kindred’s construction launch in the fall of 2022, it sold nearly all its residences.
Price points range from $1.45 million for a one-bedroom to $6.25 million for the grand penthouse, which is 2,000 square feet with multiple balconies and views of the ski area and the Snake River below. Hotel rates vary wildly, depending on the season and unit size.
In addition to being pet-friendly and including air conditioning — the latter a rare find in any lodging facility in Summit County — every room has a balcony, coffee maker, bathrobes and slippers, daily housekeeping, and turn-down service. Room service is also available, as are in-room spa treatments — signature facials, massages, scrubs, wraps, collagen masks, CBD, hot stones, and more.
Independently owned and operated, the new restaurants include Lula’s, named after an early homesteader and the area’s first schoolteacher, Lula Myers, after whom the popular ski trail Schoolmarm is also named. Then there’s the lobby bar (called “the living room”), Kindred Spirit, and Kinji’s Sushi.
The Kids Zone includes a clubhouse and offers adventure camps, arts and crafts, and branded coloring books. Kindred’s courtyard is sprinkled with lawn games and fire pits where guests can indulge in gourmet s’mores.
“This new base area of River Run animates the whole gondola plaza,” says Kindred Resort Marketing Manager Amy Kemp.
“Historically, you’d come off the gondola and have to go across the bridge to get to restaurants and shops. This will literally bridge the gap between the mountain and village.”
According to Riley, the Mountain House base area will be next for a major facelift, the timing and specifics of which are still to be determined.
“As Kindred has gone in, we’ve seen a significant increase in property values in Keystone,” Riley says. “Next on the horizon is a redevelopment of Mountain House in the range of 500 condominiums. Kindred has the potential to jumpstart the development of the last area of true ski-in ski-out property in Colorado. It will provide that steppingstone to bring us back to that full
vision of a family resort.”
Carol Kerr began bringing her family to Keystone in the 1980s. A homeowner since 2018, a full-time resident since 2022, and a newly appointed Town Council member, Kerr has always been drawn to Keystone’s family friendliness and natural beauty, particularly nearby Lake Dillon, views of which are striking from the ridgeline atop Dercum Peak.
In the wake of Kindred and ensuing development, she believes the area’s natural beauty and welcoming nature will continue to define it.
“It comes back to the allure of nature. I think that will remain true,” she says. “At the same time, if there are a few more shops and restaurants to make people feel their aprés ski period is elevated, that feels great.”