Every mountain town has its own special charm, so how do you choose where to go for those long summer and autumn weekends?

I encountered a perfect combination for my overnight at Keystone Resort in mid-July: mountain biking + outdoor yoga + wine tastings + live jazz = midsummer magic.

We came on a Friday, just in time for a little mountain biking and a taste of Keystone’s Friday Afternoon Club (FAC). This event brings visitors on a free lift ride to access the top of Dercum Mountain, located at 11,640 feet in elevation. It’s an ideal spot to wind down the week, with great views, live music, food and drink specials.

Keystone’s annual Wine and Jazz Festival was the main motivation for this visit, but in addition to the festival’s great tastings, informative seminars and live music, there was ample time to spend mountain biking, and I was blown away at the area’s beautifully developed bike trails.

The resort is known for its downhill mountain bike scene. I’m classically a fan of cross-country (with plenty of uphill, please), but I loved the smooth and flowing green routes and well-built blue trails — blacks, however, were a little too intense for me! You can’t ride uphill on the singletrack trails during Keystone’s operating hours (although you can ride Jackstraw Road road up). So, to get your climbing fix, get out there early and pedal before the lifts open at 10 a.m.

Image Courtesy of Keystone Resort

Keystone is open for daily summer operations through Monday, September 5, 2016, and then weekend-only operations September 10 and 11, as well as September 17 and 18.

After a morning ride, and an awesome mountaintop yoga session on Saturday, the time for wine arrived, and I dove right in with a well-rounded seminar on Pinot Noir around the world. Festivals are fun, but when it comes to eating and drinking events, I think the Click Here To Continue Reading

By: Kim Fuller, aka Fuller Ink, is a freelance writer and photographer based in Vail, Colorado.