This year is my 20th year producing the Keystone Mountain Bike Trail Map.

2013

Keystone Bike Trail Map

1994

I designed the resort’s first bike map in 1994.

Keystone Bike Trail Map 1994

It was pretty crude. I was scanning in old USGS paper maps, stitching them together in Photoshop and drawing the trail overlays in Aldus (Macromedia?) FreeHand. (I still prefer FreeHand to Adobe Illustrator, but that’s a rant for a future post!)

Keystone Bike Trail Map Topo 1994

Sometimes when I look back at old art I cringe, but I do still like these isometric elevation profiles.

Frey Gulch BIke Elevation Profile

2001

Around 2001 we updated the topographic maps a bit:

Keystone Bike Trail Map Topo 2001

… and added the illustrated bird’s eye trail map of the lift-served terrain on the front side of Keystone Mountain:

Keystone Bike Trail Map 2001

2004

In 2004 we dramatically improved the topography by adding shaded relief and increased the overall size.

Keystone Bike Trail Map Topo 2004

2006

By 2006 the sport was quickly evolving and expanding. The lift-served terrain was moving toward a “downhill-only” experience; trail runners and uphill bikers were feeling the pressure to move elsewhere. This put a greater pressure on the surrounding areas (covered on our topographic map). In turn, it was creating access and trailhead parking congestion, so the Forest Service urged us to eliminate the topo side and focus on the on-mountain trails.

2013

The map has bobbed and weaved over the years—what’s next? Stay tuned!

Keystone Mountain Bike Map 2013

For official resort information visit Keystone Resort

(Thank you:  Margie, Brian, Adam, Jim, John, John, Bill, Gina, Mark, Kate, Flip, Jeff, Liz, Anita, Kerstin, Craig, Lee, Katie, Boyd and the countless others who have helped me on this and have trusted me to keep it going.)

Tagged with: Colorado, Illustration, Map Design