Dream Big at KidTopia

So far so good: My seven-year-old son and five-year-old daughter seem to be sharing my lifelong love of snow sports and all things wintry, and this winter we've gone sledding and snowboarding together and generally fulfilling my fatherly fantasies of family fun.

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But this week, they've been working on some snow dreams of their own, tuning in to the live webcam at www.keystoneresort.com to track progress in the construction of the massive KidTopia Snowfort. The icy castle at the top of Keystone's Dercum Mountain is being billed as "the world's highest snowfort" (elevation: 11,640 feet), and will serve as the venue for this weekend's winter carnival during Keystone KidTopia Festival.

Also on the agenda for this signature event: Disco Tubing on the slopes, a Glow Bug Skate Night on the outdoor ice rink, concerts presented by Radio Disney, the annual Glow Stick Kids ski and snowboard parade down Discovery Hill on Sunday, and meet-and-greets with celebrities like Smokey the Bear, KidTopia mascot Riperoo and Keystone's team of avalanche rescue dogs. If I can manage to keep my kids from freezing their little butts off up there, we should be in for one epic weekend.

"It's so fun to have so many families up here and so many little kids running around," says Katie Adamson, Keystone's communications coordinator. "I'm bringing my five-year-old niece up this year, and I'm most excited to have her see the snow dragon at the snow fort. It's just enormous; you have to see it to believe it."

Most activities at the base area are free or included with the price of a lift ticket, and kids ski free if you're booking a four-night stay for the long weekend. There are additional fees for tubing and ice skating; visit http://www.keystoneresort.com/deals/kidtopia.aspx for more info.
Feb. 18-21, 2010