Aaron Sedway/Squaw Valley

Snowboarder Mike Telega executes a jump at night in the half pipe at Squaw Valley, Calif.

KEYSTONE, Colo. – It's a gorgeous, moonlit February night in the Colorado Rockies. My skiing buddy and I stand on the 11,640-foot summit of Dercum Mountain at Keystone Resort. After playing a quick game of rock, paper, scissors, Brian Clark wins the right to lead the way down the mountain.

With a happy shout, he pushes off down the fully lighted intermediate Schoolmarm Run. A moment later, I follow with equal exhilaration. The night is crystal clear with no wind, a comfortable temperature, a beautifully manicured packed-powder slope and few people to avoid.

It's often that way with night skiing and snowboarding, and the pastime is growing in popularity at snow resorts in Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, California and British Columbia. It's especially sought-after during the Christmas holidays, February and March because it's a great way to avoid crowds, and the cost of a nighttime lift ticket is cheaper.

On every turn, Brian and I send rooster tails of snow flying behind our skis. Finally, after making dozens of carved turns on the wide, tree-lined run, we can see the base terminal of the River Run Gondola. The three-mile, 2,360-foot vertical plummet off Dercum Mountain is so much fun that we board the heated lift to do it again.

Vail Resorts

Night skiing at Keystone is available on 15 lighted trails served by five lifts.

Keystone's operation has 15 lighted trails, 275 skiable acres, four lifts and a Magic Carpet. It's open Wednesday through Sunday most of the season, with daily operation during Christmas holidays and Feb. 27 through March 30. Discount rates for night skiing and boarding start at 4 p.m. Also open at night are a terrain park served by a lift, plus tubing, snowbike and full-moon snowshoe tours.

Park City Mountain Resort and Brighton are night-skiing leaders in Utah, where after-dark downhilling is offered at seven areas.

Nightfall on Park City's slopes is so upbeat that the resort operates a high-speed six-passenger chairlift to carry the intermediate and advanced riders. That lift serves PayDay, the main lighted run, which has a rise of 1,400 vertical feet.

A high-speed quad chair delivers beginners to the First Time Run and a modest 250-foot vertical rise. Ski school lessons are available.

Tom Boxler/Squaw Valley

The half pipe at Squaw Valley gets a grooming. It's the only night-accessed half pipe in the Lake Tahoe basin.

PayDay terrain park is lighted until 7:30 p.m. Dec. 25 through March 31. Night skiing is free with the purchase of an all-day lift ticket. Otherwise, the fee is $38.

Brighton began illuminating Mount Majestic's slopes in 1978. However, it wasn't until 1998 that this historic ski area in Big Cottonwood Canyon introduced a full bore of lights that illuminate 22 runs on 200 acres. A trio of lifts now offers 1,565 vertical feet of schussing with a top elevation of 10,315 feet.

"Our lifts are Explorer, for beginners; Majestic, for intermediates; and Crest Express, for intermediate-advanced skiers and snowboarders," Brighton's Danielle Torp says. "We also feature night lighting at our Majestic, beginner, and Crest, advanced, terrain parks."

Brighton's lighting program runs 4 to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday from early December to March. Night-only tariff is $30, while the twilight fee (12:30 to 9 p.m.) is $47.

Aaron Sedway/Squaw Valley

Squaw Valley's lighted pipe is open for night boarding.

Idaho's Bogus Basin, 16 miles from Boise, offers bargain $20 night skiing from 4 to 10 p.m. on 165 skiable acres served by five chairlifts. A 14-hour day-and-night lift ticket is $46.

Also operating under the Bogus Basin lights are multiple terrain parks, five kilometers of cross-country and snowshoe trails and a tubing hill. Après-ski venues at night are the midmountain Firewater Saloon and the base area T-Bar Lounge in the J.R. Simplot Lodge. This is Bogus Basin's 65th season.

California's king of night skiing is Squaw Valley, host of the 1960 Winter Olympic Games. That giant in the Lake Tahoe Basin has 30 lifts, nine mountain peaks and a recently erected modern base village.

"Our night-accessed terrain includes the 3.2-mile Mountain Run, which provides fun from 4 to 9 p.m. for intermediate and advanced skiers," says Savannah Cowley. "Additionally, there's night skiing for beginners at Bailey's Beach plus activity at two terrain parks. New in our Riviera terrain park is Tahoe's only nighttime superpipe."

Also open under the lights at Squaw Valley's High Camp mountaintop complex are Alexander's Restaurant and Olympic Ice Pavilion. Access to all night facilities is via a 125-passenger cable car, which soars 2,000 vertical feet from the base village. Night skiing is free with any full-day or half-day lift ticket. A night-only pass is $20.

Walt Roessing is a freelance writer in California. His Powder Play column appears every other week in Travel.

Bogus Basin, 208-332-5100; www.bogusbasin.org.

Brighton Resort, 1-800-873-5512; www.brightonresort.com.

Keystone, 1-800-468-5004; www.keystoneresort.com.

Park City Mountain Resort, 1-800-514-3417; www.parkcitymountain.com.

Squaw Valley, 530-583-6985; www.squaw.com.