Copper Mountain
Copper Mountain’s name is a bit of a give-away regarding its origins as a copper mine. Now Copper Mountain is a purpose-built ski resort with all the bells and whistles. It has everything that you’d expect from an Intrawest ski resort, and more amenities and services than you could poke a stick at. In addition to great skiing and snowboarding, Copper Mountain is a complete snow holiday destination with ski-in ski-out accommodation, lively après, shopping and non-skiing activities.
Copper Mountain in renowned for the perfect topography that has allowed the design of the ski terrain to be naturally separated into differing ability levels. The mountain lay-out has the easy slopes on the western side of the mountain, intermediate slopes in the centre, and black terrain on the eastern side. Timid beginners don’t need to fear that speedsters will bowl them over, and advanced riders don’t have to worry about slow-poke moving obstacles getting in the way. Some groups or families may see this as a disadvantage if they want to ski together in the one area, but many ski resort critics describe the Copper Mountain layout as “perfect”.
Even though there is a very good spread of
terrain for differing abilities, experts need not fear that there is inadequate terrain to challenge them. The peak areas have chutes, cornices and expert-only bowls to delight. Included in your lift ticket is the snowcat skiing on Tucker Mountain which is also good for those seeking a challenge. For shredders, Copper Mountain has impressive parks and pipes ranging from a Kidz terrain park through to a jib park for the big boys (and girls).
Copper Mountain is located in Summit County, Colorado, about 121km (75miles) west of Denver. Whilst Copper Mountain is an all-inclusive destination resort in itself, it’s also well located to allow multi-resort sampling. Nearby ski resorts include Breckenridge,
Arapahoe Basin, and
Keystone, and
Vail is only 25 minutes away. The town of Frisco is 5 minutes away, and Silverthorne which has some great outlet store shopping opportunities, is about 10-15 minutes away. Some budget conscious holiday-makers choose to lodge in Silverthorne, but there is also plenty of on-mountain accommodation ranging from hotel rooms to condominiums.
There are three base villages at Copper Mountain, and because of the segregated terrain they tend to service differing ability levels. East village is for the hard-core, Union Creek is for beginners, and The Village at Copper is the main base area and is a compromise between the two. Easy access between the areas is available via skiing and the lifts. There are also shuttle buses, but if you’re arranging to meet a beginner for some après in the East Village it might take them a while to get there.
Intrawest have vastly improved the base areas with recent construction on accommodations, restaurants, bars and shops. There are also plenty of additional activities on offer including tubing, snowmobiling, sleigh rides, cross-country skiing and dog sledding.
The Powderhounds are visiting in early 2009 to check out if Copper Mountain is truly the “perfect” ski resort. More information is coming soon on the ski terrain, snow conditions, accommodation, restaurants, nightlife, shopping and activities. Stay tuned.