COPPER MOUNTAIN
Ski & Snowboard Resort Review
Locals refer to Copper Mountain as being Colorado’s perfect ski mountain. It has some of the lightest powder in Colorado and is renowned for its sunny blue sky days.
Copper Mountain Skiing and Snowboarding Terrain
Copper Mountain is naturally divided to suit all abilities with terrain becoming steeper as you head east across the resort. There are long tree-lined groomed trails, steep mogul runs, and open powder filled back bowls.
Advanced Skiing and Snowboarding
Powder lovers head directly to the wide, open double black diamond back bowls. Union Bowl is always left in its natural state and after a big dump skiers and snowboarders can find themselves making turns through waist deep powder. The Copper Bowl, previously only accessible by a long hike and now accessible by free snow cat, has the mountains steepest terrain.
Don’t miss a run through Upper Enchanted Forrest, from the top of the Storm King Chairlift it is wide open terrain finishing in thick trees.
For huge moguls go to The Far East, Too Much and Triple Treat runs on the east side of the resort. The trails around the Resolution Chairlift are also mogul covered; they are not very long but make up for it in steepness.
Intermediate Skiing and Snowboarding
Intermediates can cruise the entire resort on groomed long trails. The American Eagle Chairlift accesses some of the fastest intermediate trails on the mountain; Main Vein and Bouncer trails are groomed nightly and perfect for practicing big GS turns.
From the top of the American Eagle Chairlift catch the Excelerator Chairlift up to access the curving Andy’s Encore and College trails. The Timberline Express Chairlift, in the Union Creek area, accesses some short fast intermediate trails.
Union Bowl has an intermediate section usually groomed every few days, it’s the place to go to gain confidence in deep snow.
Beginner Skiing and Snowboarding
Beginners enjoy Copper Mountain’s green trails. They are long, gently sloping and well groomed. Almost all the trails accessed from the American Flyer Chairlift and Union Creek are beginner green slopes.
The long tree lined High Point and Coppertone trails, accessed from the top of the American Flyer Chairlift, are wide and fun.
First timers are well looked after by the Copper Ski and Ride School who also offer lessons to all other skiing and snowboarding levels.
Copper Mountain Terrain Park and Halfpipe
Copper Mountain has some of the best terrain park facilities in the US. The Catalyst Terrain Park, located halfway down the Loverly trail has giant kickers, jumps, tabletops, boxes and an 18 foot quarter pipe. The superpipe, located at the bottom of the Catalyst Terrain Park, is 430 feet long with 18 foot high walls.
The 2006/2007 winter season saw an additional 500 foot long superpipe introduced 200 feet from the base of the Eagle Chairlift. The Night Riders Jib Park also located at the base of the American Eagle Chairlift, is open from 5pm to 9pm on Fridays and Saturdays, it has boxes, rails and jumps to suit all ability levels.
The beginner Kidz Terrain Park, located at the top of the American Flyer Chairlift, has mini rails, small jumps and a mini halfpipe.
Copper Mountain Cat Skiing and Snowboarding
Copper Mountain runs free out of bounds extreme snow cat skiing and snowboarding adventures at Tucker Mountain at 12,337 feet. The free snow cats operate from 10am to 1.30pm each day, you cannot reserve a seat so if you want some awesome powder runs get up early to be first in the queue.
Mountain Tours at Copper Mountain
Copper Mountain Ambassadors give free guided tours of the resort. They point out hidden secret powder spots and tell you about Copper’s history. Intermediate and above skiers and snowboarders are welcome, they meet at the information station at the top of the American Eagle Chairlift.
Copper Mountain GPS Ski and Snowboard Tracking
Copper Mountain has the ‘SlopeTracker GPS’ system available to skiers and snowboarders. It works by wearing a tracking device which automatically records every turn, trail covered, speed, calories burned and vertical feet travelled in one day using global position system technology. At the end of the day you receive a poster showing all your trails covered and a print out of speed and vertical statistics.
Other Activities at Copper Mountain
Other activities available at Copper Mountain include snowmobiling tours, dog sledding, ice skating, snow shoeing, snow tubing, sleigh rides and swimming at the Athletic Club.
Copper Mountain Shopping
The Village at Copper Mountain has specialist ski and snowboard equipment and rental shops, a Surefoot Boot Fitting Company shop who will custom fit ski boots to feet all sizes, souvenir and clothing stores, a food market and liquor store.
The food market in the Village is expensive and quite limited. It is a good idea to do your food shopping at Safeway in the nearby town of Frisco which is just a 10 minute drive away.
Copper Mountain Restaurants
Copper Mountain has four on mountain restaurants ; Solitude Station BBQ, at the top of the American Eagle Chairlift, has a large food court serving homemade soups, pizzas, burgers and sandwiches. Camp Hale, also at Solitude Station, has a full cappuccino bar with fresh cookies, pastries and bagels. The tiny Flyers Soup Shack, at the top of the American Flyer Chairlift, fires up the BBQ on warm sunny days, the outside chairs come out, the music comes on and the crowds come to sunbake and absorb the views. The T-Rex Grill, at the base of the Timberline Express Chairlift, is next to the children’s ski and ride school; it has a large sundeck and serves meals until 2.30pm.
Being quite a small village there are not a lot of restaurants in the Village at Copper Mountain, cuisine ranges from traditional American to Chinese, Japanese and Mexican.
The C.B. Grille is the one fine dining restaurant in the Village, it has beautiful high country infused cuisine with dishes like roast rack of elk and smoked Alaskan salmon.
The Storm King Lounge has a fresh sushi bar while Pizza Carlo specialises in gourmet pizzas, calzones and hot subs.
In the East Village JJ’s Rocky Mountain Tavern serves Colorado beef steaks, grilled seafood and pasta dishes.
Copper Mountain Nightlife
The nightlife in the Village at Copper Mountain is pretty low key. There is one nightclub and a couple of bars that stay open until after midnight. Jack’s Bar kicks off the après ski entertainment from 3pm onwards with live band performances and cocktails. They close at 6pm.
The popular Endo’s Adrenaline Café, at the base of the Eagle Chairlift, has cheap beers from 3pm onwards and is open for dinner and late night snacks. They have bands performing throughout the season and stay open until after midnight.
Copper’s only nightclub, Pravda is a Russian vodka and dance club, it stocks over 30 different types of vodka and have DJs playing regularly. It’s not unusual to see late night party goers dancing on the bar!
More About Copper Mountain
Get directions to Copper Mountain
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Statistics |
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Elevation |
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Average
Snowfall |
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280
inches |
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Lifts |
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22 |
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Trails |
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Terrain
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Halfpipe |
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1
super pipe |
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Terrain
Park |
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2 |
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Resort
Website |
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