Copper Mountain
Copper Mountain is a
mountain located in
Summit County about 75 miles (121 km) west of
Denver,
Colorado, right on Interstate 70.
Its most notable use is as a
ski resort, owned and operated by
Intrawest, although it provides
golf and
mountain biking
activities during the warmer months. It is well-known for its wide
variety of naturally separated terrain. The ski area features beginner
slopes on the western side of the mountain, intermediate slopes in the
center, and expert terrain on the eastern side. Advanced "double black
diamond" slopes are located on the two peaks above 12,000 feet (Copper
and Union Peaks), including four expert-only bowls: Copper Bowl, Union
Bowl, Spaulding Bowl, and Resolution Bowl. Copper Mountain Ski Resort
is the largest resort in
Summit County when measured by area.
Contents
Character of the Slopes
Copper Mountain is considered by some a local's mountain; although
they have a ski school and beginner's terrain, Copper tends to be
frequented by Coloradans rather than out-of-state tourists. Unlike
resorts like
Vail or
Winter Park,
Copper tends to have fewer lines and shorter wait times, even at the
height of tourist ski season (exceptions to this rule are limited to
the two quad lifts servicing Center Village, American Eagle and
American Flyer, which often experience long lift lines due both to the
centrality of their locations and the terrain accessible by them: a
combination of green and blue runs, Copper's Superpipe, and its premier
terrain park, Catalyst. Although virtually every lift at Copper can be
directly skied to from the top of either the Eagle or the Flier, many
tourists unfamiliar with the resort tend to funnel into Center
Village).
[ citation needed ] Copper's expert bowls are comparable in difficulty to the infamous bowls at
Vail, as well as the lesser-known Independence Bowl at
Keystone, Imperial Bowl at
Breckenridge, and Vasquez Cirque at
Winter Park/Mary Jane.
Nearby Attractions
Frisco, about five minutes from Copper Mountain, is the closest town
to the resort proper. Silverthorne, including an array of outlet
stores, is a 12 minute drive from the mountain. There are some
restaurants in Silverthorne, and it can be much cheaper to lodge there
than it is to stay in Copper itself. Copper is about 25 minutes from
Vail, and is also very close to
Breckenridge,
Beaver Creek, and
Keystone, Colorado. Copper itself is about an hour and half outside of Denver.
Resort
The bar Pravda is one of the bars in the villages.
The lodging, dining, and entertainment facilities at Copper Mountain are divided into three villages:
East Village,
The Village at Copper (the main village, also known as
Center Village), and
Union Creek
(west). In recent years, Intrawest has vastly improved the three
villages, constructing dozens of new hotels, condominiums, restaurants,
shops, and bars. This followed a similar upgrade of the lift system on
the mountain.
Statistics
Elevation
- Base: 9,712 ft (2,926 m)
- Summit: 12,313 ft (3,767 m)
Trails
- Acres: 2,433 acres (9.85 kmē)
- Vertical: 2,601 ft/ 793 m
- Trails: 125 total (21% beginner, 25% intermediate, 36% advanced, 18% expert)
- Average annual snowfall: 280 in (710 cm)
- Snowmaking 05/06 : 380 acres (1.54 kmē)
View looking west from Copper Peak at Copper and Union Bowls at the Copper Mountain Ski Area
View looking up Copper Bowl at the Copper Mountain Ski Area
Ski run in the Union Meadows area of Copper Mountain
Lifts
- 22 total
- 1 high speed six passenger
- 4 high speed quad lifts
- American Flyer
- American Eagle
- Timberline
- Excelerator
- 5 triple chair
- Sierra
- Resolution
- Rendezvous
- Kokomo
- Lumberjack
- 5 double chair
- Alpine
- Blackjack
- Highline
- Mountain Chief
- Pitchfork
- 2 surface lifts
- 4 conveyor lifts
- Easy Rider
- The Glide
- Rugrat
- Slingshot
- 1 tubing zone lift
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