Copper Mountain was referred to as the best ski slope in
"North America" by the US Forestry Service, for its amazing
resources and ability to cater for beginner, intermediate and
expert skiers. Based only 120 KM from Denver airport and with
160 meters of pure skiing fun, Copper Mountain is the only
place to go skiing in America.
With a 3 Kilometer base and a summit of nearly 4 kilometers
it is no wonder the slope is big enough to handle over 30,000
visitors on a monthly basis. With twenty two lifts the Copper
Mountain is renowned for its 6 man high speed lift, 5 doubles,
5 triples, surface chairs, quad lifts, tubing zone and even
quad lifts that can travel in excess of 40 kilometers per
hour.
The upper lifts close at 1500 every evening, meaning you get
30 minutes to complete your last run before your days skiing is
over. Opening at 9am in the morning Monday to Friday there is
no excuse for not getting an early start. At the weekends the
lifts open around a half an hour earlier, making it much easier
to fit more skiing into your day.
In total Copper Mountain covers two and a half thousand
acres, and stands nearly 800 meters tall. With 125 trails in
total, 18% cater for expert skiers, 36% for advanced skiers,
21% for beginners and 25% for intermediates. The snowfall in
Cooper Mountain is also something to be reckoned with; the
total snowfall in November to April of 2005/2006 was 283.58,
with March appearing to be the best month for snow. Although
April to November provides the best snow, Copper Mountain also
has an avalanche machine keeping the slop active for around 12
months in the year. This machine works by releasing a gas that
turns water into snow. The machine provides genuine powdery
snow that can even be altered to be icier, or softer to meet
the needs of the skiers.
The Copper Mountain is set to be active for 12 months of the
year, as of some point in the next two years, whilst plans are
also unveiled for an indoor facility. The massive success of
Copper Mountain is said to be partially attributable to hosting
world snowboarding events, and also offering other activities
such as snow tubing which is becoming increasingly popular, as
well as snowshoeing, hiking, biking and snowmobile
vehicles.
When I last visited Copper Mountain major regeneration work
had just begun. They had started re-building the lift, their
were hotel and lodging developments, and they have even started
investing in real estate. From what I understand you will be
able to buy a property overlooking the amazing slopes in a
small amount of time. They had also seen the importance and the
market that exists for training skiing. When a facility has the
best training facility, new skiers are more likely to come
along, learn how to ski at Copper Mountain and then come back
year after year. They have built a complex that will house and
support their training team, and they intend to offer lessons
for a great price to encourage people to learn how to ski at
Copper Mountain.

Copper Mountain is also home to freestyle snowboarding
facilities which are becoming increasingly with teenagers
looking to get started in winter sports. The snowboarding
facilities include ramps, half-pipes, jumps and runs, whilst
also being flood light, allowing the facility to operate much
later than when the lifts stop functioning.
If you have never been to Copper Mountain then you will soon
realise why it is rated as the best Skiing facility in America.
Did you know that many film scenes have been completed on this
mountain? It may also surprise you to know that this is usually
completed when there is no snow on the mountains, and an
avalanche machine generates snow in the absence of a any skiers
or tourists.
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