Copper Mountain, Colorado

In 1971, Chuck Lewis, Copper's founding father, took one look at the current site of Copper and told his friends, "I'm gonna build me a killer ski resort." He negotiated a deal to purchase 280 acres at the base. Chuck was both a renegade and a visionary. During the summer of '71, initial construction began on the ski trails. Over the years, new lifts were added and Copper grew to its current size of 2433 acres, enjoying the status of Summit County's largest ski area. What was once a sleepy little day ski area is now one of Colorado's premier year-round destination resorts.

If there were a mountain that was designed for for skiing and snowboarding it would be Copper Mountain. It is one of the most diverse ski areas in the Arapahoe National Forest, and possibly Colorado. Only 2 hour driving away from Denver, the north facing peak of Copper Mountain offer an excellent variety of terrain for expert, intermediate and beginners.

Dates and hours of operation:
mid -November to late April 
9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. daily

Terrain:
2,450 acres/985 hectares of in-bounds terrain
Vertical drop: 2,601 feet/793 meters
Base elevation: 9,712 feet/2,926 meters
Summit elevation: 12,313 feet/3,767 meters
Uphill capacity: 32,324 skiers per hour

Runs:
18% expert
36% advanced
25% intermediate
21% beginner

126 Named Trails on the map

Snow: Average of 282 inches/710 centimeters