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Copper 2/17-2/21

sankaty

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Mar 11, 2006
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Central CT
Thought I’d add one more Copper Mountain trip report.

For our family of four, it was outstanding. We stayed in Center Village and found the price of our walk-to-lift accommodations very reasonable. Copper sometimes gets dinged for not having a thriving town, but for us it was perfect. Our kids loved wandering around the village, and between ski fatigue and parenting responsibilities, we were not looking for a thriving night-life scene.

The mountain was great! Snow was generally very good, especially after 5” fresh Monday evening. Some of the highest traffic trails right under the lifts had some hard pack, but most of the mountain was soft.

Because I was skiing with the kids for much of the time, I didn’t get to sample the steeps and trees quite as much as I would have liked, but I did a bunch of runs in Jupiter Bowl under the Sierra lift that were great. I also did several runs on Too Much, which is an awesome bump run with fluffy snow. Triple Treat next door was also great, with great snow (and gentler bumps, if that’s a priority). Brennan’s Grin was another great bump run under the Excelerator. I really wish I had more time to explore the upper bowls, but that will be something to check out next time.

As a family, the whole Timberline lift area was ideal. My kids love skiing bumps, but if they are too steep or gnarly, they get intimidated. The Moz, Tempo, and Copperfield featured gentle but legitimate moguls on a moderate slope, and combined with the great snow, my kids felt like superheroes. It was so great watching them love skiing. Little Burn right under the Timberline lift turned things up a notch with bigger bumps and a little more pitch. It’s a really fun slope.

Our favorite route from the top of the Flyer down to Center Village at the end of the day was the gentle trees to the right of High Point to I-Dropper (another great gentle mogul run) to Coppertone to the lift line trail under the bottom of the Flyer (which had just enough rocks to make us feel like we were back in VT).

On Tuesday (our powder day) I got in 27,000 vertical feet with few groomers, which is the most I’ve had in a while. The Summit County elevation didn’t bother me much while skiing, but it was brutal for sleeping, especially for the first night.

A few photos:

Triple Treat with the wife
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View up Too Much
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View from the Sierra lift
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NYDB

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Jan 13, 2016
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Southeast NY /Southern VT
nice report. Thinking about heading out next year with wife and 2 young kids 3 days at steamboat and 3 days at copper on the epic pass. How were the crowds over the weekend?
 

sankaty

Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2006
Messages
226
Points
18
Location
Central CT
nice report. Thinking about heading out next year with wife and 2 young kids 3 days at steamboat and 3 days at copper on the epic pass. How were the crowds over the weekend?

The lift lines were pretty long on Saturday and Sunday, but we purchased the Secret Pass upgrade ($30 per person per day) that allowed us to skip the lines. It was money very well spent. We were amused that all the Secret Pass signage has an exclamation point after the word "secret."

secret_pass_sm.jpg

If it's such a secret, why are they shouting? And why only the word secret?

Even with the crowds at the lifts, the trails were wide open with little skier traffic. Having so much acreage is great.

By Monday, there crowds were very light. No Secret! Pass required.

I assume you mean Ikon Pass instead of Epic Pass?
 

NYDB

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Yeah the 'Ikon'. IDK, I might just suck it up and pay big money for aspen lodging for a week, but steamboat and copper seem like a good first trip for a 10 and 6 year old.

Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about the Secret! Pass
 

sankaty

Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2006
Messages
226
Points
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Location
Central CT
Yeah the 'Ikon'. IDK, I might just suck it up and pay big money for aspen lodging for a week, but steamboat and copper seem like a good first trip for a 10 and 6 year old.

Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about the Secret! Pass

I think it will be fine as long as we don't mention the Secret! Pass on the Internet.

Never been to Aspen, but I'm sure that would be great, too. I have nothing but good things to say about Steamboat/Copper for families, though.
 

mikestaple

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Oct 28, 2008
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Location
Duxbury, MA
Steamboat is simple for kids and a great choice for the first time out west w them. Copper is much higher. But after chugging a gallon of water during the first night I didn’t have any altitude issues (unless I was running up and down condo stairs).


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