Colorado

[Zand]

????????????????? Usually the skier to area ratio in CO is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay lower than the northleast by like a factor of a gazillion.

I know you're just here to troll so I dont even know why I'm bothering to respond but Copper is as much of a zoo as a Mt Snow or an Okemo. The OP is from Ohio and said they haven't skied anywhere with more than 750 vert so I'm assuming theyve never seen anything bigger than feeder hill crowds. The crowds at Copper suck, especially on the lower mountain intermediate stuff.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

Yeah, right. The OP said he's in his 2nd season.

What do you have to prove?

nothing. i was telling him how copper was a good place for him because its chock full of beginner and intermediate terrain. the only other thing i said was that copper is 'stratton west' and does not have anything 'truly challenging', the implication there being 'truly challenging for an expert skier'. and that is the absolute truth and a hill i am happy to die on. literally nothing at copper has any ass-pucker factor whatsoever.

 

[abc]

nothing. i was telling him how copper was a good place for him because its chock full of beginner and intermediate terrain. the only other thing i said was that copper is 'stratton west' and does not have anything 'truly challenging', the implication there being 'truly challenging for an expert skier'. and that is the absolute truth and a hill i am happy to die on. literally nothing at copper has any ass-pucker factor whatsoever.

And you assume a 2nd year skier from Ohio knows what Stratton is like!

 

[KustyTheKlown]

using stratton as short-hand for 'shitty overly groomed beginner stuff' is AZ speak. new posters should learn the ropes.

that being said, i'll be at stratton from 8:30 tomorrow morning until the rain comes in, trying to bag as much vertical as possible before turning right back around and driving home in the rain. stratton high speed lifts and gondola if the rain comes early are key for this situation. being free is essential too. not worth burning a magic day tomorrow.

good decision? probably not. but sitting at home and not skiing sucks.

 

[jimk]

Cooper, Copper and Breck all have excellent terrain for begginner-intermediates. You're gonna have a blast.

 

[BenedictGomez]

I wish I was able to hit Cooper when I was out there a few years ago. Drove by it (it was closed) and it just looks like my type of Mom & Pop'ish place.

 

[gmcunni]

depending on your trip logisitics, try to hit Cooper and Monarch on weekends as Copper (and anything else in summit county) will be more crowded on the weekends.

i have not skied Cooper or Monarch( i will ski monarch next weekend) and skied copper so long ago the deails are vague but i'm sure you will find comfortable and challenging terrain at all of them.

Are you in good shape? the altitude will be an adjustment, depending how long you are here. we used to take vacations to CO from east coast and we always got hit with a little altitude sickness on the 2nd or 3rd day. being younger and in better shape helps... its like a bad hangover feeling.. You'll have a great time. you'll also be spoiled and think less of east coast skiing by the end of your trip

i vividly remember my first trip to CO when i was younger. the skiing was awesome but one of the images i still have in my head is landing in denver.. as you approach denver the plan will likely be headed west... at some point you'll turn for approach and suddenly the endless plaines of the mid-west will abruptly stop and you'll see a wall of snow capped mountains. i still enjoy that view today when returning to CO.

 

[Smitty244]

I’m going during the week so hopefully the crowd won’t be bad anywhere depending if there is powder I’m sure.


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[dblskifanatic]

Yeah we are going there the first day to get loosened up a bit


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The front side lift is super slow and long. The runs on the frontside are almost always groomed unless it dumps during the day. The backside lift is a little faster and it is wide open skiing. There is a new area that you will want to stay away from Tennessee Pass it has several steep bumped and very narrow runs and a lot of trees. It is a fun area for experienced skiers.

BTW we did Cooper when we we vacationed in Colorado years ago and it is a great place for you to start. Many experienced skiers find it boring but it is very chill.

When you are here drink lots of water. Eat bananas every morning - potassium for the blood. Take Ginkgo Biloba and Ginseng that helps with blood circulation.

Sleeping at higher elevation will feel weird the frost couple nights.

I think you will enjoy all three!




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[dblskifanatic]

I know you're just here to troll so I dont even know why I'm bothering to respond but Copper is as much of a zoo as a Mt Snow or an Okemo. The OP is from Ohio and said they haven't skied anywhere with more than 750 vert so I'm assuming theyve never seen anything bigger than feeder hill crowds. The crowds at Copper suck, especially on the lower mountain intermediate stuff.

You are correct!!! There many Ikon pass holders that live in Denver and Copper is the closest. I have only skied there once and it was a zoo! More challenging terrain was not as bad. Lower mountain or frontside terrain is tough at all the bigger resorts. Trails are like highways here. Open bowl areas like A Basin, Loveland and the backside of Vail are not crowded.


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[Edd]

Never been but happened to watch this vid on Ski Cooper last night. Looks great.


https://youtu.be/JQnkiIR__hw


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[RISkier]

The good news is out of the big resorts in Summit County, Copper might be the best for low level intermediates. Just be ready to have a lot more company on the trails than you're used to.

This. I've not skied at any of the specific resorts mentioned, but I have skied at Breckenridge, Vail, Keystone, Beaver Creek, and Arapahoe Basin. I always felt that most of the intermediate groomed terrain at those resorts was easier than a lot of Eastern intermediate terrain. The snow is generally soft and grippy, steepness of course varies from place to place but I'd say the intermediate terrain at places like Stowe, or Sugarbush or Canon was generally more challenging. Except for perhaps needing to stop to take a break or two, there's no difference skiing 3000' of vertical than 750' of vertical. Copper Mountain has a reputation of having good terrain for all ability levels. The altitude can be a challenge in CO. Try to drink LOTs of water and not too much alcohol. And take a rest of the thin air is getting to you. Have a great trip.

 

[abc]

The front side lift is super slow and long. The runs on the frontside are almost always groomed unless it dumps during the day. The backside lift is a little faster and it is wide open skiing. There is a new area that you will want to stay away from Tennessee Pass it has several steep bumped and very narrow runs and a lot of trees. It is a fun area for experienced skiers.

That's an excellent heads up!

Some of the posters here, in their zeal of dick-waving, neglected to mention one of the biggest difference between the east/Midwest and the west. Namely, blacks are typically not groomed and quite likely be bumped up from top to bottom!

In the east and Midwest, the occasional rain-freeze cycle necessitate the grooming of black trails. So often times, it’s just a steeper version of the blue. And also due to the traffic and weather, the blues are pretty slick. So the difference between black and blue are not that significant.

Out west, lower skier traffic and no rain-freeze means the blues feels a lot easier. However, that mask an abrupt change when they hit a black trail. For a typical intermediate skier from the east/midwest, they may find themselves staring down a bump field stretching twice or 3 times the vertical of their home mountain’s stick black trail (which they can easily slip sliding down in 2 minutes) that really wreck their legs for the rest of the day!

using stratton as short-hand for 'shitty overly groomed beginner stuff' is AZ speak. new posters should learn the ropes.

That’s misleading.

The OP can follow your lead to head down the A lift and “enjoy” the endless “overly groomed beginner stuff”! Better yet, any competent beginner should head over to Resolution and Spaulding! :roll:

Good for your own ego perhaps, but terrible misinformation for the OP!

 

[dblskifanatic]

Never been but happened to watch this vid on Ski Cooper last night. Looks great.


https://youtu.be/JQnkiIR__hw


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We skied this last weekend! It did not look like anything in that video the runs that paralleled the t bar have narrow trails and great bumps as well as great pitch. Trees there are pretty tight and open up. Only did two runs. They need this to step up their game. There wasn’t much for challenging terrain before this area was added.

There also was not much for soft snow expect in the trees where the snow was over pole deep.


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[jaytrem]

Beautiful weather at Copper today. Wait time at the bubble at 10:30 was maybe 3 minutes. Chondola on the next run was about a minute. Everything else we ride was ski on. I didn't expect Mount Snow crowds, but was surprised how uncrowded. Maybe the weather was too nice in Denver and everybody stayed home. Stuff off the new lift was real nice. Only been up there once before on the cat ride.

 

[gmcunni]

I didn't expect Mount Snow crowds, but was surprised how uncrowded.

i was at Breck today and it was also uncrowded. rode singles line all day and was basically ski on.

 

[big_vert]

I didn't expect Mount Snow crowds, but was surprised how uncrowded.

Uh huh. Least coast "experts" know EVERYTHING - just ask them.
​

 

[abc]

Uh huh. Least coast "experts" know EVERYTHING - just ask them.
​

Translation: the OP should crawl back under a rock. This is the northeast ski forum. What can you expect to learn from the "least coast expert" about Colorado?

I wonder why big_vert bother to hang around this forum for 12 years. After all, he didn't contribute much, 160 posts in 10 years. And most of them telling others they don't know much, or they shouldn't ask question to those who don't know much.

 

[BenedictGomez]

I wonder why big_vert bother to hang around this forum for 12 years. After all, he didn't contribute much, 160 posts in 10 years. And most of them telling others they don't know much, or they shouldn't ask question to those who don't know much.

I'd say the bulk of his posts are merely insulting east coast skiing and/or praising west coast skiing. The crazy thing is many are written like a 15 or 16 year old teenager if you had to guess, but if his posts are to believed, he's actually in his 50s!

 

[sankaty]

I was at Copper with the family a few years ago and we had a great time. We were there for President's Week, and the crowds weren't too bad. Plenty of room on the slopes. On the weekend days, we opted for the Secret Pass upgrade, which allowed us to skip the main line. On the weekdays, the lines were short, and the Secret Pass was not needed.

As a family, our favorite area was around the Timberline Express. In addition to easier, groomed blue runs, the Timberline area is a fantastic place to learn bumps. Several trails have parts that are bumped up (I think Tempo and Copperfield), but the slope is gentle and the snow was fantastic. It's a great area for emerging bump skiers to learn good technique on snow/terrain that won't make them revert to survival mode. If you're feeling more adventurous about bump skiing, you can show off your skills on Little Burn right under the lift, which kicks the pitch and bump size up a tick. It's rated blue, but would probably be a diamond at most VT mountains.

For very good bump skiers, the trio of Far East, Too Much, and Triple Treat under the Alpine Lift are a hoot. The lift is slow, but it's very uncrowded, typically with a bunch of overlooked powder. Definitely not for bump novices, though! It's long, pretty steep, the bumps are legit, and there is no escape once you get into it. That said, Triple Treat did have a non-bumped section the year we were there, which opened up the area for strong non-bump skiers.

There's a bunch of high alpine terrain at Copper that is accessible to solid intermediates, but unfortunately I don't remember those details.

You'll have a blast!

My wife atop the groomed section of Triple Treat:


Powdery bumps on Too Much:

Above treeline off the Sierra lift: