Megan Fearnow

PICTURE THIS. MINUTES AGO, YOU got off Alpine, one of the five highspeed lifts at Copper Mountain, and are now on your way to Far East, one of three black diamond trails on the face of the mountain. A cloudless blue sky is overhead and untracked powder awaits your descent. You slip over the edge, linking a dozen “S” turns in the newly fallen snow. To your left and right are friends who’ve accompanied you, some on skis, some on snowboards. Floating through 30 more turns, you all reach the bottom, each sporting ear-to-ear grins as you make your way back to the lift for a repeat performance.

Copper Mountain has been rewarding snow sport enthusiasts with moments like the above since opening in late November 1972. Shortly after its debut it didn’t take long for the Summit County resort to find itself on the radar of Front Range, out-of-state and international skiers that were looking for a new Colorado winter destination that didn’t require going over Vail Pass, Loveland Pass or Berthoud Pass.

Just 77 miles west of Denver the resort—at 2,490 skiable acres—is one of the largest skiing and snowboarding resorts in Colorado. Thanks to topography that naturally divides the terrain into three distinct ability levels, the mountain makes it easy for experts to stay to the left, intermediates to stay in the center and beginners to stay to the right. Over 140 marked trails are served by 23 lifts that rapidly whisk skiers and boarders uphill.

By Kim D. McHugh