Copper Mountain, CO Ski/Snowboard Trip

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Out of all our recent travels, this was by far my favorite trip! Growing up, I was fortunate to experience Colorado Ski Vacations every year with my family. I've been to Vail, Keystone, Aspen, Crested Butte, Breckinridge, etc... My last trip out to Colorado was to Crested Butte and that was easily over 10 years ago. Matt had his first Colorado experience about two years ago where he went snowboarding with his friends in Keystone. To say the least, both Matt and I were ecstatic to create new Ski/Snowboard trip memories in a place neither of us have ever been - Copper Mountain Resort.

*The Vacation Package* As always, Matt took the liberty to book this vacation from start to finish (he is the best with vacation planning!) He found a great deal through Copper Vacations where $1295.00 included 5 nights at the Mountain Lodge and 3.5 days of Secret Pass Lift Tickets (normally lift tickets alone are $109.00 a day, Secret Pass is $129.00 a day + tax). Secret Pass Lift Tickets are given to anyone staying at the resort and include 8AM access to lifts, as well as a "Fast Pass" line. The package also included one free Intro Session at Woodward which we never got around the using.

*Airfare* Originally, we booked our trip with Spirit and Frontier Airlines. About a month prior to our trip, both airlines either cancelled or changed our flights. Fortunately, we were able to rebook with American Airlines and actually paid less than we did in the first place...about $180.00 a person from FLL to Denver. We could have bought a direct flight from PBI to Denver which would have been about $100.00 more...possibly worth it in retrospect!

*Rentals* Matt found the best deal through Hertz for this trip which cost $130.00 for a Nisan Versa. Fortunately, the weather was tolerable where we didn't run into too much trouble without 4-wheel drive. All rental car companies are about 5 minutes from the airport and there are plenty of shuttles which transport customers back and forth. Somehow, we forgot to include ski rentals prior to our trip. Friday was our first day on the slopes and we ended up renting from one of the local places in Center Village. Had we made a reservation 24 hours in advance, we would have saved 20%!.(MISSING).good to know for next time! For 4 days, rentals for the both of us came out to $340.00.

*Copper Mountain Resort Review*~The Village~
Absolutely positively LOVED it!!! From the airport, it took us just under 2 hours to driveto Copper Mountain. We were fortunate to have decent driving weather, but I can definitely see the drive being very intimidating if it were snowing heavily or icy as there were plenty of twists and turns, inclines and declines through the mountains. We arrived close to midnight on Wednesday and found it fairly easy to navigate where we needed to check in at. The village was all lit up as if it were Christmas all season long with lights of all colors outlining the trees and serving as a canopy above. Charming was my immediate first impression.

Copper Mountain Resort is broken down into 3 main villages: West, Center and East. We stayed in Center Village at the Mountain Plaza which we were very happy with. Our room was basic but essentially perfect for the two of us, with only a bed, pull out sofa and bathroom. Other units in the building did offer kitchens and multiple bedrooms. We were on the 7th floor and had excellent views of the American Eagle Lift out our window. The building also offered 2 hot tubs outside which we utilized on several nights (felt great after a day on the slopes!) Apparently there was another hot tub located on the 2nd floor, though we never did visit that one.

As the days went on, we fully discovered just how convenient our location was. We could pretty much ski in/ski out and were within walking distance to all the shops, restaurants, ice skating rink and grocery store. Having the Mountain Market so close really was a life saver as we frequently stopped in to buy drinks, snacks and a whole slew to cold/cough medicine. Surprisingly for a resort, the costs were pretty reasonable, probably similar to a CVS or Walgreens. Throughout the trip, we did briefly visit East and West Villages, but mostly only to walk through so I cannot comment on any of the restaurants or shops in those areas. Center Village was definitely the main hub where the majority of the activity was at. The biggest takeaways for me about the Village of Copper were simply how convenient and well laid out everything was. The village was clean and everything looked very new and cohesive in design, yet certainly didn't lack the charm of an old ski town. Additionally, the vibe was perfect for us. Copper seemed to attract a younger and more hip crowd, as well as families. Some ski resorts have a certain arrogance that accompanies the crowd, yet I didn't find that to be the case at all at Copper. Furthermore, the employees - whether at the lifts or in the stores/restaurants - were all extremely friendly and helpful.~The Mountain~ A great strength of Copper Mountain was that it offered "naturally divided terrain". The West end of the mountain was mostly for beginners, consisting of predominantly Green runs and the School House for skiers and snowboarders. The center of the mountain was a healthy mix of Greens and Blues, with perhaps an occasional black. The East end of the mountain was the most challenging, offering only Blacks and Blues, with an occasional Green. This made it nice for Matt and I as we never got stuck on a run that we didn't want to be on. Here's a link to the trial map.

That being said, my favorite lifts were American Flyer and Rendezvous. We also took advantage of the Woodward Park, fully equipped with multiple jumps and rails. Even in my hay day I never really dabbled with that so it was a new and fun first experience for me. We were fortunate to have snow on Saturday and Sunday which provided awesome powder at the peak of the mountain. Compared to other resorts, Copper really wasn't too crowded where I felt cramped on the runs. Matt and I both survived the trip without any collisions which is always a plus! The most challenging run for both of us was "Andy's Encore". We both took a tumble on that run, though I really did enjoy the challenge and look forward to tackling it again next year. 😊

Though I absolutely loved Copper, it did have several weaknesses which I should note. 1. Not the best environment for someone learning to ski/snowboard unless they are taking lessons from Copper. The only reason I say this is because they didn't really offer a "Carrot Ride" or "Carpet Ride" for beginners, other than those utilizing the ski school. 2. The longest run was only 1.7 miles, Keystone has a 4 mile run. 3. No gondolas<br style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;" />4. Not enough decline on some of the Greens making it harder for snowboarders.



*Restaurants/Entertainment*~Breakfast~ Though there were several options to grab a bite for breakfast, Matt and I stuck with 2 places. I'm fairly convinced that Camp Hale makes the best breakfast sandwich I have ever had...sorry Panera. I always ordered the same: Bacon, Egg and Swiss Cheese Sandwich on a Good Grains Bagel. Matt would order a Bacon, Egg and Cheddar Sandwich on a Croissant, though once he did opt for the Breakfast Burrito. For 2 sandwiches and 2 drinks, our total came out to $25.00+. The other place we only discovered on the last day of our trip was Belgain Bean Waffles & Coffee. Here, $6.00 gets you a heavenly waffle and a hot chocolate/coffee/tea. For an extra $1.00, fruit is added to the waffle. The waffles were tiny, but oh so good! We suspect they added a cup of sugar to each waffle batter ball to make it sweet and crunchy on the outside and gooey on the inside. I would highly recommend this place for breakfast and wish we would have discovered it sooner in our trip.~Lunch/Dinner~ True to our nature, our favorite dinner spot was the Salsa Mountain Cantina. During Happy Hour, they offer $2.00 tacos and specials on Margaritas. We went there twice and ordered Chicken/Beef tacos, Pork Soft Tacos with Mango Salsa and Chips and Salsa. Everything was very good! The atmosphere was also nice, having a bar area with a pool table and also a sit down area for a more intimate dining experience.

We also tried 2 pizza places....Tucker's Tavern and Pizza Carlo. Both were very good, though Tucker's had a great 50%!o(MISSING)ff deal on their pizzas during Happy Hour (we ordered Hawaiian). While on the slopes, we tried out T-Rex Grille. Though the burger and fries were very good, they cost a small fortune ($18.00 on special, normally $24.00). Regardless, I loved the atmosphere as there were straw umbrellas and beach chairs to sit on below...just like Florida! 😊<br style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;" /> On our last day, we finally tried Copper Red Hots we had been eyeing all trip. My guess is that it is only open for lunch since we could never seem to catch them until the last day around that time. Red Hots specializes in Mac&Cheese and hot dogs. Matt ordered the basic Mac&Cheese, whereas I had Meditarranean. We also ordered the loaded fries...so healthy! 😉

Regarding nightlife, I can't really shine light on that topic as Matt and I were pretty exhausted by 9PM every night. It did seem that there were several bars that had live entertainment and good crowds. Maybe next visit we can stay up later!



All things considered, it was an absolutely fantastic trip! Definitely one of my favorite vacations. I think next time we venture out west for a ski trip, we will try to stay for a week at Copper as our home base and maybe take two days to explore Vail and Keystone.

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