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PR: Copper Mountain Opens Nov. 14
"We will open with the American Eagle high-speed quad chairlift, the
G double chairlift and the Mitey Mite surface lift in operation," explained
Jim Spenst, vice-president of operations. The three lifts will provide
access to three trails: Main Vein, Loverly and the Mitey Mite Kids' Arena.
"If it continues to snow and stay cold, we will open additional lifts
and terrain very soon," Spenst added.
Before Saturday's official opening, though, some lucky employees and locals
have the opportunity to hit the slopes before the masses. Copper opened
its slopes at noon today for what resort officials call a "soft" opening
- in effect an unpublicized "warm-up" opening before the real thing on
Saturday. Employees were notified of the tentative plan Friday morning,
and word of mouth was the only way to find out about the opportunity.
"Today's soft opening gave our resort operations crews a chance to practice
a bit before opening to the public tomorrow," explained Vice President
David Barry. "Plus, we wanted to give our employees the chance to make
some turns before we start the season officially."
An annual tradition at Copper Mountain, the resort either will donate
75 percent of opening weekend's lift-ticket proceeds or a flat sum of
$25,000 - whichever is greater - to The Copper Mountain Ski & Snowboard
Team (CMST). Founded in 1973, CMST is an amateur USSA ski club for skiers
and snowboarders 5 and up. The team currently consists of 125 members,
several of whom have competed in the Junior Olympics and the National
Snowboarding Championships. To date, Copper has donated nearly $100,000
to CMST.
Lift tickets at Copper will cost $33 for adults and $15 for children ages
6-14 at the window through November 25, 1998. Copper Club Card holders,
however, pay only $20 until November 25 for adults, and children ski FREE
with the Copper Club Card during this time period. From November 26 through
December 25, adults ski or ride for $27 a day and children's lift tickets
are just $13 with the Copper Club Card.
As Barry points out, adult Club members can use the free lift-ticket voucher
received with their card to ski free on opening day. "Get your Copper
Club Card and ski free with us opening day, and then continue to save
on everything at Copper every time you visit," Barry said. "It's simple,
and it's the cheapest way to enjoy the best mountain in Colorado."
Skiers and boarders who have not yet purchased a season pass should consider
purchasing one of Copper's innovative passes, Barry added. Copper's Hooky
Pass is good Monday through Friday all season long for $325 if purchased
by this Sunday, November 15. Likewise, the Two-Day-a-Week Pass is good
two days out of the seven-day week for $395 if purchased by November 15.
"We've got the least expensive ways to get in the most days on the slopes
of any resort in the state," he said.
Copper starts the 1998/99 winter season having invested $66 million in
the last eight months to enhance its village and mountain amenities -
the largest single resort investment in the state this season. The "Super
Bee" - Colorado's first six-passenger high-speed chairlift which replaces
the former B and B1 lifts at Copper - is tentatively set to open for Thanksgivi
ng Weekend. Likewise, The Excelerator, a new high-speed quad chairlift
to replace the existing "E" triple chairlift, is tentatively scheduled
to open for Thanksgiving. Copper invested $7 million of the $66 million
into enhancing its snowmaking system, which now covers an additional 110
acres of terrain while doubling the former system's snowmaking capacity.
The resort's inter-resort transportation system also has been upgraded
with the addition of five new Orion buses.
Amenities on tap for later this season include the return of Copper's
competition halfpipe on lower Carefree in mid-December and the intermediates'
terrain park and mini-pipe on Liberty in January. Also set to open in
January will be two terrain parks and two halfpipes for riders of all
ability levels. And, an improved and expanded tubing hill in the East
Village is tentatively scheduled to open in early December.
Other developments still under construction include Copper Station, a
new 40,000-square-foot day lodge/conference center that will open in the
summer of 1999 and the Copper Springs Lodge, a 108-unit mountain home
project that will be ready for occupation in the fall of 1999. And this
season is just the beginning, as Copper plans to invest more than $400
million into resort development enhancements over the next five years.
For more information on this season at Copper Mountain Resort, call the
Welcome Center at 970/968-2318, ext. 7885.
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