Winter park or copper

SavageBiff

Active member
Which has better coverage rn, and which generally has less people/shorter lines during the week? Also, other less known ski resorts or light tours , cat skiing nearby ? Heading somewhere next week or week after once I check weather reports.
 
I vote Winter Park, but I’m biased.

Coverage is pretty solid now, almost all terrain is open. Next week would be a good time, things will get busier starting in March.
 
Copper’s park is so much fun but for anything other than park its ass

similar coverage at both places, mary jane is real fun right now
 
I’ve skied ~15 days at WP this year, exclusively on the Jane side. Weekend lines have become terrible, weekday are *fine* depending on if pony / iron horse are running. The pano line is always long if the snow is decent in my experience. They have gotten more snow I think than copper but the best terrain (cirque, chutes, most of eagle wind) isn’t open. It’s a lot of tight terrain, rock drops into moguls, some good tree skiing, but not much room for big turns. The groomers are packed cause there arnt that many.

No intel on copper. May try and go next week

Do you have arapahoe basin access? It’s empty during the week and they have tons of steeps, chutes, and big alpine terrain. Low snow year so there are rocks, but they kind of leave it up to you to not wreck your skis instead of closing everything. The Pali chair there is better than any winter park stuff.

berthoud pass is great for tours. Most of it is pretty high risk avy terrain, someone died there already this year. But the parts that arnt are super obvious and pretty fun. People build little jumps on a lot of the low angle stuff so at least there’s some spice on the way down.
 
don’t think the tucker cat runs anymore since they put in 3 bears

14244454:SavageBiff said:
Is the tucker mountain cat skiing

1-avy territory?

2-hikeable or skins and touring?
 
Yes I could go to a basin, temps and slightly less snow made me consider otherwise tho.

as far as touring, looking lowest risk or not going as I will be alone, I’ve considered hiring a guide for the purpose of digging me out and expanding my experience but I’ll have my wife and kids so my buds aren’t coming and I don’t allow them to tour. I always meet people on mountain but idk about asking/trusting a stranger to risk their life for me, strangers are bad, unless they have candy

14244458:ericforman said:
I’ve skied ~15 days at WP this year, exclusively on the Jane side. Weekend lines have become terrible, weekday are *fine* depending on if pony / iron horse are running. The pano line is always long if the snow is decent in my experience. They have gotten more snow I think than copper but the best terrain (cirque, chutes, most of eagle wind) isn’t open. It’s a lot of tight terrain, rock drops into moguls, some good tree skiing, but not much room for big turns. The groomers are packed cause there arnt that many.

No intel on copper. May try and go next week

Do you have arapahoe basin access? It’s empty during the week and they have tons of steeps, chutes, and big alpine terrain. Low snow year so there are rocks, but they kind of leave it up to you to not wreck your skis instead of closing everything. The Pali chair there is better than any winter park stuff.

berthoud pass is great for tours. Most of it is pretty high risk avy terrain, someone died there already this year. But the parts that arnt are super obvious and pretty fun. People build little jumps on a lot of the low angle stuff so at least there’s some spice on the way down.
 
Coverage is about the same at either area. WP has gotten more snow, but they need more to cover up the rocks. Copper seems to manage crowds better though. As long as you stay away from Flyer, you shouldn't have to wait more than a couple minutes mid week. I wouldn't trust any of the backcountry from either resort. Copper has some tasty looking lines behind Tucker and Spaulding bowl, but it's perfect avalanche terrain.
 
Ah fair. Abasin has a lot of high elevation north facing steeps so even if it’s not a pow day the skiing can still rule. Cold windy days are hard though because it’s almost all above tree line. The steep gullies there are essentially avy controlled backcountry. A very mellow tour you can just lap is east side at the top of berthoud pass.

14244470:SavageBiff said:
Yes I could go to a basin, temps and slightly less snow made me consider otherwise tho.

as far as touring, looking lowest risk or not going as I will be alone, I’ve considered hiring a guide for the purpose of digging me out and expanding my experience but I’ll have my wife and kids so my buds aren’t coming and I don’t allow them to tour. I always meet people on mountain but idk about asking/trusting a stranger to risk their life for me, strangers are bad, unless they have candy
 
This is sounding good

anyone know of pet friendly lodging? I’ve been navigating sites for hours and a lot of lodges leave it out of description and most say some rooms available “call”, then I call and had to leave #for callback

14244476:ericforman said:
Ah fair. Abasin has a lot of high elevation north facing steeps so even if it’s not a pow day the skiing can still rule. Cold windy days are hard though because it’s almost all above tree line. The steep gullies there are essentially avy controlled backcountry. A very mellow tour you can just lap is east side at the top of berthoud pass.
 
Abasin is firing right now!! Skied it on Monday and got my ass fully puckered on the steep gullies - everything is super soft right now and the coverage is finally solid. I could lap Pali all day and never get bored
 
14244484:DayMan said:
Abasin is firing right now!! Skied it on Monday and got my ass fully puckered on the steep gullies - everything is super soft right now and the coverage is finally solid. I could lap Pali all day and never get bored

But bro it's cold up there bro and they don't have a park bro
 
topic:SavageBiff said:
Which has better coverage rn, and which generally has less people/shorter lines during the week? Also, other less known ski resorts or light tours , cat skiing nearby ? Heading somewhere next week or week after once I check weather reports.

Go to Breck, A-basin, or Loveland, but between the two Copper 100%
 
Havnt been in years cause I just day trip now but the best western in Dillon used to allow pets. Good location to hit copper or abasin, backside of Loveland pass (us6) doesn’t close on pow days like the frontside will so it’s actually ideal for getting to abasin. Pug Ryan’s or the cafe right by there are good and a short walk. Nothing fancy. Drive to WP from Dillon could suck. Also if you go to WP make sure to park at Mary Jane. Free and close (all abasin parking is free and easy). Copper charges something stupid for close parking else you take a shuttle or walk like half mile? Can’t quite remember.

14244478:SavageBiff said:
This is sounding good

anyone know of pet friendly lodging? I’ve been navigating sites for hours and a lot of lodges leave it out of description and most say some rooms available “call”, then I call and had to leave #for callback
 
A crowded day at breck can be 30-45 min lift line

a crowded day at copper is at max like 5 min lift line.

breck is a great mountain but so is copper. If you want to find fresh powder a week after the last dump then go to copper.

ive never been to winter park but its a decent mountain from what ive heard.
 
mary jane is an amazing mountain for skiers especially on weekdays, coverage is basically all good some sketchy stuff is the very technical zones but thats it. copper is amazing for park but thats it
 

14244471:RIP_leos_shack said:
Coverage is about the same at either area. WP has gotten more snow, but they need more to cover up the rocks. Copper seems to manage crowds better though. As long as you stay away from Flyer, you shouldn't have to wait more than a couple minutes mid week. I wouldn't trust any of the backcountry from either resort. Copper has some tasty looking lines behind Tucker and Spaulding bowl, but it's perfect avalanche terrain.
 
That a back bowl at copper? Looks dope, committing tomorrow probably a basin idk..

14244899:HAMNATION said:
Peep the giant slide at the end of this footie stay out of there fo sho kids
 
Abasin has the steeps. I don’t ski copper often but do they have any nice sustained steeps?
 
How longs the hike up the east wall? Skins and touring bindings or boot pack?

14244984:CLQ said:
Abasin has the steeps. I don’t ski copper often but do they have any nice sustained steeps?
 
East wall isn’t open yet. Not nearly enough snow. And yea copper is a good mountain too. Spaulding bowl is great just havnt been this year. Honestly both will be sick. Unless you hate slow lifts then you’ll hate abasin.

14244991:SavageBiff said:
How longs the hike up the east wall? Skins and touring bindings or boot pack?
 
14244991:SavageBiff said:
How longs the hike up the east wall? Skins and touring bindings or boot pack?

If you wanna ski bumps and trees, Winter Park is skiing good right now. If you want more open lines and varied terrain, Copper might by the choice. If you want to get rowdy on steep stuff, go to Abasin, but you're for sure gonna clip rocks.
 
Hmmm... maybe I should watch weather and try and arrive before/during/after some snow...really don’t wanna miss that view from the top of the east wall, nor the ride down shit, wonder if big sky doing any better, hard to tell from the internet
 
East wall isn't open. I skied a basin today and not gonna lie, coverage isn't great.

14245003:SavageBiff said:
Hmmm... maybe I should watch weather and try and arrive before/during/after some snow...really don’t wanna miss that view from the top of the east wall, nor the ride down shit, wonder if big sky doing any better, hard to tell from the internet
 
14245001:skeirman said:
If you wanna ski bumps and trees, Winter Park is skiing good right now. If you want more open lines and varied terrain, Copper might by the choice. If you want to get rowdy on steep stuff, go to Abasin, but you're for sure gonna clip rocks.

Dude coppers tree runs are incredible. Theres glades and open powder fields above and below the tree line all over the mountain. Union meadows is like n64 smash bros; you simply cant get tired of it. Its literally like a mile wide and you can always find fresh pow.
 
14245009:DolansLebensraum said:
Dude coppers tree runs are incredible. Theres glades and open powder fields above and below the tree line all over the mountain. Union meadows is like n64 smash bros; you simply cant get tired of it. Its literally like a mile wide and you can always find fresh pow.

Yeah Copper is sick, I don't know why these fools are saying Copper sucks.
 
I'm gonna get downvotes for this, but I really don't like Winter Park. The lines are horrible for any standard weekend, Pano is closed half the time due to wind, and all the lifts funnel down to the same spots. Sure the runs are good, but I consistantly feel like I am waiting in line more than skiing.

14244528:DolansLebensraum said:
A crowded day at breck can be 30-45 min lift line

a crowded day at copper is at max like 5 min lift line.

breck is a great mountain but so is copper. If you want to find fresh powder a week after the last dump then go to copper.

ive never been to winter park but its a decent mountain from what ive heard.
 
14244446:DayMan said:
Copper’s park is so much fun but for anything other than park its ass

similar coverage at both places, mary jane is real fun right now

what did you not like about copper?

the tree runs are the best of any resort ive ever been to. Bc of the high elevation the trees are perfectly spaced all over the mountain.

the bowls are great and theres 14ers all around to make it feel extra epic.

when the snow is good copper is literally a candyflipping fucking orgy.
 
14244473:Municipal007 said:
go to vail it’s the best resort in Colorado

Vails nice but its not a very pretty resort. The elevation isnt high enough for good spring skiing and the lower aspen dominated area of the mountain is straight up ugly.
 
14245020:DolansLebensraum said:
Vails nice but its not a very pretty resort. The elevation isnt high enough for good spring skiing and the lower aspen dominated area of the mountain is straight up ugly.

pretty sure that was sarcasm. if not, fuck that guy.
 
14245019:DolansLebensraum said:
what did you not like about copper?

the tree runs are the best of any resort ive ever been to. Bc of the high elevation the trees are perfectly spaced all over the mountain.

the bowls are great and theres 14ers all around to make it feel extra epic.

when the snow is good copper is literally a candyflipping fucking orgy.

Maybe I just need to go with someone who really knows the mountain, my biggest complaint is that is generally pretty flat. There’s some really fun hits on the Sierra liftline that I found last time but it sounds like I need to explore more
 
14244989:skeirman said:
LOL at ya'll saying Copper is only good for park. You don't know how to ski the mountain at all.

Copper's got a bunch of miles-long steep ass mogul runs. There's some real hardcores that just lap those all day every day. Tons of other stuff too
 
Likely Not bad. The 2 main choke points for CO front range are when i70 turns into 2 lanes before Idaho springs and the Eisenhower tunnel. You’ll be past both. There’s no big passes (vail pass would be after copper) and the backside of Loveland pass is really easy as far as these things go. Obviously if it’s nuking and you don’t have a decent vehicle it’s gonna suck. Copper would be easier in that case as it’s all i70.

and as everyone said: little bit of everything and a typical resort feel go copper

serious steeps with rocks still lurking and a remote / local feel go abasin
 
Think I’m gonna stay somewhere central and hit copper and a basin

14245119:ericforman said:
Likely Not bad. The 2 main choke points for CO front range are when i70 turns into 2 lanes before Idaho springs and the Eisenhower tunnel. You’ll be past both. There’s no big passes (vail pass would be after copper) and the backside of Loveland pass is really easy as far as these things go. Obviously if it’s nuking and you don’t have a decent vehicle it’s gonna suck. Copper would be easier in that case as it’s all i70.

and as everyone said: little bit of everything and a typical resort feel go copper

serious steeps with rocks still lurking and a remote / local feel go abasin

14245149:larilinesign said:
There's Eldora over there. Haven't been this year, but usually their park is really fun.
 
Have you gone yet? Need that trip report. Was at a basin this afternoon and it was fire. Probably will be a bit crusty tomorrow with the warm sunny weather. Also there are a shit ton of rocks, good for the soul bad for the bases. So much stuff to jump off of tho and that north facing terrain off the pali is skiing real nice.
 
14247683:ericforman said:
Have you gone yet? Need that trip report. Was at a basin this afternoon and it was fire. Probably will be a bit crusty tomorrow with the warm sunny weather. Also there are a shit ton of rocks, good for the soul bad for the bases. So much stuff to jump off of tho and that north facing terrain off the pali is skiing real nice.

Did you hit Gauthier?
 
14247695:skeirman said:
Did you hit Gauthier?

Na was worried it would still be too rocky based on some of the other stuff. havn't been there or west turbo this year. Kind of rotated through spine / face / first alley / liftline / slalom slope -> exhibition. Even took one lenawee lap to calm the mind.
 
14247690:DayMan said:
I will give you $1000 if you can get to any of the East wall lines in 5-10 minutes

You better be a man of your word unlike that dog fart guy.
 
Back
Top