A Winter Weekend at Copper Mountain, Just a Short Drive Away

There are two great reasons to visit Copper Mountain other than the skiing. First, it’s so close to the Front Range. As seasoned Colorado travelers we arranged this trip Saturday to Monday to avoid ski traffic and getting back and forth from this resort was a breeze. Second, Copper has become a fun festival destination.

Festivals at Copper Mountain

Our first trip to Copper was to attend the summertime Genuine Wine & Jazz Festival.

This past weekend, we were back at Copper Mountain for Copper Uncorked, an annual, slopeside festival of wine and wings. This festival is an après ski event with a twist. Eight area restaurants compete in an all out war for your “best wing” vote. The wine flowed, the wings were incredible and the band, New Orleans Suspects kept the crowd dancing.

I can honestly say that this was probably the best slopeside festival (both in value and presentation) that I’ve attended. A really good reason to book a ski trip in Copper on the third weekend in February (Copper Uncorked 2017 is scheduled for Saturday, March 25).

Lodging at Copper Mountain

We stayed in a one-bedroom condo at Passage Point, a building that’s within a two minute walk from the village plaza and the ski slope. The condo was spacious, we had amazing mountain views from every room and the heated pool and hot tubs were excellent. I’d highly recommend this Copper property.

Skiing at Copper Mountain

Ryan had an amazing day on the slopes. Sunday skiing meant short lift lines and a near bluebird day made for incredible vistas. He loved the back bowls, which he had all to himself on Sunday afternoon.

The layout of Copper Mountain’s ski area is nice because, for the most part, the greens, blues and blacks are all separate, making it easy to navigate the mountain for any level of skier.

Tubing at Copper Mountain

On Sunday evening we went tubing, something I was not prepared to love. For years I’ve associated tubing with kids, but I was wrong. Tubing at Copper Mountain  is not just for kids, but it will make you feel like a kid again. And tubing at night added a fun element of perceived danger to the activity.

I’ve decided that I must try out all the Colorado ski resorts’ tubing hills so that I may rate them accordingly. So far I’ve only tried Copper’s tubing hill so it is number one.

Dining at Copper Mountain

Dining at Copper was a little hit and miss on this trip, but that’s what makes having a condo ideal because you can cook in if you tired of resort fare. The village is short on breakfast places, so you might want to consider packing bagels, eggs, etc.  

We had a great first day lunch at Casa Sanchez, a Mexican restaurant serving up a unique, smoky salsa and margaritas as big as my head.

One our second day we had lunch at  Mountain Melts, a mac’n’cheese joint at the base of the mountain. Despite the super nice staff, the specialty mac’n’cheese bowls were disappointing.

A Copper restaurant that never disappoints, however, is JJ’s Rocky Mountain Tavern. We’ve eaten there in the past and it’s worth the quick bus ride over to East Village. On this trip we split a huge platter of delicious barbecue.

Hints for visiting Copper Mountain:  

Looking for an after dinner drink in a fun, laid back bar? Mulligans Irish Pub is where locals go and we ran into a lot of them on Saturday night. Featuring slightly surly bartenders and borderline offensive bathroom art, we loved Mulligans.  

Want to rent a movie during your stay? In the same building where you’ll check into your condo, there’s a movie rental station featuring lots of new releases. You can rent a DVD for just $4.

Copper is easy to navigate. The Central Village is entirely walkable and there are free buses that run between East Village, Central Village and West Village.

Thank you to Copper Mountain for hosting us on this visit.

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