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Planning last minute trip. Taking a couple days for slopeside skiing at Ski Cooper (Leadville, CO). It's not a huge resort, but I'm stoked. Really interested to see the newly opened terrain, they call the new area Tennessee Creek Basin... looks promising.
https://www.skicooper.com/mountain-stats/

If anybody wants to meetup, I'll be there 19-Mar to 22-Mar. Contact me here, or just look for the dude on teles. ¡Cheers!

I've always wanted to ski Ski Cooper... how did you find this little place? Have you been before? What's the draw?

Woodserson wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 11, 2021 9:11 pm

I've always wanted to ski Ski Cooper... how did you find this little place? Have you been before? What's the draw?

I went once before, on recommendation of my sister who spent her early 20's living in Boulder, and knew all the ins & outs of the High Rockies.

What initially drew me there was they used to have Twofer-Tuesday lift tickets, and used to have $30-Thursday lift tickets. No more after COVID and reservations.

Before this new Tennessee Creek Basin area opened, I would have said that the place was mostly intermediate terrain. Good for drills and honing skills. Now I want to see what this new terrain offers. I am really impressed that they were able to make these improvements without taking on debt! Makes me appreciate the place even more to know it's managed by people who care.

The people are super chill, and most of the attitude stays closer to I-70. Leadville, is pretty remote. No lift lines. Also, if you're a military history buff, the U.S. Army 10'th Mountian Division has pedigree from this area.

It's right on the Continental Divide... beautiful, and it's a crap shoot to know if you're urine ends up in the Pacific Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico!

Also, don't confuse "Ski Cooper" with "Copper Mountain". Both are in Colorado, but BIG difference.

I was skiing with Aleksander Gamme in Leadville almost 5 weeks ago and skied the Mineral Belt Trail. That was a nice loop, about 11 miles, right in town. Saw more mining relics on that trail than any other. Kick and Glide along with skate skiing. Nice views too, including Massive and Elbert, the 2 highest peaks in Colorado, which are on the Cooper trail map.

joeatomictoad wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 11, 2021 9:06 pm

Planning last minute trip. Taking a couple days for slopeside skiing at Ski Cooper (Leadville, CO). It's not a huge resort, but I'm stoked. Really interested to see the newly opened terrain, they call the new area Tennessee Creek Basin... looks promising.
https://www.skicooper.com/mountain-stats/

If anybody wants to meetup, I'll be there 19-Mar to 22-Mar. Slotwolf casino with minimum deposit https://forest112.com Contact me here, or just look for the dude on teles. ¡Cheers!

I've been there last year, it's a decent place. Have fun!

The GCW wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 12, 2021 12:36 am

I was skiing with Aleksander Gamme in Leadville almost 5 weeks ago and skied the Mineral Belt Trail. That was a nice loop, about 11 miles, right in town. Saw more mining relics on that trail than any other. Kick and Glide along with skate skiing. Nice views too, including Massive and Elbert, the 2 highest peaks in Colorado, which are on the Cooper trail map.

Nice! Looks beautiful. Out of curiosity, what skis was he using?

I've been to Ski Cooper many times--it's about a 2 hour drive from Boulder/Denver--a fun relaxing and uncrowded place, w/good tele terrain. Back in the summer of 2007 at Cooper I was one of the National Ski Patrol escorts for the last official reunion of the WW2 veterans of the 10th Mtn. Div., which trained at Camp Hale, and at Ski Cooper. Cooper was, in fact, built originally for the US Army. But I digress.
Plenty good turns to be had there, and along with the previously mentioned extensive groomed trails in Leadville, there is excellent trail access to multiple nearby 10th Mtn Huts, as Leadville/Camp Hale/Cooper is the rough midpoint of the hut system. If you have a chance, check them out.

Got back a couple days ago. Had a great time at Ski Cooper. There's a nordic center in the back of the parking lot, for anybody interested in that, called "Tennessee Pass Nordic Center & Sleep Yurts". I was excited to learn about this. The wife won't ski, but she will snowshoe!

Leadville is a quaint town. I think it brought out the inner country boy in me, because as I was driving out of the High Rockies, I felt overwhelmed with the big city life and traffic when I stopped in Silverthorne for breakfast...¡Silverthorne! And don't even me started with the city of Denver.

Before I was acclimating to 10,200-foot elevation of Leadville. Now I am acclimating to 6-million people of Houston.

Didn't take a lot of pics, but here is one run I particularly enjoyed negotiating between the b-nets and the trees, and in the trees...

Forgot to mention:
Then newly opened Tennessee Creek Basin challenged me beyond my capabilities on tele gear. I hadn't cursed my tele skills for a couple years! At least there's something to work towards.

The trail map looks like proper skiing trails, but it's really just deer trails with bumps... albeit not terribly steep. If any one looking for thick glades, with tight bumps, on moderate steep.... definitely worth a gander.

The rest of the mountain was an absolute dream.