Copper Mountain is gonna need a bigger map.
The second-largest ski area in Summit County is gunning for the largest, Breckenridge, with its latest master plan. Copper was recently approved for six new chairlifts and nearly 500 acres of expanded terrain, most of it above treeline on the southwestern edge of the resort.
The crown jewel of Copper’s plan is Jacque East, a new chairlift running to 13,150 feet. It would dethrone Breck’s Imperial Chair (12,840 feet) as the highest chairlift in North America. Jacque East would serve most of the expanded terrain, giving you chairlift access to steeps and chutes you can only reach by hiking today.
A second new chairlift, Thunderbird, connects this new zone – dubbed “the High Alpine” – to Tucker Mountain and its collection of chairlifts, including Three Bears, Copper’s most recent terrain expansion from 2019.
These two new chairs will bring Copper’s skiable acreage to 3,038 acres – about 100 more than Breckenridge.
Union Meadows chair and more
Jacque East is the flashiest part of the 2024 master plan. This 122-page document is loaded with upgrades and improvements, but we are betting one will be debated over drinks until the day it happens – a detachable quad serving Union Meadows.
This zone, on Copper’s western edge, demands a long traverse in and out, but it is a local favorite for untracked snow days after a storm. Copper, in its master plan, calls it “significantly underutilized.” The new Union Meadows lift would start on Soliloquy trail and take you to upper Union Meadows, where you can drop to Thunderbird and then Jacque East.
Here’s the best of the rest:
- A new detachable quad, Sail Away Lift, serving Center Village to reduce wait times on American Eagle
- A new two-chair, Terrain Park Lift, serving Woodward Terrain Park to reduce waits on Woodward chair
- A new surface lift, SuperPipe, serving the Main Vein pipe
- An upgraded detachable quad at Blackjack, replacing a two-seater
- An upgraded triple at Mountain Chief, replacing a two-seater
- An upgraded eight-chair at Super Beer with a new midway station, replacing a six-chair
- An upgraded six-chair at Excelerator, replacing a four-chair
- An upgraded six-chair at Lumberjack, replacing a triple
- An upgraded six-chair at Rendezvous, replacing a four-chair
- An upgraded detachable quad at Alpine Lift with new upper terminal, replacing a two-chair from 1979
The U.S. Forest Service approved Copper’s new master plan on Feb. 27. There is no timeline for construction, and every major improvement will be reviewed again before shovels hit dirt.