We were reluctant to ski on a Saturday but Copper Mountain was reporting 32″ of snow in the last week. We had to go. With only 3 lifts open we knew the lines would be long, and they were. We headed up the Eagle after waiting for what seemed like a really long time in the singles line. Then it was on to the Excelerator to hit the top of the mountain. We didn’t want to go back down to the bottom and wait in that line again unless we had to. The Excelerator usually doesn’t have much of a line but today it did.
At the Top of the Mountain
We finally made it to the top. We didn’t linger with the gusty winds at the top and headed towards Ptarmigan, the only way down. Along the way we noticed a crowd was building. Skiers and riders were looking into Mine Dump where ski patrol was packing snow. I could hardly hear the ski patroller as she asked for help with the packing. “Five at a time,” she said, “and if you’re not orderly, we’ll have to stop.” After a short wait the first five headed down the slope. We watched as they enoyed the fresh powder. Then 5 more went, then 5 more. The anticipation was almost unbearable as we listened to the whoops and hollers of those on the slopes. Finally it was our turn. Off we went. The snow was worth the wait. Soft, fluffy powder that was easily knee deep greeted us with every turn. Fresh tracks on a Saturday!
We Hit the Jackpot at Copper Mountain!
Knee deep powder on our second ski day of the year! We floated through the powder, down the slope until we connected back to Ptarmigan. We high fived each other, grinning ear to ear as we headed back to the Excelerator lift hoping we would get a second run down it.
It was all I could do to wait patiently as the lift took us back to the top. We made our way back down to the Mine Dump entrance. It looked like they were still letting everyone in and we could breathe easy knowing we’d get another run as great as the first. Then, they told us they were going to open CDL too. We traversed behind ski patrol to the top of CDL. We were going to be in the first ten people to go down this run today! We couldn’t believe our good fortune as we headed back into the powder. We were experiencing conditions that rivaled some of our best days last year; which was a phenomenal season.
Unfortunately, we had work to do and couldn’t spend any more time on the mountain. We left feeling like we won the lottery or hit the jackpot at Copper Mountain. The smiles still haven’t left our faces. Thank you Copper Mountain for an incredible start to the 2014/2015 ski season
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