Copper Mt., CO 12/15/01 & Beaver Creek, CO 12/16/01

At Copper on Saturday we waited for the delayed snowstorm to move in, which finally arrived late in the day. Skies were sunny for the majority of the day which started out cold in the single-digits. Groomed runs were pleasant, some thin spots were appearing in mogul troughs, and the woods weren't quite ready for prime time. With the exception of Hallelujah Ridge off of the poma lift, all of the skiing in Copper's above-treeline bowls is still closed for the season. <BR> <BR>Some photos of the day: <BR> <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/9/1277.jpg" ALT="Early morning"> <BR>Early Morning <BR> <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/9/1278.jpg" ALT="Looking down on Copper's new village"> <BR>Looking down on Copper's new village <BR> <BR>Meanwhile, there's a lot more natural cover west of Vail Pass. Some wonderful woods skiing was found in some aspen stands on Larkspur at Beaver Creek, which picked up 2 or 3 inches of new overnight. Where the snow fell on a groomed manmade surface underneath, things were sometimes scratchy. Where a natural base existed, however, it was some very decent skiing. <BR> <BR>Photos from Beaver Creek today: <BR> <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/9/1279.jpg" ALT="Larkspur Bowl"> <BR>Larkspur Bowl <BR> <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/9/1280.jpg" ALT="Beaver Creek Village"> <BR>Beaver Creek Village

The normal ratio of snowfall between Vail and Copper is 4 to 3. In the recent big storm in late November it was 2 to 1. Thus Vail has 95% of terrain open but Copper's alpine bowls aren't covered yet. In 1999 Vail was unlucky and had the same snowfall as Summit County, so Vail's back bowls lost their cover in March. But in general, if you want natural snow skiing pre-Christmas in this region, stick to Steamboat and Vail. A friend on mine skied both Dec. 8-9 and reported excellent conditions.

I was at Beaver Creek today (2/19) and skied Larkspur Bowl as well. There's still plenty of powder for the taking. The rest of the mountain is holding up pretty well. I did find a few rocks here and there, especially on the approach to the birds of prey downhill area. They need a bit more snow to cover everything. Grouse Mountain will be closed until Saturday. Overall, conditions were pretty good. <BR> <BR>PS

Gotta learn to use the small images next time ... <IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/smile2.gif"> <BR> <BR>Anyhoo, the video from these two days is now online in our Original Online Videos section: <BR><A HREF="http://www.FirstTracksOnline.com/video.shtm" TARGET="_blank">http://www.FirstTracksOnline.com/video.shtm</A> <BR>and choose the "Tunnel Vision" piece.