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Colorado Official Copper Mountain Thread 15/16

nay

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Tuesday was good....

image.jpeg

Although my two youngest struggled in the soft crud. Quote of the day from my 11 yo girl: "I sucked."
 

UGASkiDawg

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Tuesday was good....

View attachment 3487

Although my two youngest struggled in the soft crud. Quote of the day from my 11 yo girl: "I sucked."


She did not..I've seen her ski!.

Tell her you're never as bad as you feel on your bad days and never as good as think you are on your good days:)

Sorry we missed you..we were testing skis mostly on Sierra
 

tball

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Beacons get some Tucker Cat preference, pretty cool:
New this year: The Tucker Mountain Avalanche Beacon Snow Cat! On days that we are running TWO Tucker Mountain Snow Cats, there will be preference given to those with their avalanche beacons, in good working order and with good battery life. They will have VIP access to one designated cat; there will be a beacon check-point at the cat pick-up. It would be great if you also had your avalanche rescue gear with you--A Shovel and Probe--as all of this area is considered avalanche terrain! Please respect closures, they are there for everyone's safety. Ski in groups and have a plan. Stay updated at CopperColorado.com

From today's snow report: http://www.coppercolorado.com/winter/the_mountain/dom/snow.html

Interesting compromise in not making them required which would be my preference.
 

tball

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I was wondering how we'd know if they are running two cats (one with beacon preference). Looking at the report today, they kindly have it noted:

Copper Mountain - Daily Operations Report Manager.jpg
 

kimmyt

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So here's an update on the cat situation at Copper. @RachelV and I caught a lift on the 2nd to last cat of the day, thanks in part to the beacon priority. Just before we were heading in to lunch we noticed the cat was running, so we decided to eat and try to jet over to catch it before it closed for the day (2pm). We headed straight over from solitude, with some mighty fine traversing skill we hopped into the line at 1:35 or so, and the patrol patrol closed the line directly after us. They had fully loaded the 2nd to last cat and the last cat was headed down. They were counting off and unfortunately, they were full with the folks right in front of us, leaving us presumably high and dry. So, using my feminine wiles (or really, just some minor communication skills) I asked the patrol if they were doing Beacon Priority since we both had ours on. We were informed that yes, they were, and the cat they had just loaded was the beacon cat, and also that the line for beacons was seperate from the regular queue (and very unmarked and unnoticeable). So, patrol squeezed us into the beacon cat. They also informed everyone who we essentially cut in front of that the reason we got to jump cats was that we had our beacon, and to bring it in the future if they wanted priority cat rides.

I didn't get a chance to grill them on the loading procedure, say if there was a full cat of beacon wearers would that mean they fill the cat and only put some non-beacon wearers in if there was room. ALSO I asked why they didn't have the beacon line marked and was told that it was somewhere up on the new signage but that "people don't read", and I thought that was funny but that they could have made a better sign maybe on the entrance to the beacon queue so it was more intuitive.

Anyway, I think that if you're planning on catching a cat ride, throw the beacon on. It should be noted that they didn't check to see if our beacons were on, or go off of anything other than word of mouth. So, take that as you may. We had a decent run down Fremont glades (the cat actually dropped us off much higher than usual, under the rocky ridge you bootpack up instead of the usual saddle dropoff) through wind buff and slab and chopped up leftover powder lower down.

Picture of my luxury front seat ride.

So basically,

TL;DR- if you want to ride the cat, wear a beacon and get in the unmarked (and probably empty) queue to the right of the main cat line and you won't have to wait as long.
 
Last edited:

UGASkiDawg

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I'm just gonna leave this here because well it's at the top of Patrol/Cornice chute at Copper and because I got new skis and couldn't be more tickled pink with them:yahoo: Conditions in the chute were suprisingly styrofoamy (that's a new word I think) given how much snow we'd received earlier in the week but the new Kastle's loved them. Who's around this coming Valentines weekend for a day at Copper (or the Basin)?
20160207_094402.jpg
 

MarkEss

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I'm just gonna leave this here because well it's at the top of Patrol/Cornice chute at Copper and because I got new skis and couldn't be more tickled pink with them:yahoo: Conditions in the chute were suprisingly styrofoamy (that's a new word I think) given how much snow we'd received earlier in the week but the new Kastle's loved them. Who's around this coming Valentines weekend for a day at Copper (or the Basin)?

Nice skis @UGASkiDawg! I was in that same spot recently on my FX94's, which I really enjoy. Is it safe to assume they were your favorites from SIA?

We will be at Copper Friday through Monday and would like to make some turns with ya. While we have never met, we did talk a bit last year about TSC.
 

UGASkiDawg

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Nice skis @UGASkiDawg! I was in that same spot recently on my FX94's, which I really enjoy. Is it safe to assume they were your favorites from SIA?

We will be at Copper Friday through Monday and would like to make some turns with ya. While we have never met, we did talk a bit last year about TSC.

Yes it is safe to assume:D....especially in the 90-100 all mountain category.

I'll send you a PM with my cell....I may ski the Basin on Saturday but will be at Copper on Fri, Sun, and probably Monday.
 

Monique

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TL;DR- if you want to ride the cat, wear a beacon and get in the unmarked (and probably empty) queue to the right of the main cat line and you won't have to wait as long.

Huh. I may have to ski Copper more often - beacon always present and accounted for.
 

kimmyt

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I can't think of anything more satisfying than skiing down to a big line for the cat and just getting in a nearly empty queue and boarding. Oh man, think of all the confused bros!
 

Monique

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I can't think of anything more satisfying than skiing down to a big line for the cat and just getting in a nearly empty queue and boarding. Oh man, think of all the confused bros!
It usually just runs on weekends, right?
 

Monique

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The Mountain Report shows Friday-Sunday. You can probably include holidays too.
Hmm. I wonder if it's worth it this Friday, or if the entire upper mountain will be styrofoam.
 

carvemeister

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Ok, I'll be there on Sunday - so what the hell is "styrofoamy?" Bad corn snow? Good corn snow? Some kind of little fluffy nuggets? What's the best ski for styrofoam skiing since I haven't decided what skis to pack in my double ski bag yet. and this new snow term just confused the hell out of me? The Blizzard Magnum 87's are coming for sure, but given the styrofoam snow and next week's fairly dry forecast should pair # 2 be the narrower 81mm pair or the 112mm DPS Wailers (which at this point seemed to be destined for mostly sleeping all week on the condo floor). Gotta pack tomorrow - help me out!!
 

UGASkiDawg

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Magnum 87 would be fine for any day at Copper opening day to last day. I spent the last five years skiing every single day on a 100 underfoot ski at Copper. If you have an 81 bring it. I've never had a day at Copper when I've felt a 112 would be needed or even wanted but that's just me.
 

carvemeister

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Magnum 87 would be fine for any day at Copper opening day to last day. I spent the last five years skiing every single day on a 100 underfoot ski at Copper. If you have an 81 bring it. I've never had a day at Copper when I've felt a 112 would be needed or even wanted but that's just me.

Thanks for the advice. Sounds about right now that I think back to the last few times I skied Copper. I've been going off the grid the past 10 years or so and hitting much less mainstream resorts like Revelstoke, Whitefish, Wolf Creek, etc. and some cat-skiing terrain where it seemed like lunacy to leave the powder skis home. I thought I'd bring them for the chance of an epic dump at Steamboat next week, but looks like that's very unlikely. So, I'll bring the Magnums and a narrower ski - which in fact is not 81mm (I actually forgot what I had), but 78mm - the Head Monster iM78 which is a pretty sweet ski. :beercheer:
 

SBrown

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Ok, I'll be there on Sunday - so what the hell is "styrofoamy?" Bad corn snow? Good corn snow? Some kind of little fluffy nuggets? What's the best ski for styrofoam skiing since I haven't decided what skis to pack in my double ski bag yet. and this new snow term just confused the hell out of me? The Blizzard Magnum 87's are coming for sure, but given the styrofoam snow and next week's fairly dry forecast should pair # 2 be the narrower 81mm pair or the 112mm DPS Wailers (which at this point seemed to be destined for mostly sleeping all week on the condo floor). Gotta pack tomorrow - help me out!!

I think styrofoam means a large sheet of styrofoam, not pellets. We have had a lot of wind, so above treeline it is dry but firm, sorta edgeable but grabby. I haven't been out this week, but that's what I gather from photos and reports. See the last couple of pages of this thread, which you probably already have done. My guess would be to stick to north-facing stuff at Copper, hold off on Copper Bowl until lunchtime. I bet Union Peak and S lift are still skiing ok? Has anyone been up there?
 

SBrown

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Magnum 87 would be fine for any day at Copper opening day to last day. I spent the last five years skiing every single day on a 100 underfoot ski at Copper. If you have an 81 bring it. I've never had a day at Copper when I've felt a 112 would be needed or even wanted but that's just me.

Yes, just you. :D I've had about a half dozen of those days, maybe 10. Still, there are many days I would grab my 112s over 87s, but I don't see any of them coming up soon.
 

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