Much like many of the ski resorts in Summit County, Colorado; Copper Mountain is looking to enhance its summer activities to draw more visitors during the summer season.
Copper Mountain in Colorado is owned by Park City, Utah-based Powdr Corporation. They are proposing adding an alpine coaster on the west-side of the American Flyer lift and a mountain bike trail to enhance the resorts appeal to summer visitors. An additional part of the proposal is to add more snowmaking machines for the winter months.
Gary Rodgers, Copper Mountain Resort President and General manager expressed the idea of having more summer activities at Copper mountain is to improve the overall commercial economy at Copper.
Many resorts are doing very similar things to enhance their economic growth during the summer months.
Breckenridge Ski Resort for example has the “Epic Experience” that has enhanced the ski resort in the summer for visitors with zip lines, additional hiking & mountain biking trails, rock climbing walls, additional on-mountain restaurants open in the summer and an alpine coaster. Places like Keystone Resort and Winter Park are both known for drawing in mountain bikers during the summer months with their extensive trail/downhill systems.
The proposal for enhancing resort summer activities is permitted under the 2011 Ski Area Recreational Opportunities Enhancement Act. This act allows existing ski resorts nationwide already operating on federal lands to pursue summer recreation activities. The law updated the National Forest Ski Permit Act of 1986 which limited mountain recreation to only alpine and Nordic skiing.
If the public and environmental studies give this project the green-light, Copper could receive approval as early as fall of this year, and then begin construction and installation by the summer of 2017.
Alpine Coaster Facts
The alpine coaster is estimated to be a multi-million-dollar project. While it has been noted the coaster is practically silent and self-contained, it is the largest and most visual proposed change to the mountain.
Though engineering plans have yet to be finalized, if completed as designed it would feature the following:
- Track length of 5,800 feet.
- Decent of 3,950 feet.
- Vertical Drop of 430 feet.
- Longest coaster of its kind in North America.
- Operate during the summer and winter months (weather permitting).
Copper has partnered with the Aquatic Development Group (ADG) for the coaster project. The amusement-ride builder completed a similar alpine coaster for Killington Ski Resort in Vermont (another resort owned by Powdr Corp.).
To learn more about this project or how you can invest in Copper Mountain real estate, contact one of our professional real estate brokers at Real Estate of the Summit today!
