Our family of four (2 parents + 2 college age) had a great time at Copper Mountain. It took us several days to explore all the trails and it wasn't until day 3 we began repeating. Overall, I was most impressed with the ambassadors and ski patrol. They were quite visible at many intersections and also at the top of lifts when we had questions. One even helped us navigate when we found ourselves in over our heads and offered suggestions of which areas to ski when the weather turned nasty. There were no lift lines to speak of. We skiied on a Monday-Thursday in March, so no need for SuperBee pass. Lift operators were friendly and gave children help getting onto the lifts. Trails were wide and well separated according to degree of difficulty. Only two negative comments- Some of the lifts seemed quite slow, and more signage for trails would have been helpful. Daughter even won the local Guitar Hero contest which was the extent of our "night life"! We would definitely go back.

I've been skiing in Colorado and Utah for 30+ years. Copper is by far the best resort in Summit County, CO. A-Basin is second. Copper is easy to access and if you know a little about the mountain you can avoid lift lines and find good snow on any day. These people that go to an area for one day a season and say it is too icy don't know what they are talking about. Any area in the world will have bad snow conditions from time to time. A lot of people talk about the blacks not being all that difficult at Copper. Sure this is true if they have been groomed, but after a few big storms, the big bumps form and then they'd be crying about how difficult they are. Copper doesn't have a lot of cliffs or extreme terrain but it is plenty steep and there are plenty of places you can get in trouble if you choose. Copper Rocks!

I have been skiing for the past 23 seasons and lived in Colorado for the past 6 years; which I have enjoyed the skiing here. Each year I have purchased a season pass. For the past two years I have had the Super pass. Overall I have been very happy with Copper Mtn. There is a wide variety of runs for different skill levels from greens to blacks. It is a great mtn if you are learning how to ski or if you are an expert skier. I love the back bowels and Tucker Mtn, but I also can say the much easier terrian is great as well.

I do not have any experience with the ski school, but I have taught my fiancee how to ski two seasons ago and she loves it. I would definitely recommend skiing here. Copper Mountain is in my top 5 ski resorts in Colorado.

FYI - I rated family friendly a 4 because I do think that Breckenridge is more of a family friendly resort.

Copper is most known for its split terrain. On the far right side of the mountain is pretty much all green trails for beginners with very open groomed trails and the ski school. Great for family to stick together and not worry about getting off on the wrong trail. The center of the mountain is mainly the blue trails and the far left with the black trails. Basically, you know which base to go to and just stick around that area depending on your difficulty level. If you're really a beginner, be careful about going to the Center Village for the first time. The very bottom of the hill is the steepest (blue terrain - though they are the ends of green trails) and all my first-timer friends have gotten scared when coming upon it.

The base lifts can get pretty crowded so we get our runs in early and then stick to the lifts higher up on the mountain. Last time I went, I decided to try the back side and was pleasantly surprised to see how empty it was. I'm an intermediate skier and wanted to try the one blue run back there which was more like a green because it's really a road in the summer. All around are blacks however, probably why they rated the road blue. I got to dabble on the black trails for the first time, a few trails weren't as bad as I was expecting, but most are heavy with moguls. We had to call ski patrol they came within a matter of minutes and professionally took my husband down the mountain safely to further assess his pain.

The lodges at the bottom can get very crowded at lunch time. There are grills higher up the mountain if the day is nice enough to sit outside and eat. Otherwise, the Center Village has many other restaurants however that aren't too crowded, including pizza, chinese, and a Starbucks.

For the past 5 years, my family has gotten the 4-pass at Copper which really saves you some money, though the price has risen.

We visited on Sunday, January 20th. I put my three children (ages 11, 10, 8) in ski school. I am not impressed and would not utilize their school again. At the beginning of the lesson, I voiced my concern to the instructor that the kids hadn't skiied in 3 years and that they should probably be on Green level. The instructor did not follow procedure and call a supervisor, rather he said "Come with me and we'll sort it out at the top." My 11-year-old was abandoned on the mountain. She lost a ski immediately after getting off the lift. Her instructor didn't call in that she was missing until 11:15am (she was abandoned at 10am). I was never notified that my child was endangered or missing. Her younger sister actually spotted her at the base at 11:30.
I spoke with the Director of the ski school and she promised to make things right. That was two days ago and I'm still waiting...