Photo of Cooperopolis under construction

Days before the World Cup kicks off on Sölden’s Rettenbach glacier, US racers shift their training focus to Colorado. Copper Mountain is North America’s top fall and spring training hub, boasting ample water, snowmaking capabilities, and ideal temperatures for early-season snow production. Expert staff diligently craft and organize training slopes, earning a well-known reputation. However, the recent weather has delayed the start of early season training by one week.

While driving east on I-70, Cooperopolis appears ready for skiing. However, trying to have limited training with the various depths, surface inconsistency and warm snow surfaces made it unsafe to pursue the original start date. Also, the training would have sacrificed future training quality and quantity.

Initially set for October 20th, Copper’s opening was delayed due to unexpected warm nights. Copper Mountain’s training start date has been rescheduled to October 27th to make the most of next week’s colder weather conditions.

For more details, please look at the Copper Race Department’s communication below, which was sent to its partner teams.

“Hello Everyone,

Like everywhere in the ski world, we’re dealing with strange, sudden, and variable weather patterns. We were 100% on track for opening this Friday. The last few days and nights have been brutal, even at 12’000. Colder temps are expected to return this Tuesday, so we are delaying opening until Friday, October 27th. We will continue to make snow every chance possible.

Some of the issues we are confronting:

– Very warm temperatures. Afternoons 47F/8C. Early mornings 28F/-1C, for only about 3 hours. This is at 12,000’/3650m.

– Minimal or no snowmaking hours.

– The occasional hours that are available are between 3am-7am. After snowmaking finishes, any new snow needs to be pushed, equipment pulled, surfaces prepared and groomed. This eliminates early sessions and late grooming leads to soft snow.

– Limited, shortened, or restricted amount of training space.

– Limited snow to set protection.

– Warm, soft snow in the middle of the day.

The Athlete’s Mountain takes pride in our training facilities. We expect quality surfaces and a safe environment for our athletes. If we spend time trying to half-train and half-prepare the venues, we wind up with half the happiness for all involved. 

We apologize for the inconvenience. If anyone is better connected with the weather gods, please ask them to show us a little love.”