I’ve decided winter is exhausting. Not only do we usually come down with The Plague (Jamie is on week four) but we have a short few months to cram in as much outdoor fun as we can. With Denver’s dismal snow year, it has been that much more mandatory for us to head to the hills.
And yes, I said mandatory. As in HAS TO HAPPEN.
Copper Mountain was our latest destination to host us. A favorite among the locals because it’s an easy 75-mile drive west of Denver up the I-70 corridor, it remained a glaring omission in my must-ski list (though we had a stellar time there in Oct. 2011).
Hadley had a five-day weekend and Bode had three days off so we drove up after church on Sunday, skied as a family on President’s Day and then the boys drove home early Tuesday morning for work and school. That left two glorious days for Haddie and me to play, and one of them was my birthday.
X-Treme Sports
Upon arrival, we did a tour of Woodward at Copper. I’ll admit this 19,400-square-foot year-round ski and snowboard camp half-amazes, half-terrifies me. Nicknamed “The Barn,” Woodward is an all-steps progression program to help ages 8 and older learn aerial tricks and skills in a safe environment that you can translate on the mountain. See those ramps? My kids thought they were the coolest things ever.
And I guess they are if you’re inclined to catch more than 1 inch of air on the slopes (which I am not).
The Barn offers drop-in day sessions, summer camps, SuperTramps and will undergo a big makeover this spring and improvements will include a new progressive foam pit designed for development of beginner park skills. The street area will double in size allowing for full access by BMX, mountain bike, skateboards and park skis and snowboards.
As a nervous parent, I was impressed with the capable staff’s emphasis on safety. Helmets are mandatory on the ramps and to even jump into the foam pit, my kids had to fill out some waivers and receive instruction.
And Bode is counting down until he’s 8 so he, too play.
Copper Mountain
We’ve traveled to a number of mountain resorts around the country and what my family loved most about 2,465-acre Copper Mountain is that it was so easy. Easy to get to and the 140 trails across three mountains are easy to navigate. In fact, Hadley marveled about how wonderfully contained the base village is. “We don’t even have to get in the car!” she raved. “We can walk to skiing, dinner, tubing, zipling, skating and dinner.”
I didn’t correct her when she said dinner twice. It is, after all, very important.
On President’s Day, the kids went to ski school while Jamie and I hit the slopes. It is one of the few Colorado ski schools that has incorporated the FLAIK global positioning system, which tracks the kids’ on-mountain location, skier stats, and runs skied. Their instructors simply attached the GPS device around their leg and at the end of the day, we went online to see all their logistics. Turned out, they skied a lot harder than Jamie and me but we didn’t tell them that, of course. 
Good thing there’s no tracking devices for parents who opt for an extra-long, leisurely lunch by the fire at Copper Station.
At first, I was disgruntled The Schoolhouse is located in the West Village, a shuttle stop away from the Center Village. But after dropping off the kids, Jamie and I rode Union Creek, followed by Timberline Express and that is where we found the best snow conditions that day.
By day’s end, we were happy and tired. This was our first major outing since getting sick, which took quite a toll. In fact, sweet Bode fell asleep on the two-minute shuttle ride back to our condo.
How to Get an Alpine Rush
We vacillated on our plans. We had hoped to try out the new Alpine Rush Zip Line in the Center Village and then head over to the East Village for the Tubing Hill but remember the exhaustion thing? We opted to swing by the zip line since it was close to our condo, go back, chill out and then see if the kids were up for tubing. 
The latter didn’t happen but the former did…in a big way.
Poor Bode practically sleepwalked through Center Village and I honestly wasn’t expecting him to even try. But the second he spotted the zip line soaring over skating rink at West Lake, there was no holding him back. (Note: You must be at least 50 pounds and each ride only costs $10),
Jamie got outfitted in his harness and went first, racing across the sky. Hadley freaked out, “That’s too fast,” she wailed. A couple of summers ago, the zip line at Vail’s Adventure Race traumatized her and she’s been gun shy (terrified) ever since.
“I’ll go!” Bode boldly volunteered and he was off.
The more you weigh, the faster you soar so Bode was considerably slower than Jamie.
“Maybe that wasn’t so bad,” Hadley faltered.
“You’ll go as slow as Bode. Let’s give it a try,” I encouraged her. The staffer soothed her fears and before she knew it, she was flying.
In fact, the next day she begged to do it two more times. I’m not sure if she’s cured but her fears were definitely calmed.
Now, I just need to follow her example and tackle the ramps at The Barn the next time we’re at Copper Mountain.
Stay tuned next time for our memorable mom-daughter adventures the next two days!
I'm a Canadian-born mom of two, former Denver Post columnist, family travel writer, editor of MileHighMamas.com and 9News contributor. Expert on all things Utah, Denver, family and travel. Lover of laughter and life. Happily married to a man obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin. 