Copper Colorado Condos: All Season Mountain Vacation Rentals

A group tasked with easing I-70 congestion will look to social media tools to help keep driver up-to-date on traffic conditions along the corridor.

New director of I-70 coalition starts Jan. 1. Meanwhile, planners hope that smart phones and social media networks will help drivers avoid congestion along the corridor

By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY — Plans for widening and otherwise improving I-70 are moving about as fast as the traffic headed back to Denver on a Sunday afternoon, but the stakeholder group charged with addressing corridor transportation issues is grappling with highway congestion in a new way.

The latest efforts to speed the flow of traffic on busy days focus on the high-tech use of emerging mobile information technologies and social media, including blogs and Twitter, according to Dr. Flo Raitano, the outgoing director of the I-70 Coalition.

Travelers along the corridor will become part of the solution, as their GPS-enabled phones transmit real-time data to a new web site, www.goi70.com, where all the data will be crunched to give travelers realistic and timely information on traffic and weather conditions. Continue reading ‘High-tech help for I-70 congestion?’

A new mobile web site from Colorado Ski Country USA is live, with links to social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook.

Twitter, Facebook and resort snow reports are integrated in a new mobile web site from Colorado Ski Country USA.

By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY — Colorado skiers can now Tweet their way to the resort with the best snow conditions while en route, thanks to a new mobile web site rolled out by Colorado Ski Country USA this week.

With about 64 million mobile web users in the U.S., providing information to on-the-go consumers is more important than ever for businesses.

“This option allows users the flexibility to engage with Ski Country wherever they want,” said R.A. Burrell, founder of Internet Honey, the Colorado-based company that developed the mobile site for the state’s ski industry trade group.

Burrell said about one-fifth of adults in the country access the web from a mobile device for information on a daily basis.

The new site, m.ColoradoSki.com, includes up-to-date and breaking information on each of CSCUSA’s 22 member ski areas, and quick access to Twitter and Facebook postings from CSCUSA and its member resorts.

Summit County Voice took the mobile site for a quick test-drive on a Blackberry and found a quick-loading format with links to snow totals that can be sorted by resort, conditions for roads leading to Colorado ski areas and information on special events and deals at the 22 member resorts.

Clicking on the Arapahoe Basin link quickly brings up a text-based page with links to snow reports and other timely information, including A-Basin’s own mobile web site.

There’s also contact information for each area’s information desk lift ticket office, rental shop, and ski school, as well as parking instructions for each resort.

Users will be automatically re-routed to the site when accessing Colorado Ski Country’s main website from a mobile device.

“CSCUSA’s new mobile website simplifies everything for Colorado skiers, from planning a trip to checking the latest snow report, all the way down to where to park when arriving at a resort,” said Melanie Mills, President and CEO of Colorado Ski Country USA. “We think that this type of one-stop shop for Colorado skiers using the mobile web is a major step forward for the Colorado ski industry.”

This early version of the mobile site seamlessly integrates some aspects of emerging social media, with links to recent Twitter tweets from individual resorts and from the ski resort organization, as well as the ability to link with resort Facebook pages.

The next step would be the ability to include personal social media links, including local bloggers and other Twitter members, into the same feed.

A small herd of bighorn sheep tromp through the snow along Highway 6 in Summit County, just a few miles from Copper Mountain.

The snow is starting to pile up at Copper Mountain, with 8 inches from the last storm, 15 this month and a total snowfall for the season of 56 inches to-date.

As of Dec. 15, Copper was reporting a 29-inch base at mid-mountain and a 32-inch base at the summit. Seven lifts are running, serving 344 acres and snowmaking crews are laying down at the Union Creek area, which should open soon with a little help from Mother Nature.

Keep up with the snowfall at Copper with this link to the resort’s snow stake cam, showing 24-hour snowfall totals.

Other mountain cams at Copper show a great view of the superpipe at the base area, and even the inside of Woodward at Copper.

A trail report with grooming info is updated daily here. The Dec. 15 edition shows several popular runs, including Andy’s Encore and Rosi’s, off the Super Bee, as recently groomed.

And if visit this link, you’ll  be able to win bar bets and impress friends by learning all the cool facts about Copper Mountain ski area, including the total acreage (2,450), the vertical drop (2,601 feet) and  the average annual snowfall (282 inches).

Coming up at Copper Dec. 19 is a USASA Rocky Mountain Series snowboard contest.

Contact us so we can help you plan the best winter vacation to Copper Mountain, and enjoy a few more pictures below.

A serene early winter view of Peak One from the shore of Dillon Reservoir in Frisco.

A dried thistle, still showing a bit of purple from summer bloom, wears a new dusting of snow.

Copper's superpipe is ready for action.

A classic Colorado truck is dressed up with lights for the holidays in Summit County, Colorado. PHOTO BY BOB BERWYN.

Summit County is lighting up for the holidays, and Copper Colorado Condos wants to help you enjoy the season with a memorable vacation stay at one of our handpicked units at Copper Mountain or Frisco.

Our newest addition, the four-bedroom Peak One townhouse in Frisco, is the perfect spot for a holiday family gathering, or for a group of friends to enjoy the ambience of Frisco’s Main Street.

Our little town (yes, we live here too), is nestled at the base of Mt. Royal, a gateway peak to the magnificent Tenmile Range. The Peak One townhouse is just two blocks from Main Street. Go the other direction up Second Avenue, and you’ll be on the local bike path in just a few moments. In the winter, the path is a great place to try out a pair of snowshoes and enjoy the snow-covered forest. Look closely at the hillside and you might spot the remnants of an old ski jump, once used by local high school students.

After your ski day, enjoy a soak in the new brushed metal hot tub in the Peak One townhome.

Nowadays, the modern resort industry has focused winter activities at well-known world-class resorts like Breckenridge and Copper Mountain, but in the early 1900s, it was a hardy group of Scandinavian miners who first brought their 10-foot wooden skis to the area, continuing the snowsport traditions of their native lands. In 1910, Peter Prestrud built a jump at the mouth of Tenmile Canyon, where the miners held friendly contests.

A few years later, Prestrud and Eyvin Flood, a fellow Norwegian, built a big jumping hill at Dillon (the site is above the Dillon Dam Road), where Anders Haugen even set a world record in 1919.

Come enjoy today’s winter recreation in Summit County and get a taste of the area’s rich heritage at Frisco’s historic park, just a short stroll from our Peak One unit.

Learn more about the rich skiing heritage of Summit County here.

Enjoy the photos of Frisco’s holiday lights and come visit us soon.

Frisco’s event calendar is online here.

A statue of a bighorn sheep, Colorado's state animal, is decked out in holiday style at the corner of Frisco's Main Street and Summit Blvd.

Welcome to Frisco, Colorado!

A view down Frisco Main Street from in front of the town's museum.

Santa's sleigh is temporarily parked next to a Christmas tree in Frisco's downtown gazebo.

Today's weather picture shows stormy skies over Silverthorne and the Lower Blue. Scattered snow showers prevailed Saturday, with a better chance of decent snow in the area expected Sunday night.

Saturday highs:

17-22 degrees
Lows Saturday night:

10-15 degrees
Sunday highs:

23-28 degrees
Weekend winds:

15-25 MPH, gusting to 45 MPH

SUMMIT COUNTY — A westerly flow started delivering a series of weak weather disturbances to the north-central mountains Saturday morning, with Arapahoe Basin reporting snowfall along the Continental Divide. A handful of resorts have picked up an inch of new snow, with more on the way. The winner of this morning’s snowfall derby is Purgatory, reporting 5 inches in the past 24 hours.

The National Weather Service office in Boulder is calling for scattered snow showers to continue in Summit County, but the agency has issued a winter storm warning for areas to the west and south, including the Flattops and the San Juan Mountains, where more significant accumulations are expected.

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/den/

In the larger weather picture, another typical El Niño storm is moving in off the coast of Southern California. Heavy snow is expected in parts of the Sierra Nevada, and parts of northern Arizona and northern New Mexico will once again see good amounts of snow. Wolf Creek, in the eastern San Juans, should also be favored by the storm coming in on southwest winds.

The bulk of the storm is expected to move into Colorado early Sunday morning. Forecasts with the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, who make localized mountain forecasts, said in their Saturday morning update that snowfall with favor Colorado’s southern and south-central mountains. The best chance for significant snow in the northern part of the state will come Sunday night as the storm passes through and the flow shifts around to the north. If the storm holds together, it could drop as much as 3 to 6 inches in the local mountains.

http://avalanche.state.co.us

The avalanche center is also getting reports about a brittle snowpack in the backcountry, with buried surface hoar layers in some areas with deeper snow, especially in the western part of the zone around Vail. Those feathery crystals don’t bond well with layers above and below, and one of the center’s forecasters who was testing the snow found them to be “reactive,” which means they give way while conducting snow pack stability tests.

Other reports coming in to the center note easily triggered slabs and warning signs like propagating cracks and “whumpfing” in the snowpack, clear signs that there is tension in the wind-blown slabs of snow.

The center also reported the season’s first North American Avalanche fatality. Well-known Canadian ice climber Guy Lacelle, 54, was climbing at the Bozeman Ice Festival in Montana when he was hit by a slide triggered by climbers above, sweeping him to his death. Read a short report at PlanetSki. http://www.planetski.eu/news/1136

Holiday lights in Summit County Colorado.

Copper Colorado Condos joins the town of Frisco to invite everyone to a very special holiday celebration. As in past years, Frisco is celebrating Wassail Days, with carolers, a special breakfast with Santa, sleigh rides, free Nordic skiing, spiced cider and off course some great shopping along the Main Street to the Rockies.

 For more information and a full schedule please click here: Frisco Wassail Days.

 Wassail is the old English name for spiced cider brewed during the holiday season, and Frisco’s special holiday event also includes the Wasail Challenge, a search for the best Wassail recipe in town.

 Last year’s winning wassail came from Rivers Inc., a unique clothing shop on Main St., and the shop owner is up for the challenge again this year.

“As the reigning wassail champion, I challenge all Frisco business owners to try and come a close second to our award-winning recipe,” said  owner Campy.

 Rivers Inc. was awarded the winning Wassail Cup Trophy last year, which is on display in the store for people to admire. Find out all the stores and restaurants with Wassail at. The 2009 Wassail Competition runs between Dec. 5-13.

 To enjoy a Rocky Mountain Christmas, Frisco-style, visit the Copper Colorado Condos blog to get information about our newest rental, a four-bedroom townhome just a short stroll from Main Street. The Peak One townhome includes a hot tub, a fireplace, and plenty of room for large families or groups of friends to spread out and enjoy some holiday cheer.

A snowstorm rolled through Summit County and dropped 3 inches of snow at Copper Mountain.

CAREFUL OUTSIDE TODAY, EXPOSED FLESH CAN FREEZE PAINFULLY IN JUST A FEW MINUTES

By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY — The face-freeze factor climbed into the red zone Tuesday night as a blast of Arctic air chased away the remnants of our fizzled snowstorm. An early morning walk with Comet the golden didn’t yield much in the way of freshies, but we did return with an ice cream headache.

A-Basin and Copper Mountain reported 3 inches of fresh snow, and Keystone and Breckenridge 2 inches. A little more light, dry snow could fall in our north-central mountain region this afternoon, especially in the Gore Range, the Flattops in in the Steamboat area.

High temperatures in Summit County won’t make it out of the single digits Wednesday and will plummet well below zero, to minus 20, Wednesday night.

With with winds between 15 to 25 MPH (gusts to 60 MPH), we’re in dangerous frostbite territory. Under these conditions, flesh can freeze in just a couple of minutes.

Check the St. Anthony’s Mountain Clinic web site for more info on frostbite. This is a serious issue in our high alpine winter environment and local clinics see patients with frostbite every day during cold spells. It’s especially painful for small kids and can lead to permanent nerve damage. More information is also online at Web MD.

Local avalanche forecasters said the new snow and winds have combined to raise the avalanche danger a few notches. On steeper slopes at higher elevations, the danger is now rated considerable, meaning that human-triggered slides are probable where pockets of windslab rest on an unstable base.

Get updated snow and avalanche information from the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.

The big snows fell in the state’s southern mountains, with 51 inches on Wolf Creek Pass, 42 inches on Coal Bank Pass, and 46 inches near Irwin Lodge north of Crested Butte.

For a full statewide snow report (other than Vail Resorts), go to Colorado Ski Country USA.

Vail Resorts mountain conditions are online here.

And visit this cool Weather Underground forecast for Frisco and Summit County.

A beautiful lenticular cloud forms over the Continental Divide in Summit County as changing upper level winds signal a chance for snowfall.

Summit County powder hounds may have to wait just bit longer for their next dose of freshies, as the hoped-for Saturday night storm didn’t materialize.

There was only a trace of new snow around Summit County Sunday morning, with more expected during the day and Sunday night. According to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, 2 to 4 inches could fall during the day Sunday, with another 1 to 3 inches Sunday night.

The National Weather Service has posted a winter weather advisory for the local mountains through 8 p.m. Sunday. A stronger storm could move in Monday, potentially bringing 3 to 6 inches of snow to the Summit County area, with more expected in Colorado’s southern mountains.

The National Weather Service has posted a winter weather advisory for the local mountains through 8 p.m. Sunday. A stronger storm could move in Monday, potentially bringing 3 to 6 inches of snow to the Summit County area, with more expected in Colorado’s southern mountains.

Winter storm and blizzard warnings are in effect for mountains just to the west and south of Summit County, with a winter weather advisory in the local area. Check the winter weather alerts from the Grand Junction NWS office here, and from the Boulder officer here.

According to Colorado Ski Country USA’s snow report, Wolf Creek reported 3 inches Sunday morning, the most in the state.

Continue reading ‘December 6 weather update for Copper Mountain’

Colorado Ski Country USA highlights some new air and ground travel options for Colorado ski resorts. PHOTO COURTESY CSCUSA.

There’s snow in the forecast and the peak season is just about here in the Rocky Mountains ofColorado, so it’s time to plan a great ski trip. To make it easier to reach all the ski resorts in the state, the experts at Colorado Ski Country USA recently compiled a list of travel tips with information on air and ground transportation to, and within, Colorado.

New flights to Southwest Colorado make it easier to get to Telluride, Steamboat has launched a new web site with flight information and the popular ski train from Denver to Winter Park is back, after a scare last spring, when the service was canceled. Copper has a new shuttle service connection and several resorts are offering discounts and close-in parking for car-poolers. Continue reading ‘New air & ground options for Colo. ski areas’