Copper Mountain vibrates with renewed enthusiasm and commitment to the resort as Intrawest spearheads a $400 million plan for real estate development and physical improvements over the next five to seven years.
"This is a unique opportunity to establish a new identity," says Jim Onken, vice president of Copper Mountain Resort Development, a subsidiary of Intrawest.
Intrawest is a leading developer and operator of mountain resorts at Whistler/Blackcomb and Panorama in British Columbia, Tremblant and Mont Ste. Marie in Quebec, Stratton in Vermont, Snowshoe in West Virginia, and Mammoth in California.
The redevelopment project builds upon Copper Mountain’s attributes – its easily accessible location off the interstate, existing facilities and extraordinary ski mountain.
The plan envisions seven distinct "neighborhoods," all of them residential. Detached ski in/ski out, single-family residences will make up the alpine community of The Preserve (formerly West Village). Sporting a new lift and base lodge, East Village will continue to be a major portal for its neighborhood residents and day skiers. The new Village at Copper will be the focus of retail activity, dining and entertainment, as well as the primary access point to the mountain.
On the east side of Highway 91, Copper Mountain will provide resort-related parking and future recreation uses.
The first stages of development are already evident in the East Village. Super Bee, the first six-passenger chairlift in Colorado, debuts this season. A new stone and wood day lodge now under construction, Copper Station, will begin serving the lift area in the 1999-2000 season with restaurants, retail outlets, equipment rentals and information desks. In mid-1999, homeowners will start to occupy the 108-unit Copper Springs Lodge. (At a marketing-sales event, all 108 units were sold in a six-hour period.)
World-renowned planner Eldon Beck - who shaped the acclaimed village cores of Whistler Village, British Columbia, and Tremblant, Quebec - designed the new Village at Copper.
"Beck is creating a village that will appeal to the strength of Copper Mountain’s market - hands-on, active people who thrive on experiencing a location rather than sitting around talking about it," Jim Onken explains.
The layout focuses on people. It orients pedestrian areas to maximize sunlight and positions buildings to frame vistas of the mountain and Ten Mile Valley. Vehicles will be parked underground or on the perimeter.
As the central entertainment zone, the Village at Copper will feature a variety of activities, eateries, shops, galleries and studios. It will also contain the highest density of residential units.
Architecturally, its buildings are designed to represent the evolution of Copper Mountain. For example, recreated, one-story settler buildings will house shops, restaurants and an artisan center in the village’s vibrant activity core.
To depict the era of the mining support community, the Crossroads Inn will represent an historic inn of 45 condominiums, complete with gables and dormers. Elegant with high attention to detail and finishes, the Mill Club Building - with only 30 high-end resort homes - will stand where the town saloon would have been. Outlying areas will contain a general store, post office and residential units. The horizontal shapes of the new structures will complement the vertical, prestressed concrete forms built in the 1970s.
Located at the foot of the mountain, Base One will look to the future. Its design features - exposed steel connections, refined timber wood, lots of glass to frame the mountain, window coverings that admit light, and vibrant colors - will model the concept of a ski lodge 10 years from now. Base One will have 63 ski-in/ski-out units located next to the two main village lifts.
Finally, the renaissance of Copper includes a resort-wide recreation plan that calls for ball fields, playgrounds, a miniature golf course, climbing wall, network of mountain bike trails and skateboard park. This array of activities available in different seasons will enhance Copper Mountain’s stature as a year-round resort.
