Pikes Peak Region Trail Finder

Ski Cooper: A mountain town debates expanding a family-friendly hill

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Created on Tuesday, 21 December 2010 20:23

Written by R. Scott Rappold

(Photos by Mark Reis, The Gazette)

By R. SCOTT RAPPOLD

THE GAZETTE

LEADVILLE- There’s not a whole lot to Ski Cooper: 26  mostly gentle runs serviced by three lifts, with 1,200 vertical feet — a sledding hill compared to the mammoth resorts up the road in Eagle and Summit counties.

And that’s just fine with Preston Pade.

“Ski Cooper is what it is. It’s a very family-friendly little mountain,” Pade said on a recent Friday afternoon.

Pade, of Texas, has a second home in nearby Leadville. He likes the atmosphere at Cooper and the fact his grandchildren can be turned lose without fear of losing them.

“I think Ski Cooper is just fine the way it is,” he said.

Some in Leadville disagree.

Check out a photo gallery featuring Ski Cooper!

The 20-year lease for nonprofit Cooper Hill Ski Area Inc., which operates the area for owner Lake County, is up for renewal, and some in this historic mining town are urging changes at the ski area.

With such limited and mild terrain — its handful of “black” runs would be rated “blue” at most other mountains — they say the area lacks the terrain to attract expert skiers, keeping skier numbers flat while the rest of the industry has boomed.

“That’s the main complaint I get, is the lack of challenging terrain,” said Tim Hill, owner of Alpine Ski and Sport in Leadville.

He said the effect on Leadville’s winter economy is drastic, with empty storefronts and hotels and restaurants that don’t bother staying open for ski season.

“The success and failure of Ski Cooper directly impacts the success and failure of local businesses,” he said.

“If there’s a way we could attract more skiers or people who want more of a challenge and use Chicago Ridge as an attraction, it would only benefit us,” said Sherry Randall, owner of Cookies With Altitude, a few doors down from the ski shop.

Locals debate whether the most popular idea to attract advanced skiers — lift service to the above-treeline terrain on Chicago Ridge, an area currently served by snow cats — would be effective.

And, some ask, would expansion change the small-mountain vibe and low ticket prices that attract present users?

(Tim Hill, owner of Alpine Ski & Sport in Leadville, would like to see more expert terrain at the local ski hill.)

A long drive

Along the Front Range, you have to be determined to get to Ski Cooper.

From Denver, drivers must pass some of the finest and largest ski resorts in North America. From Colorado Springs, you have to drive 30 minutes longer than it takes to get to Breckenridge or Monarch.

Ski Cooper attracts about 63,000 skiers and boarders a year, many from Front Range cities despite the distance. Its $42 adult lift ticket price is among the lowest in Colorado. It’s regarded as a great place for families and people learning to ski.

The area was used as a training ground for the Army’s 10th Mountain Division during World War II and opened to the public afterward. It’s on U.S. Forest Service land and has been owned by Lake County for 40 years.

Lake County once had to subsidize the ski area with taxpayer money to keep it afloat, but these days it’s in the black, with a surplus of $150,000 to $200,000 each year, said president/general manager Clint Yant. But without any assets of its own, the operator can’t borrow money, so improvements have been gradual.

“We’re going forward, but I think it’s a lot slower than people want us to,” he said.

Cooper officials found out how widespread that sentiment was when they began talking with county commissioners about renewing the lease that expires in 2012.

Said Yant, “We thought it would be good to go ahead and get a new (lease.) Little did I know that we were going to have such a hard time doing it.”

Urge for growth

Lake County Commissioner Carl Schaefer is the county’s liaison to Ski Cooper’s board of directors. He said the nonprofit has done a good job of running the ski area in an age when many small and community-owned hills have gone out of business.

“They’ve operated smartly. They haven’t spent when they didn’t have the money. Their growth has been slow and they’ve learned from the mistakes of the past,” said Schaefer.

But when the county held public meetings in November and December (another meeting is slated for January), plenty of people said they felt otherwise. There were suspicions the county planned to renew Cooper’s lease without a public process. Some called for the county to open operation of the area to bids. Others want the county to renegotiate the lease and require Cooper to expand its terrain.

Some 200 people attended one meeting — a crowd for a city with a population of 2,700.

And much of the focus has been on Chicago Ridge, the 12,600-foot stretch of the Continental Divide above the ski area. Why, some have asked, can’t the ski area install a lift or at least a tow rope there, expanding advanced terrain for parents who bring their kids to learn to ski or others bored with the limited terrain below?

“Why can’t we generate enough business in Lake County in the winter when the county owns a ski area?” said Hill, the ski-shop owner. “Why can’t we use this as a catalyst to provide more economic stimulation in the county and town?”

Cooper already runs snow cat tours there, with a limit of 1,000 skiers per season set by the Forest Service. But with a $275-a-person price tag, the most skiers they have ever had is 780 a season.

Paul Rauschke, longtime ski patroller at Cooper and professor of ski area operations at Colorado Mountain College, said Chicago Ridge is a complex series of ridges and gullies, heavily wind-blown, so the cats can go where the snow is best. With a lift, skiers would be wedded to one area, even if Rocky Mountain gales blow it dry.

“If you put a lift or lifts up there, that takes a pretty special situation and turns it into a mediocre one. Terrainwise, it’s not as steep as the back bowls at Vail,” he said.

Yant, the ski area’s president, said a lift would cost up to $1.5 million, money the ski area does not have. Ticket prices might be raised to pay for it, jeopardizing the affordability that is one of Cooper’s hallmarks. So Cooper managers are instead studying ways to expand terrain within its boundaries.

Plus, Chicago Ridge is habitat for endangered lynx, so even if the ski area spent thousands of dollars on environmental studies for Forest Service approval, the agency could very well deny an expansion, Yant said.

Schaefer expects county commissioners to vote on the Cooper lease in February. He noted that, as of mid-December, no other potential operator had expressed interest in an open bidding process.

While he has not made up his mind, Schaefer said he sees no need for major changes at Cooper.

“Historically, Ski Cooper has always been touted as a family-oriented ski area, a beginner area and an excellent place to learn to ski. They have never gone after the market of expert terrain, because frankly there is not that much expert terrain available in the area,” Schaefer said.

“They fill a niche, for sure, and I think they’ve certainly tried to stay within their niche. They’ve tried not to compete where they truly can’t compete and be competitive with the price.”

Skiers like the way it is
Back at the Cooper lodge, skiers — a noticeably older crowd than you might find at say, Keystone — seemed mostly in favor of keeping things the way they are.

“It’s known as a family ski area, maybe the best family area. I think that’s more important than trying to get a lift up Chicago Ridge,” said Jim McMillen, of Leadville.

“It’s affordable,” said Lori Barrett, who with her husband was staying in Vail but decided to ski at Cooper. “There are plenty of runs. We don’t need a big area. We like having no crowds.”

The lack of steep chutes, hike-to bowls or challenging terrain is fine with Pade, the skier from Texas.

“If they want that kind of skiing, Copper Mountain is 30 minutes away,” he said.