Industry News
U.S. Ski Team Athletes Make Their Way to Copper in Early November for Training on the U.S. Ski Team Speed Center
Public Invited to U.S. Ski Team Kick-Off on Nov. 9 at 5 p.m. in East Village, Copper Mountain
Since early October, Copper Mountain’s snowmaking team has been hard at work preparing the mountain for early season alpine race training starting Friday, Oct. 22.
Each fall, the Athlete’s Mountain hosts ski racers from around the globe for early season alpine training. This Friday, Copper will welcome over 300 athletes, including local, regional and national talent, to train on Copperopolis and Ptarmigan trails. The U.S. Alpine Ski team will begin to arrive at Copper Mountain within the next two weeks, utilizing the resort’s U.S. Ski Team Speed Center and Alpine Technical Center to fine-tune their speed and tailor their technical skills in preparation for the 2021-22 Alpine World Cup season and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
The U.S. Ski Team Speed Center is expected to open in early November for Super-G and Downhill training on Andy’s Encore and Rosi’s Run trails. Copper has facilitated early season race training at the Speed Center since 2011. The world-class training venue offers a vertical drop of 2,300 ft and is 2-miles in length, allowing athletes to train on a full-length course before conquering the steep pitches and demanding terrain featured on the World Cup circuit. The elite competitors of the sport can reach max speeds of up to 80 mph while barreling down the venue. The Alpine Tech Center will provide a technical gradient for Slalom and Giant Slalom training on West Encore, Andy’s Encore and Ore Deal trails.
U.S. Ski Team members expected to train at Copper this November include two-time Olympic champion and six-time world champion Mikaela Shiffrin, World Cup Super-G victor Ryan Cochran-Siegle, veteran speed skier Steven Nyman, world championship silver medalist Travis Ganong, four-time downhill World Cup podium finisher Breezy Johnson and up-and-comers like River Radamus, Bella Wright and Keely Cashman. Additional teams that will be on-site this fall include University and Ski Club/Academy Teams from across the country and national teams from Austria, Italy, Germany, France, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden and Slovenia.
While the U.S. Alpine Ski Team is on-site, Copper Mountain will commemorate the top alpine ski racers with a night of celebration in the lead up to Beijing. In true ski racing fashion, Copper Mountain and the U.S. Alpine Ski Team will host a stage show naming Olympic hopefuls to the team for the World Cup season. Guests will be treated to giveaways, a special athlete Q&A, fireworks and more. It all takes place at the base of the U.S. Ski Team Speed Center in Copper’s East Village at 5 p.m. on Nov. 9. The event is free to attend and open to the public. Learn more about the event at CopperColorado.com.
Copper Mountain is proud to be the official training site for the U.S. Ski Team. For decades, the resort has supported athlete development, providing world-class training and competition venues for elite level and amateur athletes across multiple winter sports disciplines.
