Ski Cooper

Ski Cooper, 10 miles north of Leadville on Tennessee Pass, is everything the big Colorado resorts are not: uncrowded, affordable, and refreshingly unpretentious. The mountain is modest by Colorado standards — 400 acres, 11 lifts, mostly intermediate terrain — but lift tickets cost a fraction of Vail or Aspen and lift lines are rarely a problem. Locals ski here precisely because it does not attract the same crowds.

The surrounding terrain includes Illinois Gulch and other backcountry areas accessible by snowcat. The views from Tennessee Pass, at over 10,400 feet, are as good as anything you will see from the expensive resorts further west. If you are based in Leadville for the winter, Ski Cooper is the convenient and sensible choice.

things to do sight
A story
Ski Cooper began as a training slope for the 10th Mountain Division, the elite US Army alpine warfare unit that trained at Camp Hale — the ruins of which still sit in the valley below Tennessee Pass. Soldiers who trained here went on to fight in the Italian Alps and later became the founding figures of the post-war Colorado ski industry, starting resorts at Vail, Aspen, and Arapahoe Basin.