Page 16 - Explore Magazine Spring 2017

14

SIGHTSEEING, SKIING

AND WIZARDING

For Charlotte Cull of helloworld Tauranga, a three-week family holiday to Colorado,
New York and Los Angeles had all the right ingredients.

It took us a long 48 hours to get there from New Zealand,
but just as the sun disappeared over the horizon one
day last January we arrived in a winter wonderland, with
snow draped perfectly over the buildings like icing on a
cake and a fine powder still sprinkling down. Coloured
fairy lights brought the pine trees to life and ice skaters
twirled across a frozen lake. For the next eight magical
days, our home was the Copper Mountain alpine and ski
resort in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
And what an introduction to skiing, American-style. We
simply walked out the front door of our apartment in
Tucker Mountain Lodge, picked up our skis and took a
leisurely 100m stroll through the heated streets (which
are completely flat, might I add) to a chairlift. We were
also able to use our Ruapehu ski pass to get into the
“Secret Pass” lane and skip the queues.
The base elevation of the runs at Copper Mountain
are at 2,960m but the top is a whopping 3,753m – or
12,313 feet, because the Americans still use imperial
measurements. I’m not the world’s most confident
skier so I was a bit nervous when the chairlift first
carried us up. The closer we got to the top, the
steeper it had to be, right? Wrong. The runs at Copper
Mountain are beautifully wide and groomed and well
marked for different levels of ability. And instead
of steeper, the runs get longer. There are so many
different runs on the mountain that you are never in a
crowd and can ski through the beautiful powder snow
at your own pace.
After a glorious day of gliding across the powder, coming
down the last run is another well-thought-out American
pleasure. You simply aim your skis for the bar and its
happy hour to warm your bones. The snacking and dining
options – fried chicken, Japanese, Irish Pub or Italian
Pizzeria are not limited just because you’re at 9,000 feet!
The evening was a great time to take a walk around the
lodging, dining and entertainment village and really
enjoy it. The shops stay open until late and if Christmas
is your thing, like ours, one shop in particular sells
incredible tree decorations.

HELLOWORLD : EXPLORE : SPRING EDITION