# HCC Copper Mountain



## SamH (Mar 4, 2008)

Location, location, location. 

This is our first trip to Copper Mountain and the trip was fantastic. The unit is ski-in ski-out with the American Eagle lift very close by (a well thrown ski boot could probably hit it) and the American Flyer lift was close by (but not within boot or sight range). The unit has a great view of the American Eagle lift and several ski trails.

The unit has three bedrooms and bathrooms. Two of the bedrooms have their own bathroom. The master suite bathroom has a separate shower and bath tub. The master suite has a king size bed. The other two bed rooms are smaller with queen size beds. We used the air mattress in one of these bedrooms (it barely squeezed in). The main draw back of these two bedrooms was that they did not have their own TVs. The bathroom in the other bedroom has a shower (no bath). The third bathroom was in the hall right outside the third bedroom. It has a bathtub with a shower.

The unit has an open kitchen, dining room and living room. The kitchen may be a little smaller than the other HCC kitchens (I have only seen two others) but it has all the typical features that one expects from HCC. There was a problem with the built-in microwave but there was also a second stand-alone microwave in the kitchen (I assume it was added when the original stopped working). The living room and dining room are well appointed.

The skiing was great. Our kids spent the first three days in ski camp. We took the American Flyer lift (which is within easy walking distance from the unit) and skied to ski camp each day. If your kids are brand new skiers, you will need to take the shuttle to ski camp. It is a farther walk to the shuttle than the lifts. 

Two of our kids went tubing one afternoon. There is normally an $18 charge for one hour of tubing ($22 for adults) but the price was reduced to $10 between President’s Week and Spring Break. The kids enjoyed it. They could race or go down together. There was someone at the top who would spin them if they wanted.

We ate most of our meals in the room. We had one breakfast and dinner at the Alpinista Italian Bistro, which is very close to the unit. Breakfast was excellent and dinner was so so. We also tried the Chinese restaurant. The best thing about it was that it had the Chinese calendar place mats so our kids started calling each other rat, snake, etc. We had dinner out during the week and most places were not crowded. Everything was definitely more crowded during the weekend.

I arrived at 4:00 pm and moved all the gear from the car to the unit. I then picked up my family at the airport and returned around 9:00 pm. Parking was packed and it took a while to find a Mill Club parking spot. The parking lot is a little convoluted. Parking was much easier during the week and I was able to move my car near the elevator (so that leaving would be easier). We only needed to leave the parking lot once when we went to Frisco to do some grocery shopping. There is also a small grocery store at Copper Mountain that is not far from the unit.

The unit and location was great. The unit, while bigger than most hotels and timeshares, seemed a little small because I spent the four previous days at the HCC unit in Winter Park, which is more than twice the size of the Copper Mountain unit. The only things that I would suggest to improve the unit is to add flat screen TVs to the two smaller bedrooms (standard TVs may not easily fit), a DVD player in the master suite and less throw pillows in the living room (thank goodness, there were none in the bedroom).

We would definitely stay here again.

Sam


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## oldkey (Mar 24, 2008)

*Heading to Copper on Friday*

I am somewhat worried about leaving the Mill Club parking lot for fear of losing our parking space - any risk of that do you think? Starting Saturday is the USASA Snowboard National Championships with 1600 riders plus families....will certainly be crowded. Are there Mill Club specific spots? Do people pay attention, I wonder?

Can't wait to compare to the other three HCC properties we have visited.....


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## SamH (Mar 24, 2008)

oldkey said:


> I am somewhat worried about leaving the Mill Club parking lot for fear of losing our parking space - any risk of that do you think? Starting Saturday is the USASA Snowboard National Championships with 1600 riders plus families....will certainly be crowded. Are there Mill Club specific spots? Do people pay attention, I wonder?



Each building has its own area in the underground parking lot so there is a specific number of spots reserved for the Mill Club. In theory, each car in a Mill Club parking spot should have a Mill Club parking tag. However, there is nothing preventing a car from another building from parking in a Mill Club spot except for owner courtesy. I have no idea how rigorously security checks these things. 

I know I was tempted to park in another building's parking area when I had trouble finding a Mill Club parking spot. After circling (or backing in and out of several areas), I found that there was a few parking spots against the wall near where Copper Mountain wehicles were kept. There was nothing indicating that these spots were for Copper vehicles so we parked there for the first night.

Under normal conditions, I think many people use Copper as a base and spend some time at Breckenridge or Vail so you should have more luck finding parking spots in the afternoon before people return from their trips.

Sam


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## oldkey (Mar 26, 2008)

*Thank you Sam*

Looking forward to our stay starting Friday. The snow has been unbelievable at Copper this year.


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## Steamboat Bill (Mar 27, 2008)

enjoy..please keep us posted on your trip.


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## travelguy (Mar 29, 2008)

*Copper Tree Skiing*

We skied Copper earlier in March and the snow was incredible, and still falling!  I think of Copper as the best high mountain "tree skiing" because they have nicely spaced conifers all over the top-third of the mountains.  This allows for tree skiing with momentum and without the medical problems created by closely spaced Aspen trees!


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## pwrshift (Mar 30, 2008)

A fair number of the HCC units are smaller than many timeshares.  Most Marriott timeshares area 1250 to 1650 sq ft. about the same overall size as Copper but with more spacious bedrooms because there are only two in a floorspace that HCC has squeezed in a 3rd ... and what were they thinking when not putting in bedroom TV's.  I've never seen a Timeshare without TV's in the bedroom!  

It was refreshing to see an 'objective' review of a HCC property, Sam - the good and the bad make it more valuable.

Brian



SamH said:


> ...The unit has three bedrooms and bathrooms. Two of the bedrooms have their own bathroom. The master suite bathroom has a separate shower and bath tub. The master suite has a king size bed. The other two bed rooms are smaller with queen size beds. We used the air mattress in one of these bedrooms (it barely squeezed in). The main draw back of these two bedrooms was that they did not have their own TVs. The bathroom in the other bedroom has a shower (no bath). The third bathroom was in the hall right outside the third bedroom. It has a bathtub with a shower.
> 
> ...The unit, while bigger than most hotels and timeshares, seemed a little small because I spent the four previous days at the HCC unit in Winter Park, which is more than twice the size of the Copper Mountain unit. The only things that I would suggest to improve the unit is to add flat screen TVs to the two smaller bedrooms (standard TVs may not easily fit), a DVD player in the master suite and less throw pillows in the living room (thank goodness, there were none in the bedroom).
> 
> Sam


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## oldkey (Apr 6, 2008)

*Wow - what a location!*

As Sam said, location, location, location - literally one of the best locations we have ever had on a ski/boarding vacation. We were at Copper last week during the USASA Snowboard National Championships. We watched the half pipe at the dining room table and the awards ceremonies each evening from our balcony. Our son won the Gold medal in his age group for two disciplines and filming from the balcony was a blast.

We did have a number of nuisance problems during our stay, but the HCC staff as always was so easy to work with.....we even had a visit from Scott.

After our fourth stay at an HCC property we are still very, very pleased with the value.


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