LEADVILLE, Colo. — It's been a slow start to the 2023-24 snow season, and Colorado's ski resorts have relied heavily on machine-made snow to get the lifts running, but one ski area prefers to wait for Mother Nature to deliver.
Cooper ski area in Lake County proudly boasts 100% natural snow. The ski area is one of two in Colorado that do not use snowmaking machines.
“To put snowmaking in here kind of adds a different flavor to this place," said Dan Torsell. "I mean, we're kind of like the old school, all natural, the way it used to be, if you will."
Monarch Mountain is the other ski area that does not make fake snow — at least of the traditional ski areas.
Silverton is also all natural but is a unique type of ski area that offers a wide range of guided ski tours and helicopter skiing, and the mountain can even be rented for private parties.
Torsell said one reason that Cooper chooses not to make snow is its old-school tradition.
"Cooper is a very historic ski area," he said "About 10,000 soldiers from Camp Hale trained up here for alpine combat in World War II. To honor them, I want this place to always feel real."
The famous 10th Mountain Division Army unit trained on the slopes, which was just known as Cooper Hill in 1943.
After World War II, many of the troops returned to Colorado and are often credited by historians for helping establish the vibrant ski industry that is now the backbone of Colorado's mountains.
Other than tampering with the old-school aura of the resort, Torsell said snowmaking can put an unnecessary strain on the environment.
According to the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, snowmaking operations account for about 0.05% of the water diversions in the state. But that small fraction adds up to more than 2 billion gallons of water pulled out of Colorado creeks and rivers each year.
"All I can say is that we don't do any of that. We let it come out of the sky," Torsell said. "So I think we, and Monarch, are the most responsible environmentally in the state."
Even in a slow starting year like this one, Cooper is opening on Dec. 6 — only about a month later than the snowmaking giants.
But Torsell also said he is not opposed to the ski areas that make a lot of snow and open in late October.
"In fact, I thank them," he said. "They really get the state and the world pumped up for winter when their lifts are running on Halloween. It's free advertising for me."
Finances and water rights
Torsell also said the decision to not make snow comes down to money. It's a huge capital investment to buy, install and maintain the guns, the compressors and the water pipes. And he said Cooper pays all their bills with cash.
"We are a not-for-profit 501(c)(4), and we do not incur debt," he said. "If we bought into snowmaking, we would have to raise the price of lift tickets, and I don't like the sound of that."
He said that water rights would be a tricky proposition because of the geographic and political boundaries at Cooper. The ski area sits in the middle of the Continental Divide: Part of the spring runoff runs to the Pacific Ocean via the Colorado River, and the other part runs to the Atlantic Ocean via the Arkansas River.
Cooper is also in two counties. The base area and most of the operations are in Lake County, but the bulk of the terrain is in Eagle County. The ski area also splits across two national forests, the San Isabel and the White River.
"It's just complicated," Torsell said. "We've looked into just getting a snowmaking system for the base area, and even that was mind-boggling and expensive."
No more Ski Cooper
On a side note, Torsell said the ski area is no longer using the branding Ski Cooper, which most longtime Colorado residents might recognize.
"We just thought it was kind of silly," he said. "Everyone here was afraid to go with just Cooper because right over the hill is Copper. What the heck, I always tell them, two O’s, one P. That’s who we are.”
They also recently rebranded their logo. Torsell said it incorporates an elk from the original Cooper Hill logo and added a heart shape to convey the ski area's motto: the love of skiing in the heart of the Rockies.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Snow in Colorado
9NEWS+
9NEWS+ has multiple live daily shows including 9NEWS Mornings, Next with Kyle Clark and 9NEWS+ Daily, an original streaming program. 9NEWS+ is where you can watch live breaking news, weather updates, and press conferences. You can also replay recent newscasts and find videos on demand of our top stories, local politics, investigations and Colorado specific features.
To download 9NEWS+ on Roku search for KUSA.
To download 9NEWS+ on Fire TV search for 9NEWS.