COPPER MOUNTAIN WRAPS SEASON FOCUSED ON COMMUNITY GIVING AND ON-MOUNTAIN PARTICIPATION

May 30

Copper’s Play Forever Thursdays, Lake County Community Fund partnership and Copper Environmental Foundation donations gifted $245,000 of financial support during the 2023-24 season

The Athlete’s Mountain prioritized on-mountain access by providing lift tickets, lessons and rentals to youth and adults

COPPER MOUNTAIN, Colo. – May 30, 2024 – The 2023-24 winter season ended at Copper Mountain, and the resort is reflecting on the success of its winter community giving campaigns. Copper’s commitment to community is emphasized through its Play Forever initiatives, working to expand access to the mountain, invest in community causes through financial and resource aid and promote action in partnership with employees, guests and like-minded organizations.

Copper generated $245,000 of financial support through three community programs and over 775 lesson opportunities for over 260 students during the 2023-24 season.

Play Forever Thursdays

Copper Mountain’s annual lift ticket giving program, Play Forever Thursdays, has supported the resort’s local community efforts for five seasons now, raising over $650,000 since 2020 and over $150,000 this season alone. Copper offered $99 lift tickets on Thursdays with a portion of proceeds benefiting non-profit partners that provide local relief, protect the environment or enable on-mountain participation. The resort supported 21 partners over 15 Thursday dates throughout the season.

Copper will continue to support local partners during Summer 2024 through the resort’s Play Forever Summer Giving program. Donations generated through summer activity pass sale will benefit the Children’s Hospital Colorado Foundation in July and Smart Bellies in August. Purchase a summer activity pass at CopperColorado.com.

Lake County Community Fund

In its fifth year, Copper Mountain and the Lake County Community Fund continue to make strides through their endowment campaign, the Campaign for Lake County. As part of the campaign, the resort will match up to $200,000 of funds raised between 2024-2028. Half of the money Copper matches must be allocated to support youth-oriented non-profit organizations dedicated to outdoor adventure education. The 2024 recipients of the grant include Blue Mountain Elements, Cloud City Wheelers, Cloud City Conservation Center, Cloud City Mountain Sports, Colorado Outward Bound School, Desert Mountain Medicine and Project Dream.

The initial four-year $200,000 match grant was launched in 2019 and was renewed in 2023. In the initial five years of the Copper Mountain Resort challenge grant, 662 matching contributions have raised over $735,000 for the Lake County community. Lake County’s success is fundamental to the region and the resort’s ability to thrive. More than 200 of Copper’s winter staff call Lake County home.

Copper Environmental Foundation

The Copper Environmental Foundation (CEF) is an employee founded and run organization with a broad mission to support environmental programs in Summit and Lake Counties. Copper Employees voluntarily contribute to the CEF through tax-deductible donations from their paychecks, and Copper Mountain matches their donations at 100%. All funds collected are distributed through grants to local organizations during an annual grant cycle during the spring.

This year the CEF distributed over $42,000 to the following grant recipients: Mountain Top Explorium, the Keystone Science School, High Country Conservation Center, Wildflower Nature School and Friends of the Dillon Ranger District. The CEF’s grants will support things like FDRD’s youth forest stewards program and gardens at the Wildflower Nature School. Since the organization was founded in 2007, the CEF has granted over $425,000 to youth education programs in the community. The CEF also donated funds to have a mural painted in Copper’s new childcare facility, Mountain Sprouts Academy, to depict the rocky mountain environment.

On-Mountain Participation

Copper has prioritized supporting on-mountain access and participation through on-mountain opportunities. The Athlete's Mountain provided over 260 students, both youth and adults, with over 775 ski and snowboard lessons during the 2023-24 season. Copper supported snow sports access to participants affiliated with the following organizations: SheJumps, Ski Noir 5280, the Burton Chill Foundation, SOS Outreach and Silverthorne Elementary. The resort also hosted women's specific activations throughout the season with VNTRbirds, Lleky and SheJumps.

In-Kind and Sponsorships

The donation totals above do not include granted in-kind and sponsorship requests from the season. Local organizations can request in-kind or sponsorship support throughout the year from Copper Mountain through Play Forever at CopperColorado.com.