Several hundred years ago, Copper territory was originally home to the Ute and Arapaho Indians. The mountain had an abundance of elk, bear, deer and buffalo, which sustained the tribes. The tribes would set their camps at Copper. They fished the streams, trapped and hunted the land among the mountains. Of course, they also enjoyed, respected and reveled in the natural beauty and scenery and the abundant snow and sunshine that is recreated each day, season and year.

In the mid 1800's, mining villages sprung up throughout central Colorado and copper was discovered in the area that now takes its name from that mineral. Judge John S. Wheeler established a settlement at the junction between the Ten Mile and Gore mountain ranges. This southern section is also known as the Wheeler Trail. Here in this section, are two charming lakes known as Wheeler Lakes.

The lakes, like the Wheeler Trail and Wheeler Flats, is the area around Copper Mountain, deriving their name from, John S. Wheeler.  Eventually he moved to Summit County and established a hay ranch in the meadow at the base of Copper Mountain, between the present day Super B and A lifts. Judge Wheeler purchased the 320 acre property for $740.00. Wheeler was the first town known to have been built in the valley.

Since the ore supply was minimal, the town of Wheeler's main industry was logging and the production of lumber needed for the mines and cabins that were active through the Ten Mile Canyon. Wheeler recognized the potential for development and promoted the area as a trout fishing and horseback riding retreat. Before to long, the settlement became home to fur traders, loggers, and miners. Wheeler Junction had a hotel, general store, post office and hay ranch which supported a large sheep herd.

The old buildings can still be seen in the area near the base of A-lift, or if you're exploring in the summer months, scattered along the back nine of Copper Creek Golf Club.

The settlement grew as more miners staked claims. An energetic and wild boarding house offered amenities such as china dishes, authentic silverware and tablecloths in the midst of a rough and tumble mountain town. Dances, balls and card parties filled the nights as settlers sought their fortunes in the rich opportunities the area offered.

During this period the town had several names in addition to Wheeler Junction, such as Wheeler's Ranch, Wheeler Station, and Wheeler Flats. In 1880 the population grew to 225. Because the location was central to the mining activity of the region, Wheeler Junction became a cross road and favorite watering hole for the 10,000 miners that were prospecting up and down the Ten Mile Canyon in towns such as, Frisco, Masontown, Cunningham, Excelsior, Curtin, Uneva Lake, Officers, Solitude, Bensons, Graveline, Recen, Breene, Kokomo, Robinson, Buffers, Carverns, and Carbonateville.

Transportation through this region was difficult and Wheeler eventually housed a stage coach stop in 1879 and a railroad station in 1882. The rail line ran from Denver through Georgetown and the Ten Mile Mining District of Wheeler and then went on to Kokomo and Leadville.

In 1882 a fire burned down the general store, post office, milk house, storage shed, and Judge Wheeler's private office. The billiard hall, blacksmith and wagon shop were saved along with Crawford's Saloon which remained the hot spot. In 1900, Seth Crawford became Wheeler's first official mayor.

During that time Wheeler became a major shipping point for Summit County. It is reported that three to four train loads of lumber and mining timbers were shipped daily from Wheeler. In 1883 the Rocky Mountain News wrote about the area: "The climate is the finest, clearest and purest in the world, the water comes fresh from melting snows...the pasturage...supports large numbers of livestock and herds of antelope, deer and elk... the hunting and fishing are simply unexcelled in the West!" Even then Copper was recognized for its natural beauty, unique alpine environment and natural resources that still exist today.

After the Gold Rush

By 1907 the town of Wheeler was deserted except for a few miners still trying to find the Mother Lode.  In 1908 the Wheeler Guard Station was built by the U.S Forest Service. Stops at Solitude Station (Wheeler's train stop) continued until 1937 when the last of the rail lines were abandoned and torn up. That same year, the last sawmill closed and the only activity left was sheep grazing.

Sheep herds averaged 900 to 1200 and some were as large as 2000. To protect their flocks, herding families regularly killed coyotes, one of the only natural predators to the regional beavers.  Beaver populations, and thus beaver dams, exploded, transforming hay fields into flooded wetlands.

Numerous people owned Wheelers Ranch between 1921 and 1968. Olie Lind (1921), Summit County Government (1937), John Custer and the Beelers and Frank Stafford (1941). Stafford sold his share to the Custers in 1947.

The Beelers and Custers used the property to vacation and enjoy the native surroundings, living in cabins they rebuilt from Wheeler Junction until they sold most of the property to Eugene Sanders in 1967. They kept 10 acres of the property and their grandson Michael Brennan lived in the cabin and worked for Copper Mountain helping to build the ski area until 1973. He was the last one to live in the Beeler/Custer cabin. Shortly after Michael's death, the Brennans donated the cabin to the Copper Mountain Historical Society.

Copper Mountain Resort - The Beginning

If there was a mountain that ever had natural terrain for skiing, it certainly was Copper Mountain! It is probably the most outstanding potential ski area in the Arapahoe National Forest, and possibly Colorado!

The north facing peaks of Copper Mountain offer an excellent variety of development for expert, intermediate and beginner skiers. The unique thing is that all three varieties are separated by definite terrain features, and in all three cases the skier can ski back into the base area. The mountain has good snow and sparse tree cover created by old burns, which offers a tremendous opportunity to create natural type runs that blend in with the surrounding countryside.

In 1954 Paul Hauk, District Forest Service Ranger, recommended the valley for ski area development. In 1962 he was contacted by Bob Gebhardt who represented an independent group about possible development, but nothing came of their interest. Other developers looked at the Wheeler Valley to build a ski area, but it was not until 1968 that a group finally emerged with enough foresight, experience and finances to develop Copper Mountain.

In 1968, Chuck Froelicher and a group that included Chuck Lewis and 16 investors, formed Copper Mountain Associates which purchased the 280 acres at the base of Copper Mountain from Eugene Sanders.

As the story goes, Sanders agreed to the sale of the property to turn Copper Mountain into a ski resort on the condition that Chuck Lewis would be in charge of developing the resort. In January of 1969, Chuck Froelicher, submitted a special use permit application to the Forest Service to study and develop plans to build a ski resort and base area village. In August of that year the Forest Service approved the application and a study permit was issued covering 2500 acres on Copper Mountain. Planning the resort as well as finding the capital needed for development took over two and a half years.  The main funding came from L.C Fulenwider and Paul Bailey who became the majority owners of the resort.

Chuck Lewis became the driving force behind Copper Mountains development and was known as a renegade and visionary (you can probably still hear a story or two about him floating around the mountain - just look for anybody who has an employee number with only three digits).

During the summer of 1971, initial construction began on the ski trails. The design of Copper is truly unique, "naturally divided" and has received a number of awards through the years for development and environmental planning!

Copper Mountain Ski Resort opened for skiing in 1972 with 26 miles of trails, 5 lifts including B, C, E, F and G and two buildings, The Center and Solitude and Copper Junction which was the first condominium building completed at Copper Mountain.

Lewis faced many challenges in the first years and set a standard of creating entrepreneurial solutions to solve seemingly insurmountable problems. This character is ingrained into the culture at Copper and still persists today.  A few examples of this spirit were the Thick and Thin Lumber Company and the Pretty Lumpy Concrete Company.

Throughout the valley's history, Copper's remote location has led to the high cost of building materials as well as the difficulty and wastefulness in disposing of trail-cutting debris.  In response, Lewis formed the Thick and Thin Lumber Company, milling the trees from trail cutting into the lumber that was used to construct the resort.  He also founded the Pretty Lumpy Concrete Company, purchasing 5 concrete trucks and becoming Copper's main supplier until 1974.

Chuck Lewis continued as president of the resort until 1982.

Over the years, new lifts have been added and Copper has grown to its current size of 2,483 acres, enjoying the status of Summit County's largest ski area! What was once a sleepy little day ski area is now one of Colorado's premiere year-round destination Resorts. Blessed with a nearly perfect mountain, Copper has enjoyed almost thirty years of awesome skiing and riding!

 HYPERLINK "http://www.copperchamber.com/files/Chuck%20Lewis%203.wmv" Click here to view the movie of the Chuck Lewis account of the beginnings of Copper Mountain. (This may take a few minutes to load depending on the speed of your internet connection)

Click any of the links below to view or download

 HYPERLINK "http://www.copperchamber.com/files/Rocky%20Mountain%20News-SKI-Fall%201971.pdf" Rocky Mountain News-SKI-Fall 1971 

 HYPERLINK "http://www.copperchamber.com/files/Rocky%20Mountain%20Skier%20Magazine%20-Nov%201972.pdf"  Rocky Mountain Skier Magazine -Nov 1972

 HYPERLINK "http://www.copperchamber.com/files/Ski%20Area%20Management%20Chuck%20Lewis%20Article%201972.pdf"  Ski Area Management Chuck Lewis Article 1972

 HYPERLINK "http://www.copperchamber.com/files/Chuck%20Lewis%20Magazine%20Article-Fall%201972.pdf"  Chuck Lewis Magazine Article-Fall 1972

 HYPERLINK "http://www.copperchamber.com/files/Copper%20Mountain%20Lift%20Map-Flyer%201972.pdf" Copper Mountain Lift Map-Flyer 1972 

 HYPERLINK "http://www.copperchamber.com/files/copper%20mountain2.pdf" Copper Mountain View 1976