The Copper Mountain area was home for summer hunting and fishing by the Arapahoe and Ute Indians. In the mid-1880’s, gold was discovered in Summit County and mining camps sprung-up everywhere. Judge John Wheeler established a mining settlement at the junction of the Ten Mile and Gore mountain ranges known as Wheeler Junction in its day. Remains of several of these old buildings can still be found scattered on and about the Copper Mountain ski area.
The Copper Mountain area mining camps rode the economic roller coaster of mining fortunes. Eventually these settlements were abandoned.
In 1971, Chuck Lewis negotiated a deal to purchase 280 acres at the base of what is present day Copper Mountain and worked with the Forest Service to gain approval for a ski area. Since the early 1970’s, new lifts have been added with Copper Mountain expanding to its current size of almost 2,500 acres making it Summit County's largest ski area.
In 1997, the resort was purchased by Intrawest and has enjoyed continued expansion of facilities. It is characterized as a destination ski resort.