Copper Mountain, CO – With the Sprint U.S. Grand Prix visiting Copper Mountain in early December, staffers at the Colorado ski and snowboard resort had to get busy early on this season to prepare their 22-foot superpipe, which opened this past weekend as the first in Colorado this winter.

Standing at the top of the superpipe at Copper Mountain this weekend was like having a window into the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Most of the members of the U.S. Freeskiing and Snowboarding Half Pipe teams, along with top athletes from around the world, are at the resort taking their turns dropping in. These guys and girls are not wasting any time shaking the rust off from a long summer, boosting high above the pipe walls, spinning, grabbing and tweaking in order to master their tricks.

The Sprint U.S. Grand Prix will be held at Copper Mountain Dec. 5-10.