Those skiers and riders obsessed with how many vertical feet they conquer in a day or season now have the perfect tool. SlopeTracker was recently introduced at Copper Mountain, providing a new and unique self-diagnostic tool for techno-junkies. On any given day a guest of the resort can track their number of runs, vertical feet, speed, calories burned, distance travelled and more via this new GPS tracking system. And, at the end of the day they get a colour print out detailing their accomplishments.

SlopeTracker rentals are available at guest services locations in all three Copper villages. Participants get a GPS unit that collects all of their data. Each participant is then rated against other snow riders at Copper with ratings of difficulty and skill score. At the end of the day those numbers are calculated and printed to a colour map for them to bring home. Prices begin at $15 per day for season pass holders and $18 for non-season pass holders on weekdays, $20 and $25 on weekends, respectively.

Copper resident Frank Walter is no stranger to conquering large sums of vertical feet. Over the past four winters, Walter has skied the slopes of Copper an average of 120 days each season, and has logged approximately six million vertical feet each of those years. Walter is 81 years of age. This season he'll be equipped with a jacket donated by MarkerŪ to keep him warm, and his own SlopeTracker device to track his progress while putting the program through a rigorous test.

"I'm anxious to try it out," said Walter. "It sounds pretty cool and I'm sure it will be very accurate. Just don't call to ask me about my progress between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. I'll be on the hill."

For more information on Copper Mountain www.coppercolorado.com