With construction on Copper Mountain Resort’s new American Flyer and American Eagle chairlifts continuing, the resort is making a change to its opening day terrain compared to previous years.

The Super Bee chair out of East Village will now provide skiers and riders with top-to-bottom access beginning Friday, Nov. 16.

The lift, which services intermediate and advanced runs, will start turning at 9 a.m. The resort says the intermediate blue runs Ptarmigan, Rhapsody and Fairplay will be open, circling back to the base of Super Bee via the intermediate Skid Road.

Over at Copper’s Center Village, beginner terrain can be accessed via the The Easy Rider magic carpet. Copper will also open beginner runs at Green Acres between East and Center Villages.

Copper made it clear that the early-season ski racers from across the world who annually train this same time of year on terrain serviced by the Super Bee lift will be practicing on separate East Village runs that will not be open to the public.

In addition to those skiing and riding options as part of its “Welcome Home Weekend,” Copper is offering 2-for-1 Rocky Mountain Coaster rides, free live music — headlined by Denver-based band DeVotchKa on Sunday afternoon in East Village — giveaways and more.

Weather permitting, Copper’s opening weekend festivities will commence at 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 16 with surprise giveaways from what the resort dubs the “Welcome Home Squad,” as well as raffle prizes and a visit from “Betty the Yeti.”

At 1 p.m., the Summit County blues band Chris Bauer Trio will take the stage in East Village for a free performance.

Then on Saturday Woodward Copper will begin its 10th season with its annual Barn Bash. The bash will include free sessions for the first 500 visitors, plus live music, a DJ, giveaways, a skate bowl expression session, a pro athlete autograph-signing and the Copper Mountain premiere of the new movie “YES, it’s Been 10 Years,” presented by YES Snowboards and Zeal Optics. Woodward will also be hosting a “Sunday Funday” on-site from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

For a complete list of Welcome Home Weekend happenings, visit CopperColorado.com.

Timetable for new lifts

As part of its opening weekend announcement on Thursday, the resort said the new American Eagle lift is on track to be completed before Thanksgiving while the American Flyer lift is scheduled to be completed shortly thereafter.

The resort added that the delay is due to the fact that two physical lift parts — one for each lift — that were manufactured in Europe are currently in transit to Colorado.

The revamped American Eagle lift will be a high-speed lift that includes a combination of both six-person chairs and eight-person gondola cabins. The new lift will increase uphill capacity by more than 40 percent.

As for the updated American Flyer lift, it will be a Leitner Poma, high-speed six-person chair with bubble enclosures that will increase uphill capacity by 33 percent.