Thanksjibbing: 8th Annual Leftover Yam Jam at Copper on Friday

Photo courtesy Copper Mountain

Leftover Yam Jam, Nov. 27

​Go easy on the Thanksgiving feast this year, skip the Black Friday shopping melee, and head for the hills instead: Copper Mountain is tentatively scheduled to open its Superpipe later this week, in advance of the U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix, December 9-12, and is also hosting its 8th Annual Leftover Yam Jam in the American Eagle Jib Park on Friday.

The Leftover Yam Jam has become a holiday tradition of its own: The Thanksjibbing event is free, open to male and female professional and amateur snowboarders and skiers, and is a super fun and casual way to kick off the freestyle competition season (or just work out some kinks on the rails and burn off some holiday calories).

The prizes aren't huge, but they're better than you'll get if you spend the day in a tryptophan turkey coma or getting trampled by the teeming masses at Wal-Mart: Free snowboards and One Hit Wonder session passes courtesy of Woodward at Copper, Experience Copper Cards ($50, $25, and $20 for the top places in each division), and some Woodward swag hoodies, shirts, and other gear. And, in case you don't already have enough to be thankful for this week, the weekend forecast is predicting post-holiday snow in Summit County.