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GARDEN CITY — Managers at Beaver Mountain said a weekend storm brought almost two-and-a-half feet of fresh powder ahead of opening day.
Well before the lifts opened at Beaver Mountain on Tuesday morning, hundreds of people were lined up and chomping at the bit to hit the slopes. Mountain Operations Manager Travis Seeholzer said some people even camped out overnight to be first down the mountain.
“We had maybe 400 people waiting in line for the lift open this morning by 8:30,” Seeholzer said. “I think people are really excited to be here. Having this pretty substantial early-season snowfall is awesome.”
Seeholzer said snowfall last week brought an additional 29 inches to the resort.
“For us it kind of overachieved,” Seeholzer said. “We were forecast for over 20 inches on the high side and you never know, forecasting is getting a lot better but it’s still weather, so we were pleasantly surprised when it kept snowing through Saturday.”
Seeholzer said that overall, it made for a 49-inch mid-mountain base. He added that workers had to crunch to get the slopes read in time for opening, but since the resort doesn’t use any man-made snow, it was a welcome problem to have.
“It was a little bit of work, catching up to it,” Seeholzer said. “It takes a minute to get on top of that kind of snowfall but obviously now we’re rolling and in good shape.”
With the possibility of even more snow next week, Seeholzer said the season is off to a solid start.
“We couldn’t ask for a better opening,” Seeholzer said. “We generally have a good base when we open, but this is probably the best base we’ve had in a number of years for opening day.”
