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A little bit of snow is starting to fall in the mountains, which is always good news for ski resorts. It's been a rough few weeks for them with warmer than usual temperatures.
Snowbird had its second earliest opening ever a month ago, followed by Brighton, Solitude, and then Alta. The mountains got a lot of snow in the early part of November. But that snow stopped falling, and with warmer temperatures, the trick is to make snow and keep the resorts open.
Jared Ishkanian, a spokesperson for Snowbird, said,"We're just kind of waiting and hoping and checking the skies."
Sunny, blue skies usually bring smiles to most people, but not these guys. They'd rather it be gray or white, cold and snowing. "We got a little bit of snow over the weekend. (It) definitely softens things up," Ishkanian said.
Even with that small amount of snow this past weekend, warmer temperatures means no fresh powder for all four resorts up Big and Little Cottonwood canyons. All four are open, and without real snow, they have to make snow.
Jessica Kunzer of Ski Utah explained, "The warm weather has made it a little difficult for some of the resorts to make their own snow. We need those cold temperatures in order to make snow."
Resorts have been able to make snow at night so ski runs stay open. But because they opened early, the trick is to keep making snow so they don't have to close.
"Yeah, that would be an unfortunate circumstance," Kunzer admitted.
One of the biggest reasons for opening early is competition, and not just from within Utah, but from areas like Colorado, Sun Valley, even Jackson Hole.
"I think more than just getting open, it's the message of early season snow that does help bookings to start a little bit early," Kunzer said.
Ski Utah says resorts noticed an increase in bookings once open ski runs were announced, and most of those bookings are for later in the year.
Ishkanian said, "You get a whole different message out there when all of a sudden you have powder shots, over the head powder, in early November."
But right now, that powder can be hard to find, which means more man-made snow.
"We're blowing snow as we speak and pushing to open more terrain as soon as possible," Ishkanian said.
Skiers we spoke with say the skiing still is fine, even though they'd love to see some powder.
E-mail: acabrero@ksl.com