SAM Magazine-Denver, Dec. 5, 2007-Unsettled weather across North America has the season looking up in the East, but on the West Coast, areas are crossing their fingers and praying for snow.

In Colorado, a strong storm system created epic conditions after a warm November delayed openings at some ski areas. The recent storm dumped more than two feet across the central Rockies, with even more in the southern region of the state. The bounty prompted Vail Resorts to put season pass products back on sale at early-season prices. "It seems that the warm weather we experienced took people's minds off of the ski season," says Vail senior vice president of marketing and sales Chris Jarnot.

Vail as well as other Colorado and Utah resorts are expecting additional snow by the weekend. In Utah, the forecast for Alta calls for snow Thursday through Sunday, with accumulations up to 10 inches on Friday.

In the East, the bad memories of last year's December are quickly being buried. Sugarloaf scored over a foot and a half in the most recent storm. "We are well on our way to some of the best Christmas week conditions we've ever had," says Sugarloaf's Frank Guerriero. The storm allowed the ski patrol to drop the ropes on substantial amounts of terrain, more than doubling the skiable acreage now open.

Vermont ski areas are also opening terrain at a rapid rate. "We're off to the strongest start in many years with the trail count rising daily," said Ski Vermont president Parker Riehle. "The snow is showing no sign of stopping and we're well on the way to having all our areas nearly fully opened by mid-December."

West Virginia also received its first true storm of the season, with totals of up to eight inches at Canaan Valley. Snowshoe received six inches; it's currently the only resort open, but others are expected to follow this weekend.

In Nevada, the Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort, located 45 minutes north of Sin City, opened over the weekend, with two chairs serving mainly beginner and intermediate terrain.

California is a different story. In the Tahoe area, several areas are closed. Squaw expects to open this weekend, Sugar Bowl is operating weekends only, and Heavenly has just a handful of runs open. In Incline Village, Nev., Diamond Peak is scheduled to open on Dec. 13, weather permitting. According to marketing coordinator Kayla Anderson, the ski area has "made over ten million gallons of snow" in anticipation of opening day. "There's snow in the forecast," she adds. "So everyone do their snow dance." The mountain will open with three lifts and top to bottom skiing. Fiurther south, Mammoth is open, but base depths are only 8-14 inches.

Many areas in the Pacific Northwest, which had good early snow, were hit with rain earlier this week. In Oregon, both Mt. Hood Meadows and Mt. Bachelor remain open. Many Washington areas closed, but some plan to reopen this weekend. \

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