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SAM Magazine—Sun Valley, Idaho, Dec. 22, 2014—Temperature, more than precipitation, has factored heavily thus far into the 2014-15 season. Resorts in the Rockies are celebrating up to two feet of new snow in the past two days, while rain has hampered the start of the season in other regions.

SAM Magazine—Sun Valley, Idaho, Dec. 22, 2014—Temperature, more than precipitation, has factored heavily thus far into the 2014-15 season. Resorts in the Rockies are celebrating up to two feet of new snow in the past two days, while rain has hampered the start of the season in other regions.

Ski areas in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming are sitting near or above average in terms of snowpack for the season, while the Pacific Northwest has seen much of its precipitation fall in the form of rain except for the highest of elevations, according to Joel Gratz, meteorologist and founder of Open Snow.

Gratz says more snow will fall in the Rocky Mountains Christmas Eve and into the following day, while New England is expected to receive rain this week before temperatures turn cooler heading into the New Year. Tahoe is expected to get into a storm cycle in January.

Major destinations have been seeing strong reservation activity. On Dec. 15, Denver-based DestiMetrics, an organization that tracks mountain lodging bookings in 19 Western mountain resorts in six states, reported that winter occupancies are up 10 percent and revenues are up 16 percent from this same time last winter.

In Idaho, Sun Valley officials are reporting the best pre-holiday conditions there in five years. “We'll have about 95 percent of the mountain open for the weekend and bookings look good so it's setting up really well for us, the planes from all of the major cities coming in here for the Holidays are full,” said Jack Sibbach, marketing and PR director.

Also in Idaho, Brundage and Tamarack each reported 20 inches of snow in the past two days. Tamarack opened its upper terrain this week. Several ski areas in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming also reported nearly two feet of snow over the weekend. The dumping came with some associated road closures, but industry officials praise the timing of the storm anticipating that travel conditions will improve in time for guests arriving in the mountains.

In New Mexico, Taos is running all but its Kachina Peak lift on a base of about three feet and Angel Fire has all of its lifts running on 27 inches. Meanwhile, a prolonged winter storm last week dropped snowfall at all 12 North Lake Tahoe ski resorts, prompting the season opening of Homewood, Diamond Peak and Tahoe Donner Downhill ski areas. On Donner Pass, Sugar Bowl received 45 inches of new snow in six days boosting its base to 49 inches. Boreal, Mammoth and Soda Springs are reporting similar base depths, but other ski areas throughout California are reporting bases as low as 12 inches.

Oregon's Mt. Hood Meadows received 16 inches of snow over the weekend before a moisture-laden storm transitioned to rain. The resort currently has a 22-inch snow depth in the base area and has operated on a very limited basis so far this season. Seven other ski areas in Oregon are currently not open, while Washington has five of 15 ski areas open, according to SnoCountry.com.

Warmer-than-average temperatures have also challenged some resorts in the Mid-Atlantic. Northern New England has been more fortunate. Sarah Wojcik, director of public affairs for Ski Vermont, says 80 percent of her state's skiable terrain will be open for the holidays. New snow earlier in the week spurred record booking activity for some resorts.

“We took 134 reservations in just under two hours, a Jay Peak record,” said J.J. Toland, Jay Peak's director of communication and events.

At Okemo, 90 percent of the runs are now open. “Reservations soared to more 80 percent this week due to the storm, this is the most terrain we've ever had open this early in the season,” said Okemo owner Tim Mueller.

At Stratton, 90 percent of the main face is open, and Mount snow has nearly doubled its trail count since Monday. Both credit natural snowfall combined with strong snowmaking efforts for fueling conditions.

Ski areas in New York, including Titus, Peek ‘n Peak, Hunter, Belleayre, and Holiday Valley each reported a few inches of new snow this week, with ample snow depths for the holidays.

In Canada, conditions appear to be better in the West than in the Eastern part of the country. In British Columbia, Whistler Blackcomb and Whitewater are each reporting base depths of about 50 inches. Sunshine Village in Alberta has all of its lifts running on about a three-foot base.

Conditions aren't as favorable in Quebec, where Tremblant has about half of its trails open on a base of up to 47 inches. Other areas, including Le Massif, Mont Blanc, Mont Sainte-Anne, and Mont Saint-Sauveur, are also about 50 percent open.

All in all, though, North America is faring better than Europe, where a lack of snow in the Alps has left some ski resorts facing the worst conditions in the past quarter century, according to a leading industry representative. French Mountains, which promotes mountain tourism in France, said only 40 of some 200 skiing stations were open across the country. In Les Trois Vallees, the largest ski area in the world, roughly a third of the 370 miles of runs are open. Avoriaz, one of the few resorts with most of its terrain open, has rationed ticket sales to prevent overcrowding.

Snow is also comparatively light in Austria, Switzerland, and Italy.