Battle of the Ski Hills

This is good clean local fun - which ski hill will open first. Some years, they vie to see who gets open by Thanksgiving. Or Christmas. This year ... not so much. It went from autumn to winter all in a coupla days this week.

Boreal Opening Day Announced - First Resort to "Officially" Open in California
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Boreal will operate the Castle Peak Quad chairlift offering access to one run featuring multiple terrain park features. Boreal plans to operate thru the weekend and will assess conditions on Sunday to determine a mid-week operating schedule.

One lift, one run, but it's a point of pride to get open first. Even with barely enough employees to do it.

Celebrate 3 Feet of New Snow with California's First Ski Resort Opening
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With snow still expected to fall through Wednesday, the first snow storm of the 2012-13 winter season has already delivered 28 inches to Squaw Valley and 36 inches to Alpine Meadows. Another 6-9 inches are expected by Thursday, which would bring snow totals to more than 3 feet.

None of these joints received enough snow or have enough employees yet to sustain their symbolic "openings", but it'll draw the die-hard skiers and riders and whet their appetites.

As for me, I live in the banana belt so I only got a foot of snow. My snowblower fired up on the second pull after a seven-month hiatus and tradition was served in that the first-time-out shear pin breakage occurred right on schedule after I cleared one pickup a path. Also, The Berm Fairy came and saved me a little work. Thanks, Dave.

Just another day in paradise...