Durango was holding its breath this past weekend to see what the first major winter storm of the season would dump on the area. Would it pass us by and deprive us of the much needed pow that we all were wishing for? Absolutely not. 34 inches at mid mountain Sunday morning when the lifts opened at 9. The storm had passed, and the sky was once again clear blue with crisp temps for one of the best opening days in quite some time.

I was most definately in line with the other 100 eager Durangotarians waiting to catch the six pack to the top for the first runs of the season at DMR. As the clock overhead lift 1 hit 9:01, the cheers went out as the first to the top pushed throught the gates and were on their way. No one was sure of the conditions we would encounter on the way down. Even my buddies on the Patrol where wondering as just friday they were wading through the grass around the area. Now two days and over three feet of snow later, everyone was pleasantly surprised. Luckily the snow was wet enough to give a good base, but not to heavy as there was a good buildup of fresh powder. As many areas were not yet groomed that well, everyone was slipping through the 18 inches of powder on their way down the runs and having a blast.

Poachers were gladly jumping ropes to get in on the fresh pow that was still on closed runs, and when caught, didn't mind giving up their pass with a big grin on their face. That first run on a closed route in fresh pow was all worth it.

Many more days to come....

Mountain Cam today

The Durango Mountain Resort was supposed to open on this Saturday with the Annual Benefit Day, but the word came out today, that the Benefit Day skiing is re-scheduled for Sunday, December 2nd.

If there is snow. As of today, it still isn't 100% sure whether they are going to get the resort open or not. I was there on Tuesday, and it didn't look good. There was not even nearly enough snow made, and the construction work was even more unfinished than the slopes. But they are working so hard to make it happen and get the place open on Sunday.

There is a big winter storm coming in our way, let's hope it'll dumb a good amount of snow on the mountains on Friday and Saturday. In the worst case scenario the storm will come, but instead of snow, it'll just dumb water on us - then you can forget about skiing next week.

We might all just have to pray for the snow, and actually if you are interested in the "group prayer" - Purgatory and Steamworks Brewing are hosting a "Pray for Powder" event on Friday night at the Steamworks.