Posted at: 12/12/2009 6:48 PM | WHEC.com
Updated at: 12/12/2009 9:09 PM
By: Linzi Sheldon

Bristol Mountain open for business

The snow is finally here and that means Bristol Mountain is busy. It's the ski resort's first weekend open and skiers are taking full advantage of the snow.

The ski season started a week later than last year but Bristol officials say business is already booming

"Oh, it's fantastic," skier Bill Duirland said. "Beautiful day. The snow's in good shape. I mean it feels warm out here."

At Bristol Mountain on Saturday afternoon, skiers were soaking up the sun and enjoying the snow.

Bristol opened this Monday, but just a few days ago, conditions weren't quite as white.

"We didn't have any snow last weekend, so things were pretty warm," Duirland said. "Then this past week it got nice and cold...they were able to make some snow, they got a little natural snow."

Skiers welcomed the snowstorm that hit us this week.

"I've been a skier for a long time," skier Steve Hellems said. "I'm one of those guys that cheer on the storms like we had on Tuesday and Wednesday while everybody else was grumbling about the traffic. It's exciting to get out...it's fun to be able to enjoy the weather."

"Snow's a good thing!" Duirland said. "That's what skiers like."

The snowy weather and cold temperatures mean big business for Bristol.

"We look forward to and all forecasts indicate that we'll have a good, long, snowy winter," Bristol Mountain spokesperson Drew Broderick said.

Broderick says sales of season passes are up.

"Obviously with the economy this year we're finding that a lot of folks are staying here to ski instead of taking ski trips out west," she said.

Bristol is also offering different kinds of passes and a Saturday night special family special-- to try to make skiing more affordable.

With hundreds of snow machines hard at work, skiers say you can't even tell the season started late.

"They do a great job putting the snow down," Hellems said. "Conditions are great. The weather couldn't be better."

"I've been waiting to ski for the whole season," skier Mike Wagner said. "So it's really nice to get out."

Ten of the trails at Bristol are open right now... and Broderick says they hope to get all 33 trails open as soon as possible. She says it all depends whether temperatures stay cold enough for an extended period of time.