SNOWBIRD — Utah's deep powder was a little late arriving, but when it did fall it hit with a fury — nearly four feet in three days at the higher elevations.

And with it came more open lifts and runs, more people out enjoying the snow and a lot more smiling faces.

Mid-November has long been the traditional opening date for Utah's 13 resorts. This year, only two were able to open, and even then it was with only a few lifts and limited terrain fed mainly by man-made snow.

Following last weekend's snow, 11 of the 13 resorts are now open. Powder Mountain is scheduled to open Saturday. Only Beaver Mountain has yet to announce an opening date.

Even though the big storm was late coming, said Nathan Rafferty, president of Ski Utah, "it hit well in advance of Christmas. It ensured us a good Christmas and New Year holiday. At this point, our bookings look very strong."

Even with limited snow in November, resorts report there were very few cancellations.

"People know Utah will always get snow. And when it does come, it's always that light, deep powder Utah is famous for ... and they don't want to miss it," Rafferty said.

By the weekend, about half of the lifts and runs at the 12 open resorts will be operating and, as one official noted, "more terrain and more lifts will be coming on line daily."

Looking at snow conditions, Alta is reporting a base of 48 inches; Snowbird, 48 inches; Brighton, 55 inches; Deer Valley, 42 inches; and Sundance, 39 inches. Total snowfall this season at Alta is 121 inches.

Elsewhere around the country, in Colorado, Aspen is reporting a mid-mountain base of 34 inches, Vail, 32 inches and Snowmass, 46 inches. Stowe mountain in Vermont is reporting a base of 16 inches; Whiteface in New York is reporting a mid-mountain base of 29 inches; Jackson Hole in Wyoming is reporting a mid-mountain base of 33 inches and Mammoth in California is reporting a base of 20 to 25 inches.

Krista Parry, public relations manager at Park City Mountain Resort, said the resort received 36 inches from the three-day storm.

"By the weekend, we'll have more than three-quarters of the resort open. People think because we had little snow in November that we're behind, but we on par with about the same amount of terrain we had open last year," she said.

"As you'd expect, the snow really helped. The whole mood at the resort changed. People were a lot more jovial. We tracked our Web page and on Friday, because of the snow, we hit an all-time daily high."

Jay Burke, marketing director at Solitude, said the resort received 44 inches over the three days, "and the only thing we haven't opened is our Honeycomb area."

Elizabeth Dowd, public relations director at The Canyons, said that by the weekend, about half of the lifts and runs will be open.

Looking ahead to the holidays, resort officials report strong bookings with few cancellations.

For more information and snow totals visit www.skiutah.com.

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