Don't ski? This year is time to start

It came without warning, and much earlier than anyone expected. It snowed and snowed and snowed last week — 122 inches, in fact, at Alta.

Despite a base depth of nearly 100 inches at some resorts, which is typically more like mid-January figures, only one resort was able to jump on the grooming wagon and open.

It was Brighton's earliest opening in 21 years.

Snowbird will open tomorrow, which is its earliest opening.

Most resorts are holding with their original plans to open in mid-November.

It will be interesting to see the response of local skiers when resorts do open. Reports were that the road to Brighton was packed on Saturday.

It has been said again and again, and proven time and again, a good many of the local skiers are spoiled and choose their ski days like a bride does her diamond.

In other parts of the country, where the closest ski resort is usually hours from home, skiers are tickled white to have enough of a snow base to simply hide the ground.

No matter the base is as solid as a rock and can round a ski's edges in a couple of runs. Easterners are just happy to be skiing.

It's always interesting to talk with visiting skiers. Often, what they call great snow conditions, locals rate marginal.

As one visitor said: "They (locals) obviously haven't skied on a sheet of ice." And, most haven't.

A few years back, while skiing on Stowe Mountain in Vermont in early March, I skied runs where the snow, or ice, was so clear it was possible to see the ground beneath.

Here is Utah, if the snow isn't deep, soft as a breeze and only hours old, locals will often wait until conditions do meet their requirements — and those days always do come around.

Now the locals have their 100-inch base and untracked snow, and most cases the snow that is there came naturally. Prior to the storms, resorts were lamenting the fact that temperatures were too warm to make good snow — so they didn't.

For those who have yet to put their feet in ski boots and try sliding down a hill, this could be the season to try. Conditions couldn't be better.

Also, most of the resorts offer great opportunities to sample the sports of snowboarding and skiing at greatly discounted prices.