Snow machines were out grooming the white powder on the China Peak Resort as crews make last-minute preparations for this weekend's grand opening.
"I'm extremely excited. I've been waiting for this since last year," said Nick Matula of China Peak's Sports Shop. Workers inside the shop were taking snow apparel items out of boxes, gearing up for the start of an early ski season. The ski resort is opening earlier than last year thanks to storms that dropped 10 to 15 inches of snow in the past two weeks.
"It's been a lot colder than normal and so we've been able to do a lot better snow making," said Brenna Blagg of China Peak Resort. And the man-made snow has helped make the mountains look more white than usual.
"We just want to say, come hang out, get out of the Valley, experience and get some practice in if you're a beginner. Come check out the mountain, see what it is," said Blagg.
"We're going to hike up, we're going to climb the mountain and ski down," said Peter Dutton of Springville. He and his friends traveled three hours to be the first ones to play in the snow. "It'd be perfect weather if we had like 8 inches of fresh powder, that's perfect weather," said Dutton.
The slopes will only be open this Saturday and Sunday but will reopen the day after Thanksgiving. "They'll be able to ski, snowboard. We'll have a beginner magic carpet lift going and then a few beginner to intermediate runs, so they can get a feel for the mountain," said Blagg.
