Early snowfall and cold temperatures have been a boon to Tussey Mountain, which is ready for an earlier opening than usual for skiing and snowboarding.
Opening day will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, when the beginner slope and intermediate Utah slope will be ready for use.
‘I have been here a long time and this is probably the fourth time we’ve been open at Thanksgiving time, which is exciting,’ Tussey Mountain general manager Sue Matalavage said. ‘It’s an early opening for us. Usually it’s the second week in December.’
Matalavage said last week’s snow storm helped but wasn’t quite enough to open right away.
‘It surely gave us a start,’ she said. ‘You need a bigger base to get open. A lot of people thought that with the 9 inches we got we should be open, but that’s not enough. We’re able to make some more snow on top of that. We did lose some with the rain and warmer temperatures.’
By the time slopes open on Sunday, Matalavage said Tussey will have had about 55 to 60 hours of continuous snowmaking. There should be a base of about 15 inches by that time.
‘We’ve had a good run here this week,’ she said.
