Recent soggy weather in Tucson translated into a blizzard of good news for Mount Lemmon Ski Valley: The slopes snagged enough snow to open ahead of schedule.
"It's nice and white up here," Graham Davies, manager of the ski area, said Friday. "We're getting a good crowd of skiers."
Thirty inches of new snow fell on the slopes last week - adding to a 14-inch base of snow from an earlier storm, Davies said.
He said it was "probably one of our earliest openings," but he didn't have records readily available.
The ski area typically opens around Christmas, Davies said, but snow conditions vary considerably from year to year.
Last season, for example, skiers got in barely two weeks of skiing in January before lack of snowfall brought the schussing to a stop.
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Davies described an ideal, ski-friendly scenario: "If we got on a weather pattern where we got snow every week and a half or so, with cool temperatures, that would be good."
Ski Valley's slopes are open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
"Normally we're closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but we're staying open straight through New Year's," Davies said.
To reach Ski Valley, take Tanque Verde Road to the Catalina Highway. Follow the highway into the mountains past Milepost 24, and watch for a signed right turnoff for the ski area. Be aware that snowfall often results in restrictions such as tire chains or four-wheel-drive capability - and sometimes brings a temporary closure of the highway.
road closures
• The Catalina Highway remains open through the winter except for brief closures after heavy snowstorms.
• Several forest roads in the Catalina Mountains have been closed for the season because winter weather can create unsafe driving conditions.
• Among the forest roads that will remain closed until March 1 are the Lower and Upper Control Road, Marshall Gulch Road, Lower and Upper Bear Wallow Road, Bigelow Road, Incinerator Ridge Road, Organizational Ridge Road and Lemmon Rock Road.
Contact reporter Doug Kreutz at dkreutz@azstarnet.com or at 573-4192.
