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Mountain Creek sees second straight November opening

| 04 Dec 2014 | 03:39
    The Sugar Slope at Mountain Creek awaits first-day skiers and riders.
    The Sugar Slope at Mountain Creek awaits first-day skiers and riders.
    Buffy Whiting gives a thumbs up as she and husband, John, and friend Bob Hoffman enjoy being first chair for the season.
    Buffy Whiting gives a thumbs up as she and husband, John, and friend Bob Hoffman enjoy being first chair for the season.
    Mountain Creek lift operations staff prepare to kick off the new ski season. From left, Kenny Hoyt, Sean Black, Ed Talmo, Mountain Creek Lifts Manager Charlie Lauren and Buffy Whiting are shown. Jason Mulder and John Triemo are kneeling.
    Mountain Creek lift operations staff prepare to kick off the new ski season. From left, Kenny Hoyt, Sean Black, Ed Talmo, Mountain Creek Lifts Manager Charlie Lauren and Buffy Whiting are shown. Jason Mulder and John Triemo are kneeling.
    Vernon residents Buffy Whiting, John Whiting await the first chair of the 2014-15 ski season with friend John Hoffman from Sparta.
    Vernon residents Buffy Whiting, John Whiting await the first chair of the 2014-15 ski season with friend John Hoffman from Sparta.

VERNON — For more than a decade the opening of the Mountain Creek Ski Resort typically occurred in early December – with the old-time skiers having a hard time remembering a November opening.

Not this year.
For the second year in a row the resort was blessed with sufficient cold weather to blow snow which Mother Nature topped off with nearly a foot of snow as a pre-Thanksgiving gift. This made it possible for Resort President Bill Benneyan to reward the die-hard skiers and riders with the second-day-after-Thanksgiving opening in the last two years which was enjoyed by over 900 enthusiasts on Saturday, Nov. 29.

This meant that the Mountain Creek Lift Operations staff and snowmakers had to put in some extra time making the slopes ready for visitors.

With the resort scheduled to officially open for the 2014-15 ski season at 10 a.m., the local Vernon skiers Buffy and John Whiting joined by John Hoffman of Sparta were given the honor of being on the first chair of the chairlift to kick off the new ski season.

The resort’s schedule included skiing on Sunday, Nov. 30, and weekend openings until sufficient snow could be made to open the Mountain completely with weekday skiing and riding beginning in early December.