SAM Magazine--Copper Mountain, Colo., Nov. 5, 2004--Copper and Snowbird, Ut., have joined the ranks of open areas in the U.S. today, with Killington, Vt., planning to open early next week, perhaps as early as Tuesday.

Copper opened with 2,300 vertical feet of top-to-bottom skiing and riding, nearly 60 acres of terrain and 20 inches of man-made and natural snow. Three lifts and three trails were open, along with the resort's jib park.

Snowbird opened with skiing and riding from the Tram and two chairlifts. The area received 115 inches of early-season snowfall and is reporting a mid-mountain snow depth of more than five feet. The resort, which opened a week ahead of schedule, will close Nov. 8-11 for employee training and to complete setting up the mountain, then open full-time on Nov. 12.

Other areas that opened earlier are attracting strong business. Mountain High in SoCal notched 20,000 visits in October. Loveland, Colo, saw its best October visits in 10 years. Mammoth measured 82 inches of snow, a record total for October, and nearly 25,000 visits--including 9,000 snowsliders who treated themselves over the Halloween weekend.