This year, skiers in the West have been left high and dry while the Midwest and East Coast have been absolutely pummeled with winter weather. While just a handful of ski areas West of the Mississippi have even just one run open, ski areas on the other side of the river have been rewriting record books, or at least flipping back through many decades to find a November as good as this one.
Ruka and Levi are the first non-glacier resorts to open each year, usually by the first week of October. Both resorts rely on snow left over from the previous season, which is carefully preserved during the summer months by piling it together and covering it with sawdust and felt for insulation against the sun's warmth-a process known as snow farming.
