It was a long awaited and much hoped for event when Blacktail Mountain opened its ski season last weekend. The decision to open was made Thursday morning and by Friday morning loyal skiers were already filing up the mountain. The opening, forecasted for the first half of December, was delayed until the last day of the month because of warmer than usual weather.

For its first weekend, 13 runs were open for skiing and snowboarding. Chair service was available for all of the upper half of Thunderhead and all of Olympic.

"We've been on this day to day status for too long," Blacktail office manager Arla Rosso said. "It looks like there is more snow in the forecast, so we expect to have the whole mountain open in no time if it keeps up."

While only 50 percent of the mountain was open on Friday, visitors to the mountain weren't complaining. Many had been checking snow conditions every day and waiting for the official announcement that they could take to the slopes.

Craig and Tia Hurlbert from Houston, Texas had been vacationing in the area since Dec. 18. The family owns a summer home in Rollins and returns every year for Christmas. The Hurlberts, with their two daughters Ellie and Kate, said Blacktail Mountain is a big part of their reason for spending the holiday here.

"It's such a great family resort," Craig Hurlbert said. "It's hard to find a place like this. You can't beat the price and the people are just great. Rock in ski rentals area loaned me his jacket. Fran in the cafeteria remembered me from last year and gave me a hug. That's the kind of thing that really makes it feel like you're home here."

"We're so happy that they opened today," Hurlbert continued. "We've been waiting for two weeks, and we're headed back to Texas tomorrow, so we just had to sneak up here and get in some skiing before we leave."

"We're tickled to be open," Blacktail manager Steve Spencer said. "We've got a really good crowd up here today, and the skiing is good. Everybody's happy."

David Halliburton was one of the happy skiers on the mountain Friday afternoon. Halliburton was pleased with the quality of snow on the open runs and looked forward to more of the same. "The runs are groomed and nice," Halliburton said. " I'm just praying for some more snow, so that the rest of the mountain can open."

Blacktail staff member Ryan O'Rourke described the more challenging runs skiers enjoy and encouraged them to try out the Glades when those runs are opened. "The most difficult runs are still closed, until we get more snow," O'Rourke said. "It takes a lot of snow for the groomers to be able to pack it down good."

Spencer indicated that the lower half of Thunderhead needed another 6-8 inches of snow before it could be opened all the way to the bottom. However, he was hopeful that sufficient snow would fall over the weekend.

"We got that pineapple express that came through," Spencer explained, "and we got rain clear to the top. That's what was tough on us. But we've been in a good snow pattern for the last three days, and it sounds like it's going to snow through the weekend, so we're happy guys."

Parents were also glad to see Blacktail open before the new year. Many see the mountain as excellent recreation for the children during the winter months.

Dawn Peters brought her son Sean because of a promotion that Blacktail features. "Blacktail is running a great special for 5th graders, where they get to ski for free." she explained. "We skied Big Mountain last year, but this gives us a reason to try out Blacktail this year."

"We've had a better turnout than what I was expecting," Blacktail marketing director Asia Gray said. "We didn't make the announcement until twelve o'clock yesterday, so its nice to see so many come out."

The lifts at Blacktail Mountain begin running at 9:30 a.m., and go until 4:30 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday. A shuttle bus is also available and a schedule may be viewed at www.blacktailmountain.com under the link Blacktail Express.

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