CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- All West Virginia ski areas will be open for the season this weekend, offering skiers and snowboarders a quantity of snow-covered slopes not normally seen this side of the Christmas-New Year holiday.

"The natural snowfall we've had has helped get a lot of terrain open early," said Joe Stevens, spokesman for the West Virginia Ski Areas Association. "But at least equally important is the incredible amount of sustained cold temperatures that have allowed snowmaking to proceed without a lot of stops and starts."

Canaan Valley Resort offered free skiing and snowboarding on Thursday during a sneak preview of its official season debut today. Nearby Timberline Four Seasons Resort opened Dec. 5, while Snowshoe Mountain Resort in Pocahontas County opened Nov. 21.

Winterplace Ski Resort between Beckley and Princeton opened last weekend for a preview session of skiing and snowboarding, and will begin operating on a seven-day-a-week basis starting Saturday.

Skiing and snowboarding got underway earlier this week at Wheeling's Oglebay Resort, where a triple chairlift serves an 815-foot slope with 168 feet of vertical drop.

White Grass Cross-Country Ski Resort in Canaan Valley, the state's first snow resort to open this year, has received 64 inches of snow so far this season.

"We're having epic conditions for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing this season at White Grass, Elk River and Blackwater Falls," said Stevens. "Six feet of snow already by December? Come on!"

While light rain was falling on most state ski areas on Thursday, snow and freezing temperatures were in the forecast for the West Virginia mountains for today and tonight.

Stevens said early season slope conditions at West Virginia's resorts rival those found in the Northeast and the West. "You don't see that very often two weeks into December," he said.

Reach Rick Steelhammer at rsteelham...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5169.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- All West Virginia ski areas will be open for the season this weekend, offering skiers and snowboarders a quantity of snow-covered slopes not normally seen this side of the Christmas-New Year holiday.

"The natural snowfall we've had has helped get a lot of terrain open early," said Joe Stevens, spokesman for the West Virginia Ski Areas Association. "But at least equally important is the incredible amount of sustained cold temperatures that have allowed snowmaking to proceed without a lot of stops and starts."

Canaan Valley Resort offered free skiing and snowboarding on Thursday during a sneak preview of its official season debut today. Nearby Timberline Four Seasons Resort opened Dec. 5, while Snowshoe Mountain Resort in Pocahontas County opened Nov. 21.

Winterplace Ski Resort between Beckley and Princeton opened last weekend for a preview session of skiing and snowboarding, and will begin operating on a seven-day-a-week basis starting Saturday.

Skiing and snowboarding got underway earlier this week at Wheeling's Oglebay Resort, where a triple chairlift serves an 815-foot slope with 168 feet of vertical drop.

White Grass Cross-Country Ski Resort in Canaan Valley, the state's first snow resort to open this year, has received 64 inches of snow so far this season.

"We're having epic conditions for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing this season at White Grass, Elk River and Blackwater Falls," said Stevens. "Six feet of snow already by December? Come on!"

While light rain was falling on most state ski areas on Thursday, snow and freezing temperatures were in the forecast for the West Virginia mountains for today and tonight.

Stevens said early season slope conditions at West Virginia's resorts rival those found in the Northeast and the West. "You don't see that very often two weeks into December," he said.

Reach Rick Steelhammer at rsteelham...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5169.