It’s time to grab the skis and make a

few runs.

Thanks to significant early-winter

snowfall, it looks like the Turner Mountain Ski Area will open to

the public this weekend.

“We’re tentatively going to open on

Saturday. That could change but we don’t anticipate it at this

point,” said Bruce Zwang of the ski area’s board of directors.

Turner Mountain officials hope to see

more skier days this winter. Last season, the ski area didn’t open

until Jan. 2 and then stayed open for only 29 operating days.

“We tend to budget for about 54 so our

number of operating days were down significantly,” Zwang said. “If

we lose the holiday week, that’s a big hit for us. We’re open every

day while the kids are out of school except Christmas Day, of

course. If we lose that, it’s a real bummer.”

Two years ago, the ski area didn’t open

until Dec. 29 so it’s been a while since Turner has benefitted from

those holiday numbers.

“Historically, this isn’t super early

for us but we haven’t been open for the holidays in recent years so

this is really exciting for us,” Zwang said.

Skiers may notice a few changes while

going on a run down Turner.

“We’ve added some gladed areas … where

we move the brush and small trees and leave everything else,” Zwang

said. “We’ve opened up several areas like that and I think it will

be really popular.”

At last word, Turner had 30-plus inches

on top and 22 inches on the bottom “with more snow coming this

week,” Zwang said.

Turner Mountain held its annual

fundraising fun night this past weekend. Zwang said a sizeable

crowd showed up.

“I think this early snow gets folks in

the mood,” he said.

Turner operates with more than 30

volunteers who contribute a wide range of hours to keep the

mountain running.

Turner Mountain expects to be open Dec.

11-12, Dec. 17-19 and Dec. 23-24. After closing for Christmas Day,

the ski area will then be open from Dec. 26-Jan. 2.

After those dates, Turner will operate

on its regular schedule – Friday through Sunday each week as long

as conditions hold out.