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Just enough snow fell Monday to leave many Utah ski resorts cautiously confident about opening soon.
At Brighton Resort, typically the state's first ski area to open, spokesman Jared Winkler spoke nebulously about prospects of firing up the lifts this weekend after Monday's storm was as much show as snow, leaving behind only 4 to 5 inches before the sun set.
"Our base is grass to 5 to 7 inches at the top elevations," he said, offsetting those bleak numbers with optimism that this storm could break the dry cycle and usher in a series of snow producers.
"It's not to say we could open in the next couple of days," Winkler added. "But hopefully, if it keeps snow naturally, hopefully by the weekend. That's what we're planning, but we'll see how it goes."
The National Weather Service forecast lends some credibility to his hopes.
Forecasters predicted that northern resorts will have a few more inches of snow by Tuesday morning, followed by "a good shot of snow" Wednesday evening into Thursday.
Then a series of storms is forecast to move through the Wasatch Front into early next week, the Weather Service said, bringing more snow and the colder temperatures needed to help the resorts with artificial snowmaking.
A forecast like that has propped Park City Resort's hopes of starting Saturday, a prospect that still seemed possible Monday, spokeswoman Margo Van Ness said as dense clouds blanketed the Summit County hilltops.
The increasingly inclement weather also left Snowbird spokesman Brian Brown almost giddy, describing Monday's weather in Little Cottonwood Canyon as "snowing with a 100 percent chance of reckless excitement for the imminent start of the season."
As of Monday, Snowbird was one of eight Utah resorts still listing its opening date officially as "to be determined." The others were Solitude, Snowbasin, Powder Mountain, Beaver Mountain, Brian Head, Cherry Peak and Brighton.
Alta has set its opening for Dec. 2. Deer Valley is scheduled to being operations the next day. Sundance is looking to open A week later, Dec. 9, and Nordic Valley has its sights set on Dec. 10. Eagle Point's first day is supposed to be Dec. 17.