Top of Gunbarrel at Heavenly Ski Resort. Click on photos for larger view

			Bottom of Gunbarrel (Heavenly's Double Black Diamond Mogul Run)

Heavenly Ski Resort received enough snow that they were even able to open “The Face,” a 1,600 vertical foot double diamond run, which lets you ski down to the California base lodge instead of downloading on the chair. This run is rarely open before Christmas and usually not until they blow tons of snow on it. I was lucky enough to be one of the first couple of riders down this steep and scenic run. From the first turn the face shots of snow kept coming and coming and the coverage was great. Heavenly has yet to blow snow on this run and it looks like they probably won’t have to.

			The top of Heavenly Ski Resort
			Standing at the top of Heavenly's Killabrew Canyon, looking down on the Carson Valley

The top of Heavenly looks like it usually does during February or March, not December. Buried fences and completely covered rocks and trees let skiers and snowboarders go just about anywhere they want to ride. Upper mountain runs like Ellie’s and Milky Way Bowl are completely open with no obstacles to get in your way.

With all this new snow, Heavenly was able to open its famous Double Black Diamond section known as Mott and Killabrew Canyons. Mott and Killabrew Canyons are like a whole different little ski resort just by themselves. Very steep chutes, open trees and cliff jumps are everywhere in the Canyons. In recent years, Mott Canyon would usually open in early to late February. What a way to start the skiing and snowboarding season!

And with more storms on the way, it looks to be one of the greatest ski seasons ever, so grab your snow riding devise and hit the slopes.

Stay up to date with the latest skiing and road conditions plus links to every Tahoe ski resort by logging on to Virtualtahoe.com. See you on the slopes.