Snow making in Vail keeps the trails open

According to John Garnsey, President of Vail, this is the first time in 30 years that the Back Bowls of Vail have not been opened by New Years Day. There is no question that this is the least amount of snow that this writer has seen in my 35 years of skiing in Vail. Having said that, the good news is that both mountains have been able to make snow on a lot of the trails we love to ski. Beaver Creek has 800 acres of snowmaking and Vail has 461 acres. Both mountains have dispelled the rumor that the Forest Service has a deadline on water and both mountains are still allowed to make snow at night(when the temperatures are most conducive). Their only restriction is that they can not allow streams to drop below their minimums. When that happens Vail Resorts are allowed to pull water from their reservoirs. Don Dressler with the Forest Service states that 75% of the water made into snow returns to the basins when the snow melts.