While just about everybody in Prince George was cursing the white stuff that kept falling from the sky Thursday, Fern Thibault looked up at the winter wonderland enveloping Tabor Mountain Ski Resort and danced a little jig.
The 20-centimetre dump that piled up in the city made driving and walking treacherous but it also made for glorious conditions for skiing and snowboarding on the slopes of Tabor.
After enduring an unseasonably mild January that brought rain, warmth and uncertainty to the outdoor venues to be used in the Canada Winter Games, Thibault is counting his blessings as Tabor Mountain's owner/operator, hopeful the trend for more snow will continue.
"This is awesome, the place is packed," said Thibault, while watching about 150 School District 57 phys-ed students take advantage of the new snow Thursday afternoon. "We just had 50 centimetres in the last two days and now this on top of that, so we could be close to 80 or 100 centimetres.
"This year has been pretty crazy for us getting ready for the Games. For what we have to build we need a lot of snow. You always need more snow and the forecast is amazing. It's supposed to snow every day this week. I'm not complaining at all, it's going to be awesome."
Located a 15-minute drive east of the city off Highway 16, Tabor will host freestyle skiing (big air, moguls, dual moguls, slopestyle) and alpine skiing (ski cross) during the first week of the Games (Feb. 14-20) and will be the site of snowboarding (slopestyle, snowboard cross) in the second week (Feb. 27-28).
Tabor will be open for business during the Games. During the Games competitions and practice sessions, skiers and snowboarders will still have plenty of choices of terrain for recreational users which won't conflict with the official events.
"We're fully open during the Games," said Thibault. "Even half of the (terrain) park is open when the competitions are on. You can still go out and hit boxes and rails and while you're doing that, watch the guys beside you in the competition."
The skills/terrain park Tabor opened last season has not been in full operation yet this season but should be accessible to the public just before the Games begin.
"We have to put in a lot of changes and we have a lot of grooming we need to do to create the amazing atmosphere for the Games, so we're just getting going," said Thibault.
Tabor is open every day of the week except Wednesday from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. until mid-April. Although the resort is equipped with lights Thibault said he and his staff of 50 have been too busy putting in long hours preparing for the Games to offer night skiing.
Tabor has installed temporary snowmaking equipment but it likely won't need it with all the natural snow that's been accumulating. Building the single and dual moguls courses for the races, Feb. 17-18, will require significant amounts of snow. Thibault has used heavy equipment to mound snow and stockpile it in case it is required to fill CWG courses.
"We have five brand-new state-of-the art groomers and they're making our lives a lot easier," said Thibault.
Between now and the start of the Games, Thibault will be focusing on packing the new snow, building the new courses, putting up fencing and training volunteers.
Thibault says skiers and snowboarders with season passes are welcome to use the Tabor parking lot during the Games and if that becomes too crowded he's hoping to set up shuttle bus service from an alternate parking lot nearby.
For more information go to the website tabormountain.com
