Maggie Valley, NC – While many East Coast residents were busy mopping up the damage left behind by “superstorm” Sandy, a pair of North Carolina ski resorts took advantage of the storm’s snowfall and cold weather to offer Halloween skiing and riding.

Snowboarders and skiers lined up in Halloween costumes for this morning’s first chair at Cataloochee Ski Area in Maggie Valley, where eight inches of snowfall was supplemented by snowmaking efforts to open three trails — Lower Omigosh, Rabbit Hill and Easy Way — serviced by the resort’s Omigosh Double Chairlift to midstation and the Easy Way Triple Chairlift. Base depths on open terrain ranged from eight to 15 inches.

“We’re ready to do it again on Thursday (from) 9 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.,” a Cataloochee spokesperson said this afternoon, adding that it was only the second time in 52 seasons that the ski area has opened in October. “Twenty-five dollar lift tickets and yes, we plan on making snow again tonight.”

By mid-morning the resort estimated that 200 skiers and riders were enjoying the slopes.

Snowmaking began on Sunday evening at Sugar Mountain near Banner Elk, and following nine inches of snowfall from Sandy it, too, opened this morning on two trails — Upper and Lower Flying Mile — from the three-quarter station of its summit lift. In its 43-year history, Sugar Mountain Resort’s earliest opening was on November 5th in 1976.

Sugar Mountain lift tickets are priced at $30 for a full-day adult or $25 for a half day. Base depths range from six to 30 inches.

Those anxious to hit the slopes in the Southeast should get after it, as warmer weather is expected to move into the region this week. Gatlinburg, Tennessee, recorded the deepest storm total in the Appalachian region at 34 inches, but the town’s ski area, Ober Gatlinburg, did not open for skiing and riding.