Montpelier, VT – Winter’s first major snowstorm has blanketed Vermont’s slopes with more snow than expected, upwards of two feet in the Green Mountains and more snowfall continuing throughout the week. Coupled with the welcome arrival of weather conducive to snowmaking more ski areas across New England are opening for the weekend and trail counts are on the rise.n”This surprise snowstorm has really jump-started our trail counts and resort bookings for weekend trips and holidays,” said Ski Vermont President Parker Riehle. “We’ll see more and more of Vermont’s ski trails in top form for pre-holiday skiing.”

After a slow start to the ski and snowboard season in New England, Cannon Mountain in Franconia Notch, N.H., picked up a foot of its 18 inches season to date in just the past three days. Jay Peak along the Vermont-Quebec border is reporting nearly three feet of snowfall in the past week. Stowe has picked up 23-35 inches over the same period, and Killington 22 inches. Bolton Valley Resort near Burlington has racked up more than three feet of new snow since Sunday, priming the ski area for its opening this Friday.

“The recent snows is just icing on the cake for our opening this season,” said Josh Arneson, director of marketing at Bolton. “Our snowmakers have been making snow since last Friday so we were confident we would open this weekend. But the added snow will allow us to have even more trails open, giving our guests more value than ever early season.”

Lesser yet still respectable snowfall is being reported in Maine, with Sugarloaf in Carrabassett Valley reporting 10-14 inches over the past week and Sunday River less than half a foot.

In Upstate New York, the lake effect machine has been in full force with Whiteface in the Adirondack Mountains reporting 19 inches over the past week, while Holiday Valley in the western part of the state reports 20 inches since Monday.