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The first major snowfall in the southern tier of the Rocky Mountains brings welcome coverage to resorts in New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and southern Colorado – just in time.

Heavy, accumulating snow will reach all the way south to San Diego’s mountains and dump up to two feet of snow in Arizona and the Four Corners.

If you've been furloughed by the federal government and looking for a place to ski or ride on a suddenly tightened budget, try Angel Fire or Mt. Hood Meadows.

After an incredible November, more wintry conditions take us into December. We’ll kick it off with a cross-country storm system tracking low across the U.S.

Kids instinctually love to play in the snow, and you can share with them the thrill and camaraderie of a day on the slopes, the anticipation of new fallen snow that blankets the world white, the exhilaration of turns on skis. All across the country, you can find programs that offer a chance for kids to try out skiing and riding, most with just a small fee to get started.

November has been good to many of us and the pattern to begin December is looking colder for most, with potential for more heavy storms.

Call it Epic-Lite or Ikon 2.0, but the southern Colorado-based Power Pass has taken off around the country, into Canada and across the seas.

Another small ski and snowboard area in the southern Rockies is ready to expand: Sipapu Ski & Summer Resort has announced projects to add lifts, trails and more on-mountain dining.

Taos kids' teaching area gets makeover. (Taos Ski Valley/Facebook)

A reconfigured beginner slope and lifts highlight the latest round of upgrades at Taos Ski Valley, as other resorts along the southernmost tier of the Rockies also add lifts, trails and services.

Learn-to-ski is a staple at town hill Elk Ridge. (Elk Ridge/Facebook)

An ownership group focusing on the Southwest that has five ski and snowboard mountains under its wing now has a sixth: Elk Ridge Ski Area in Williams, Ariz.

Mountain biking is king at Purgatory. (Purgatory/Facebook)

As Durango businessman James Coleman bought five southwest Rockies resorts, he promised to put significant money into improvements at these mountains in Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona.

New Grand Canyon chair is first high-speed at Arizona Snowbowl. (Arizona Snowbowl/Facebook)

The words “Arizona” and “snow” appear incongruous, but the upper third of the state is high enough to bring those terms together – at Arizona Snowbowl.

The Sandia Tramway offers a different way to get to the skiing and riding. (Sandia Tramway/Facebook)

Interstate 40 is the main thoroughfare between Flagstaff and Albuquerque – and its also the route to a trio of lesser-known skiing and riding resorts along the southernmost tier of the Rocky Mountains.

The four Southwest resorts under single ownership will continue to get upgrades this summer – with the first high-speed chair at Arizona Snowbowl headlining the projects.

For 50 years, winter sports-lovers have made the drive up the Animas River to strap on skis (and, later snowboards) to hit the slopes at Purgatory in the middle of Colorado's San Juan Mountains.

Forecasters say it may take a bit for the El Niño pattern to settle into a southerly flow, but the southern-tier resorts of New Mexico and Arizona have already cranked up for this season – with upgrades all around.

Over the years, the free lift ticket has been a rite of passage for skiers and snowboarders who still hit the slopes in their golden years.

The waters are warming in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean, signaling that El Niño is on his way – and so should above-average snowfall across the West and Southwest.

Sipapu Ski & Summer Resort -- the New Mexico ski and snowboard mountain known for long seasons and beginner friendliness -- will put in a new chairlift this summer to serve more of the mountain's easier terrain.

For three decades, Purgatory loyalists have relied upon old-faithful Legends Lift 8 to take them to the tranquility, bumps and glades of Durango Mountain’s back side. That's about to change.