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As we approach the final days of 2019, we'll have a pleasant mix of snow days, sunny days, and mild days to take in all that the weather has to offer on our favorite ski trails.

A powerful winter storm hit the western U.S. over the Thanksgiving holiday, delivering huge snow totals from California to the northeast. While the storm caused trouble during the busy holiday travel days, the snow made skiers and riders very thankful.

Several large storms will develop across the country in this week’s SnoCast. Great news as the ski season ramps up following the Thanksgiving holiday. Here are the latest details.

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.

The owners of Purgatory, Arizona Snowbowl and four day-trip resorts in the Southwest have purchased Brian Head Resort in southern Utah.

As autumn arrives, the Northern Hemisphere tilts farther and farther away from the sun – a shortening of the day's light that curbs photosynthesis and produces the brilliant yellows and reds of aspen trees in the Mountain West.

In the Rockies, a bountiful season of snowfall this winter meant many powder days, extended skiing and riding into June and even July. Add in a cooler-than-normal spring in much of the West, so much so that you can still see snowfields off the high ridges as we finished up the month of July.

Though the weather has been slow to cooperate, summer is indeed coming to the Colorado Rockies – and with it, tons of recreational diversions for all to enjoy.

Purgatory Resort plans to open Saturday and Sunday for skiing to allow powder hounds to enjoy the fresh snow the area is expected to receive through Thursday.

Snow is expected to be followed by sunny skies Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.

While you may not want to commit to the full ski bum lifestyle, plan your course schedule correctly and the student life can still accommodate plenty of slope time, especially if there’s a mountain resort nearby. While some just want to head to the mountains for spring break, living within easy reach of a resort means you can take full advantage of the many college-age season passes out there.

With a boffo snow year all across the nation, the multi-resort season passes earned their keep in 2018-2019 as skiers and riders hop-scotched around. Now, those same passes are up for sale for next season.

Spring skiing: when we wear fewer layers, swap goggles for sunglasses and don’t put on enough sunscreen. Strong storms in February and early March this year buried central and southern Colorado in many feet of snow, leading some resorts to extend their seasons and setting spring up for epic conditions.

First it was Tahoe, where a record-breaking February prompted most resorts to extend their seasons deeper into the spring. Now it's March, and it's Colorado's turn.

Industry statistics say that one quarter of parents who head to the hills in the winter do so with snowboards – and they want their children to learn to ride so they can enjoy the slopes in similar fashion.

Upgrades abound for a quartet of Colorado ski and snowboard resorts that swing open their doors in mid-November, as the new season gets into full-bore boogie mode for the 2018-2019 season.

Fall and the first tastes of winter continue to duke it out across North America. With occasional bursts of cold and spurts of snow continuing in this week’s forecast, it’s a reminder that winter, truly, is not far away.

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.

A staple on the activity slate at many ski and snowboard resorts in the Rocky Mountains is the fast-chargin’, whip-turnin’ mountain coaster.

The world’s longest gondola and an expansion of terrain in the order of 2,000 percent highlight a multi-year proposal for what has been the smallest ski and snowboard mountain in Utah.