By LAWRENCE WALSH
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette It's the kind of publicity snowsports resorts savor -- free, around-the-clock videotape of snow descending on their slopes, lifts, parking lots and roads.
And it wasn't just a few inches of snow that made the local and national newscasts last month.
Some resorts brought out their yardsticks to measure the amounts they received.
The Aspen Skiing Co. e-mailed a photo of a smiling employee standing in thigh-deep snow.
Although most of that snow has melted, it enabled some resorts at the higher elevations of the Rocky Mountains to open earlier than ever.
In fact, Colorado Ski Country USA, a trade association, said some of its 22 member resorts may open earlier than usual.
Here's a look at a quartet of Western resorts.
CALIFORNIASquaw Valley is celebrating two milestone anniversaries this season. It's been 60 years since it opened and 50 years since it hosted the Winter Olympic Games.
The resort will commemorate its hosting of the Olympics with a variety of events from Jan. 8 to 17.
It spent more than $5 million in improvements during the summer.
They include the new High Camp triple chairlift, the opening of The Arc at Gold Coast, a mid-mountain restaurant and the renovation of a second Gold Coast restaurant -- 39 degrees North Latitude -- that is scheduled to be completed in December.
The latter is in the top terminal of the 28-passenger gondola building.
Squaw Valley, 43 miles southwest of Reno, Nev., is huge -- six mountains, more than 4,000 skiable acres, 16 bowls and three terrain parks.
Its more than 170 slopes and trails are served by 33 lifts, including a cable car, gondola, four high-speed six-passenger chairlifts (a/k/a "six packs") and three high-speed quad chairlifts.
For details, go to
Squaw.com or call 1-800-545-4350 or 530-583-6985.
