Winter arrived with a wallop over the weekend, with more than a foot of snow falling on the North Shore's mountains.
Beginning with a light dusting Friday, and increasing into heavier flurries over the following four days, the white stuff quickly capped Cypress Bowl, Mount Seymour and Grouse Mountain, putting a decisive end to the weeks of rain that followed the region's unusually dry summer.
By Tuesday morning, Grouse had received a 41 centimetres, and it continued to snow for much of the day.
"We're optimistic," said Sarah Lusk, a spokeswoman for the resort.
"We're taking bets on when we think (the beginning of ski season) will be. Everyone's excited here."
While it's a good start, the resort's ski slopes won't open until it has a solid 60-centimetre base, she cautioned, something that doesn't generally happen until mid-to-late November.
The weekend's snow came just four days earlier than last year's first snowfall, and was well within the range of a typical year, she said.
"All things considered, it's not out of the ordinary."
The past two years have been unusually snowy for the North Shore's ski resorts. Cypress Mountain, helped by snowmaking equipment, had its earliest opening ever in 2011, and all three mountains had deep bases well into the spring.
On Tuesday afternoon, Environment Canada was calling for continued low temperatures and periods of precipitation for much of the week.
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