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DURANGO — Ski resorts in Southern Colorado are welcoming the recent snowfall with open arms. It’s a far different scenario than what they dealt with last season.

Due to warm weather and a drought, many ski areas had the worst seasons on record last year.

“Last season was abysmal,” explained Greg Ralph with Purgatory Resort. “It was the lowest snowfall we had seen in 40 years”.

Last season Purgatory only received 140” — normally it gets closer to 300”.

Wolf Creek usually gets 430” each season — last season it recorded only 187”. Thanks to some recent early season snow storms, Wolf Creek is slated to open this weekend.

Telluride Ski Resort is set to open on November 22. Last season it didn’t open until December 7.

Silverton is looking at a November 24 opening date.

It’s all good news thanks to the moisture Southern Colorado has been receiving.

“We kicked back in to some moisture pattern in the last week or so. We’ve had good early season snowfall. So we’re all positive. We’re optimists looking forward to another great season!” Ralph said.