SNOWSHOE, W.Va.—- Ski season in the mountain state is getting ready to begin with two resorts opening Thursday morning.

WV Ski Area Association’s Joe Stevens says that the season will open early for Snowshoe and Timberline.

“They’re going to be dropping the ropes at 9 o’clock and getting the season underway,” Stevens said Tuesday on Talkline with Hoppy Kercheval.

The first snowfall of the season came last week, and Stevens said that it helped with two things.

“It did a couple of things, first off it got people thinking about winter, they stopped cutting the grass and they started getting their skis and snowboards ready, because they can see on the webcams, the snowing and the snowmaking going on at the resort, so it really amped up the anticipation of the season coming,” Stevens said. “But what it also did is it cooled off the ground.”

The snow that they received allowed the snowmakers to make the snow because the snow machines require a temperature below 28 degrees.

He says while some skiers will be from the mountain state, the majority will come from one major state.

“Well, this time of year when we’re getting into the holiday season, a lot of them with be coming from Florida,” he said. “And a lot of times it will be the first snow they’ve actually ever seen.”

However, he also mentioned that they’ll see people come in from Washington D.C., Virginia and North Carolina.

And more resorts will be opening their season later in December, with Winterplace in Raleigh County opening the 14th and Canaan Valley in Tucker County opening the 21st.

To see the most up-to-date reports on the conditions of the ski mountains and to see the snowmaking process you can visit West Virginia’s ski resort website here.