By Adam Gorlick
The Associated Press

CHARLEMONT, Mass. - As New Englanders grumbled about extracting cars and driveways from mounds of snow, at least one group had reason to enjoy the fallout from a Christmas storm.

After an almost snowless winter last year, skiers, snowboarders and resort operators are reveling in the powdery good fortune dumped on them by the Christmas nor'easter.

"I spent the first four hours of the day moving the snow around with my tractor," Steve Bushway said Thursday as he prepared to take to the slopes of the Berkshire East Ski Resort. "Now I'm going to have fun in it."

About 18 inches of snow blanketed Berkshire East's 44 trails, and all but two were open.

"Last year was a disaster," said Roy Schaefer, the resort's general manager. "This year is just the opposite. We're getting the best of both worlds now - cold weather and snow."

Given the area's poor skiing last year, Chris McKenna, 16, was skeptical about enjoying this year's season on the slopes.

But the teenager's trip to Charlemont on Thursday wasn't a wasted one.

"It's been a great day so far," he said after about three hours on the trails. "We were planning to come up ... no matter what, but last night's snow really made it worthwhile. We got pretty excited to see the storm."

At Jiminy Peak Ski Resort in Hancock, business has doubled compared to the same time last year, said Sally Johnstone, director of sales and marketing.

The resort averages 240,000 skiers a year, but that number was down about 40,000 last year, Ms. Johnstone said.

"The really passionate skiers were pulling in here with their four-wheel drives at 8 a.m.," she said. "This is going to be a very busy weekend. Every ski area in the Northeast should be doing really well this year."

In Vermont, some were concerned about how good conditions would be after an unseasonable rain last weekend. But Wednesday's storm changed the landscape.

"The whole state looks great," said William Stenger, president of Jay Peak near the Canadian border and president of the Vermont Ski Areas Association.

"I think the majority of the mountains in the state are over 90 percent open, if not 100 percent," he said. "It's probably the most and the best we've had (at Christmas) in 10 to 12 years."

Rhode Island's only ski area, which received just an inch of snow along with sleet and rain, wasn't as lucky.

"It's a little slow today," said Pati de Wardener, general manager of Yawgoo Valley in Exeter.

But she's not losing hope that business will snowball this winter. Ms. de Wardener said nighttime temperatures should be cold enough to continue artificial snowmaking.