Arizona Snowbowl safely kicks off its opening day

Ski season is back at Arizona Snowbowl

Thanks to the pandemic, Arizona Snowbowl had to shut down early. Now, the resort is back open, but with safeguards in place.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - It's time to hit the slopes again in Arizona. Snowbowl is back open after last season was cut short because of the coronavirus.

Outdoor enthusiasts rushed to the resort near Flagstaff to make up for lost time.

On Nov. 20, it was a beautiful blue-bird day on the west slope of Mount Humphrey's. The weather, somewhere between warm and cool, but definitely the hot spot to be.

"There's so much hype about opening day."

Skies and snowboarders dot the mountainside in all shapes and sizes. Some draped in full ski gear, and others wearing shorts. One guy looked like he left home in his patriotic pajamas.

The snow patrol handled a minor scrape or two. And in the meantime, five-year-old Kennedy is getting pretty good at this snowboarding thing.

Just ask her.

"I've been practicing so that I can get good at it. I'm really good."

The mountain got about a foot of snow a couple of weeks ago. The rest of the 18-inch base is man-made.

As for COVID-19, it's impacting life even at high altitudes.

Safeguards are in place at Arizona Snowbowl like limited life tickets for extra elbow room. Masks are required in tight quarters.

And eating outdoors is highly recommended, along with filling up on fresh air and descending down the mountain, feeling like you can fly.

"Yeah, I thought it would be a little [icier] because of how hot is it but it's pretty good snow. I haven't been slipping on the skis at all," said a skier, Cayden Slade.

"It looks like it would be really busy out there but it's pretty empty, there's a lot of room to do a lot of stuff," said skier, Wyatt Martineau.

Until mother nature does more heavy lifting around here, the snowmaking team will be hard at work, magically making the mountain white.

And then a new high-speed chair lift will take skiers and snowboarders to new heights.

But for now, this one slope on this opening day feels fine.

Snowbowl is already sold out for this Saturday. They are urging people to visit on the weekdays instead of weekends, as well as buying your tickets online to beat the crowds.