With recent storms covering the pine tree state in snow, ski areas are seeing a strong start to their season this weekend.

Due to the weather, Pleasant Mountain in the Bridgton area has seen people hitting the mountains much earlier than expected, with their snow machines kept running several hours a day leading to their opening day yesterday.

“This is the earliest open, top to bottom, we have ever had in history,” Rachel Wilkinson, Director of Skier Experience for Pleasant Mountain told CBS 13. “The new snow and the cold temps have lined up perfectly for us”.

Lost Valley in Auburn also opened up their skiing season yesterday, with Marketing and General Manager Travis Dow saying how early they opened this year was unexpected.

“A little bit before Thanksgiving, it was not looking like we were going to reach this date, ” Travis said.

This is in contrast with last year’s season, which got off to a much slower start. “We actually didn’t get up and running until December 20,” said Wilkinson.

Other ski areas, such as Sugarloaf, Sunday River, and Saddleback had opened prior to this weekend.

To read the original CBS 13 article, click here.