EUREKA, Mo. – Hidden Valley Ski Resort opened before Christmas this season thanks to cold temperatures, and they had some help from Mother Nature in January. Despite the milder weather as of late, things continue to look promising as we head into a new month.

General Manager DJ Koch said they opened almost a full month earlier than last winter.

“Things have been tremendous,” Koch said. “We’ve already been open this season as long as we were open for the whole season last year…But thanks to Mother Nature, thanks to bringing us cold and building this base up, we’re able to ski well into the next month or so.”

The weather helped build their base of snow up to about 36 inches on average.

“Some places are higher where we’ve been storing snow for when it gets rainy and warm like it’s been this week,” he said.

The warmer temperatures make the snow ideal for beginners as well.

“It won’t get hard packed really. It’s soft hero snow we call it so you can really make those turns and carve into it today,” Koch added.

Which is perfect for first-time skier Lukas Duffy.

“Some of the workers were saying how it’s sort of slushy, so it’s much easier to get some practice in,” Lukas said.

Even though the conditions may not be perfect, skiers were out having a great time.

“It’s really nice not having to wear snow pants right now,” Jakob Duffy, visiting from Fairview Heights, Illinois, said.

“I know it’s fun. Everyone loves it. It’s a good hobby to have,” first-time skier Connor Summer, of O’Fallon, Missouri, said.

“I’m excited to go down the black diamond. I might do a couple tricks. You know, go like this. Something like that. We’ll see what happens,” Alejandro Lara of O’Fallon, Missouri, said.

When they have some more snowmaking temperatures, which is typically around 25 degrees, they’ll fire up the snow guns to refresh. Even though this weekend may feel more like spring training baseball weather than skiing, Koch expects a big turnout.

“I’m sure we’ll see some people in shorts or Hawaiian shirts or short sleeves, but we will still be open even with temperatures rising up into the 60s,” Koch said.