Maine's two largest ski resorts have a jump on the competition this year by opening before everybody else in New England with the exception of Bretton Woods in New Hampshire. Mother Nature did not share her bounty in time for the Thanksgiving holiday, but as Susan Sharon reports, the big guage for success in Maine's 350-million dollar ski industry is how Christmas and February vacations go...so there's still plenty of time for a comeback.

First the bad news. This is the first time in about 21 years that the Sunday River Ski Resort in Newry hasn't had the bottom of the mountain open on Thanksgiving Day.

The good news is that hasn't stopped die-hard ski afficienados from strapping on their skis in the mud, climbing on the chairlift and heading up the mountain for some action.

David Baum of Wellsley, Massachusetts says it's either that or stay at home. This is the earliest that Baum and his wife and two young children have come sking. He says they're trying to make the most of their season passes...a season he's hoping will stretch from November to April. Despite the mud and drizzle at the bottom, the summit was not unlike the Arctic: refridgerator-like and blustery and so difficult to catch your breath that even ski lift operators' thoughts were elsewhere.

"70 and sunny...70 and sunny," said one operator helping skiers on and off the chair.

Last year at this time Sunday River had 60 trails open. This Thanksgiving weekend it had only four. But Christmas vacation and February break are always bigger draws for skiers, so there's plenty of time to catch up. Plus, to work in the ski industry for any length of time, it helps to be an eternal optimist, like Bill Brown. Brown is in charge of snowmaking and energy management on the mountain.

About the recent weather, Brown says, "It's frustrating. Is it really stressful? After you've done it for 21 years you kind of go: ' Well, it's gonna get cold at some point and we're gonna go.' And it looks like it's going to get progressively colder all week and we expect to have the snowmaking system running at its maximum production capacity by the end of the week."

Greg Sweetser of the Ski Maine Association says most of Maine's large and small ski areas should be open by the middle of December and firing up their snowguns even sooner. He says ticket prices to most ski areas have remained stable. Expect to pay about 75 dollars a day at the bigger resorts on the weekends. But there are a range of promotions and specials to try to lure skiers to the slopes...including the Ski Maine statewide passes that have already sold out. The pass is good for one trip to each of Maine's 18 ski areas.

"This year, we sold out a bit earlier than we typically do," Sweetser says. "One reason is we do have a limited number of these passes available so we have a pretty high return customer that comes back year after year...and I think people are becoming interested in looking at what else Maine has to offer for ski areas."

Maine and New England have had two back-to-back seasons of heavy snowfall. And despite the lackluster economy Sweeter says last winter Maine only saw skier visits fall slightly from the year before. Snow is still considered the most important ingredient for a successful season...which is why ski resorts are reshaping themselves to become year-round destinations...offering golf, bicycling, wedding packages and other activities to a broader clientele. At Bretton Woods and Wildcat in New Hampshire, for example, there's even a year-round zipline canopy tour. Picture yourself in a harness attached to a cable system that glides you between the tops of trees. Karl Stone is with Ski New Hampshire.

"I want to say it's about ten ziplines you do. You're up about 250 feet in the trees...I haven't done it first-hand but everything anybody's told me is it's pretty cool."

"Pretty cool" is exactly what ski operators around New England hope to be saying in the next few days as they fire up their snow machines and look to Mother Nature to do the rest.