The hills are alive with the sound of schussing

Monday, Nov. 20, 2000 | 4:56 a.m.

The Sierra ski season is in full swing with a little help from Mother Nature and a lot of backup from snow-making machines. With a few exceptions, the mountains are open around Lake Tahoe in time for the traditional Thanksgiving weekend kickoff with generally white slopes.

"We're glad that there is snow up there this weekend, but we want more," 15-year-old Michael Warm said as he headed for the slopes at Heavenly Ski Resort in South Lake Tahoe, Calif. "We'll take what we can get, but one more storm would be nice."

Josh Billingsley, who drove up from Bakersfield, Calif., was less judgmental. There was plenty of snow on the jumps, and that was all that mattered, he told the Tahoe Daily Tribune.

Skiers at Heavenly found 17 groomed and packed runs with a snow base of 12-36 inches on the upper California and Nevada sides.

"As of yesterday, we had made snow for 17 days straight, and that's a record for November," spokeswoman Kristen Aggers said Sunday. "We're very happy with the crowd, everyone seems to be happy with the conditions, and we're looking forward to a great season," she said.

About 2,500 skiers showed up Saturday for Kirkwood's opening weekend.

Seven lifts and 21 trails were open, and machines were augmenting the natural snowfall for a total 16-40 inches on groomed runs and trails.

"We're off to a great start with phenomenal coverage for this early in the year. It won't be long until we're fully operational," marketing representative Nicole Belt said.

About 75 percent of Kirkwood's open terrain park was available this weekend.

Clear skies and mild temperatures greeted skiers at Northstar's opening with about 1,000 hitting the slopes on Saturday, according to Maggie Adams, marketing representative.

Eight runs, four lifts, and the gondola opened this weekend with an average snow depth of 18-24 inches.

"We're getting good coverage and making snow around the clock," Adams said, adding that the resort needs about one more good snow storm to open all the runs.