"It's sending gold down,'' said Paul Bergeron, president of the Pittsburg Ridge Runners snowmobile club. "We've had over six inches, and it's still coming down steady. Now ... if only it will stay.''
Measurable snow in the Great North Woods is a welcome commodity as the weeks tick down to snowmobiling season, one of the region's largest economic drivers in the winter.
Scant snowfall early in the season last year made for less-than-stellar ski and snowmobile conditions during the critical holiday vacation.
"We've all been praying for snow; we really can't take another bad winter up here,'' Bergeron said.
By mid-afternoon yesterday, Dixville and Crawford notches had received the most snow, about 8 inches, according to the Department of Transportation, which began sending out trucks to treat the roads about 3 a.m. Gorham received 6 inches of snow, while Colebrook got 3 inches.
"We knew it was coming, so we had everything in place,'' said DOT district engineer Greg Placy. "It hit the notches all at once. It was an elevation storm. Here in Lancaster, we only got an inch.''
Steve Cloutier of Bethlehem didn't wait for too much snow to accumulate before he took it on with a shovel yesterday morning. The first snow of the season was wet and heavy. (LORNA COLQUHOUN)
The conditions made for some tricky driving early in the morning. Dozens of accidents were reported across the region, but there were no serious injuries, authorities said.
Strong wind gusts blew snow around Franconia Notch, which received 5 1/2 inches by 2:30 p.m., causing some white-out conditions at times.
Bergeron said he hopes forecasters are correct in saying temperatures are going to remain cool for the next week or two.
"We can get this packed down and get a good base,'' he said. "It just needs to stay cool.''
The mid-November snowstorm is also a boon for ski areas that typically open for the Thanksgiving holiday, which comes early this year. Ski area Web cams were pointed uphill yesterday to show skiers that it was indeed snowing at the slopes.
Among ski areas planning to open this weekend are Waterville Valley, this morning, and Attitash, tomorrow; Loon plans to open Wednesday, and Cannon is aiming at Friday. Bretton Woods opened last weekend.