12:34 PM MST on Friday, January 6, 2006

SUN VALLEY -- Sun Valley is celebrating its 70th ski season with more snow and more skiers than it’s had in years.

Gary Salzman-KTVB

Sun Valley enjoyed a very busy December.

All that rain that fell in the valley over Christmas time, turned into a goldmine for Sun Valley.

Baldy got four feet of new snow and plenty of holiday revelers taking advantage it.

When the Idaho tourism department pitches Sun Valley as a destination location - this is the kind of day it's hoping to deliver. 

"It’s a winter wonderland when it's like this and the sunshine, it's not cold, it's a winter wonderland," said Jack Sibbach, Sun Valley Resort.  "This is a great start for us and we're smiles."

From its early opening day around Thanksgiving - through New Year’s Eve, Sun Valley recorded more than 104,000 skier visits.

"So that count, at the end of December, is the best count we've had since 1994 at the end of December," said Sibbach.

On December 29th, alone, Sun Valley’s spokesman, Jack Sibbach says nearly 83,000 skiers hit the hills - the fourth highest skier total in the resort's 70 year history.

All thanks to a Christmas present from Mother Nature.

"We had an additional four inches of snow over the Christmas holidays.  All the rain you had in Boise was snow here," said Sibbach.

On the slopes it's kind of hard to tell just how much new snow fall there actually is.  For a real reality check you have to visit some of the local parking lots.  Two cars here are virtually buried by the most recent storm.

"This is more snow than we've had at this time, than I can remember since 1994,"  said Sibbach.

And those on the hill couldn't be happier.

"Today was absolutely spectacular with the sunny day and we just went out and enjoyed ourselves," said Dick Shelton, skier.

"The snow is light and fluffy, very dry very unusual for this area, the temperature is perfect you couldn't ask for better conditions." Robert Flagg, visiting from Arizona.

“You can ski on some runs you haven't been able to for years; the south slopes are even open now and skiing wonderfully.  I think with this snow they're going to continue to ski very well," said Sibbach.

That's certainly the hope since, Sun Valley’s reservations for January are up 25 percent from last year, and February is up 15 percent.

While this is shaping up to be a good ski year for Sun Valley, it has a long way to go before it ranks as the best season in its history.

That happened in 1981 when the resort had 475,000 skier visits and new snow almost all winter long.