"No, not really at all," Braddy said.
The ski area has sat empty, thanks to a long snow diet, that Mike Scibel says without customers, "It's been really quiet."
Then just before Christmas, with enough people hoping, "[A] Christmas miracle happened and we're open," Braddy said.
After getting just enough snow from a recent storm, the season was a go, with trails opening up thanks, Bob Casey says, to flakes finally falling.
"Just a few trails, 80 percent is what they're calling," Casey said.
The late start may have taken a toll, but soon skiers will return and Casey said, "We will be glad to see that parking lot full."
Coming just before Christmas, it might seem satirical, but most around here will say, "It's a blessing, a miracle," Scibel said.
Just take Braddy and his team able now to move that precious pow-pow.
"We're ready to start rocking and rolling now," Braddy said.
He's happy to be back to work and just before the big holiday show, "get everyone and their family up here to enjoy the snow," Braddy said.
Ski Cooper doesn't have snow-making operations - so when they opened, they opened big with 80 percent of the mountain open.
(KUSA-TV © 2011 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)