The weather this week was heaven sent for the Northeast ski resorts, but it looks like heaven has already descended out west.

Some ski resorts in the Rockies already are in midseason form. Jackson Hole had close to 150 inches of snow during the month of November, and for the first time in its history, the mountain was completely open, from top to bottom, on opening day.

You can say the same for Steamboat and most of the Utah resorts, while areas around Lake Tahoe are deeper with the white stuff. Out west, they’re referring to the month as Snow-vember.

The areas from the Catskills to Vermont got off to a slow start, but this cold weather and recent snowstorm this past week got them right back on track.

Winter’s first major snowstorm has blanketed Vermont’s slopes with more snow than expected with upward of two feet in the Green Mountains and more snowfall continuing throughout the week.

Coupled with snowmaking and grooming conditions, winter’s strong start will see more ski areas opening for the weekend with trail counts on the rise throughout the state.

Windham Mountain in the Catskills is offering a Stripes and Badges Card which delivers significant savings on lift tickets to active members of the military, firefighters and police officers. They can sign up for the card by visiting the Windham Web Store at http://www.windhammountain.com.

For more information, call special tickets at (518) 734-4300 ext. 1135.

First-time skiers and snowboarders visiting Okemo Mountain Resort in Vermont through Dec. 24 can take part in a learn-to-ski or learn-to-snowboard program at no cost.

Pico Mountain has partnered with the American Cancer Society and will become Vermont’s first smoke free resort on Jan. 1.

In an effort to reward those who quit smoking, Pico Mountain will provide a complimentary one-day lift ticket or one-day Learn to Ski or Ride package to anyone who successfully completes a smoking cessation program offered at any of the 16 hospitals in the state of Vermont.

The cool toy on the market this year is goggles equipped with a GPS system.

Transcend Goggles, made by Recon Instruments, offers a built in GPS system and also provides real-time feedback to the user, including speed, latitude/longitude, altitude, vertical distance traveled, total distance traveled, chrono/stopwatch mode, a run-counter, temperature and time.

You can purchase the GPS-enabled goggles from Recon Instruments’ website http://www.reconinstruments.com. The cost is $399-$499 depending on the type of lens.