VAIL, Colorado — It has taken a while to get to the point where even a non-powder day is still a pretty good day on Vail and Beaver Creek mountains.

Skiers and snowboarders are enjoying the recent snow storms that have finally brought enough snow to the valley to cover Vail and Beaver Creek with the soft stuff. Snow lovers are hoping the crunchy days are a thing of the past.

Bruce and Susan Baird, of Littleton, have been hearing a lot more people shouting “woo-hoo” down the mountain lately. The couple isn't worried about the rest of the season — the recent snow is just the beginning, they said.

“We have high hopes,” Susan Baird said.

The slow start to the winter has given many skiers and riders a pessimistic outlook on the season, but many are changing their attitudes after more than two feet of new snow came down on Vail and Beaver Creek in the past week.

“I thought that it might be a disappointing season,” said Brendan Scanlon, 37, of East Vail. “I certainly see potential now.”

Those who have spent more than a couple of seasons in the valley, or at least coming to the valley, weren't necessarily worried by the winter's slow start. Harrison Kane, who used to live here but now lives in New York, compared the start to this season to a dry season a few years ago. “This is much better,” Kane said.

Robbie Thomas doesn't have anything to compare this season to, but he knows he's finally thankful he moved out here last October from Kansas City. He was starting to think that ice and rocks were the norm, but now he's getting a glimpse of why people love the snow here so much.

“I just have the biggest smile on my face ever,” Thomas said. “Now I'm probably never going to move anywhere else.”

Eagle-Vail resident Bradley Stieber got on the mountain for the third time this season on Wednesday. He said he hasn't been motivated because there hasn't been any snow.

“I was waiting for some powder,” Stieber said. “The beginning of the winter was just kind of drab — there were some spots showing on the mountain, and now we have some snow to play in and I'm very excited.”

Cody Barger and Brian Stanley, both from Breckenridge, rode Beaver Creek Wednesday and said they're excited to have more terrain to ride now that there's more snow. The guys aren't holding their breaths just yet, though.

Stanley said he thinks snow might come really late in the season, if at all. Barger is less optimistic, though — he's a snow plow driver and business hasn't been good.

“I just feel like it's not going to snow much this season,” Barger said.

Many skiers and riders say it's too early to worry, though. It's an El Nino year and that typically means the snow could come in large quantities toward the end of the winter and into the spring.

More snow is in the forecast this week, and besides, “it's not even March yet,” Bruce Baird said.

Community Editor Lauren Glendenning can be reached at 970-748-2983 or lglendenning@vaildaily.com.