At Boreal Mountain in Soda Springs, warm temperatures and a lack of early-season storms forced crews to rely heavily on snowmaking just to get their first runs open.

"To be honest with you, the last seven years I've been here, I've never seen this dirt. I've never seen these rocks," said Jackson Price, who was visiting from Auburn. "It's been straight snow through the pasture."

To keep the season launch alive, Boreal has been running snow machines nonstop.

"We've probably used 500 gallons of snow to put the product we have up on the hill," said Tucker Norred, Boreal's marketing director. "It's just been a waiting game with temperatures. We blew as much snow as we could to make sure we could open safely for our guests."

Despite the thin coverage, riders, both first-timers and longtime regulars, are still finding ways to enjoy the holiday weekend.

"I feel really grateful that I'm able to do this," said first-time snowboarder Elsie Lee. "This is my first time going snowboarding."

Veteran snowboarders say they'll be out there no matter what.

"We still got snow on the ground. We're out to ride, hopefully conditions get better, but we're going to be out here until then," said Marcus Hampshire.

Boreal says they're optimistic that conditions will improve heading into the Christmas holiday.