Heavenly Mountain Resort is open for business.

"Maybe your birthday. Maybe Christmas. Those days you're super excited for? Opening day is that day for me," said Cole Zimmerman with the resort.

Not only is the resort excited, but the skiers and snowboarders are also. One rider says it's a great place to meet new people.

"Everyone comes here, so it's easy to meet friends and family and stuff," said Lillian Aguilar.

Heavenly was originally planned to open on November 21st, but Mother Nature arrived fashionably late over the weekend.

"We got some really good cold temperatures, which is really what we value so we can make snow," Zimmerman said. "We also got about 20 inches of snow up here at the top."

Returning skiers and first-timers took to the hill today. Aguilar says she's been shredding at Heavenly for four years.

"I've always wanted to come," she said, "so as soon as I had my adult money, it was time to spend it properly."

One skier says his family is visiting the Golden State from Florida, and they wanted to try something new.

"We went to Death Valley, and we're going to Redwoods [National Park] tomorrow. We had a spare day, so we decided to do it skiing," said Ali.

For one skier, going to Heavenly is a no-brainer.

"I literally just live down the street from Heavenly. So, it's the best one and easiest one," said Zack O'Neill.

O'Neill says the snow's okay now, but you'll have to wait for later in the season for powder.

"You get some fresh snow for sure. It needs, like, probably like 10 more feet to be good," he said.

He says the best part of skiing is "sending big jumps, sick tricks, shredding nar, getting some powder, you know?"

Aguilar, on the other hand, says she prefers a clean ride.

"I just take it easy," she said. "I'm too old for that."

As for newbies, they just want to avoid hurting themselves.

"If I'm going to fall," Ali said, "I want to fall safely because I don't want to break anything before we start hiking tomorrow."

Heavenly has a lot of events scheduled as part of its 70th anniversary season. You can find more about them here.