Vail opened late this week, with one run and one lift. But the dirty little white secret is that the mountain is primed to go off.

With a ton of snow up high, it’s obvious that the powers that be are waiting for one more storm to pop the ropes on the entire front side.

When you look for snow, you’re pretty sure to find it and that was the case during an exploratory mission in the Chair 11 area. While it remains thin for rock drops (yeah, two footers don’t count), the snow is soft and the turns sweet.

Freeskier Photographer Jeff Cricco dragged along a doubtful editor at large, Tom Winter to prove that yes, even though this may be the driest November on record, the skiing is still damn good.

Don’t believe us? Photos never lie.

Thanks to Jeff Cricco for all the shots!