The early winter storm that dumped more than a foot of snow on the upper elevations of the Sierra Nevada the past few days has some area ski resorts moving up their starting dates.

Boreal is already up and running and Mammoth plans to open on Thursday. Mount Rose, Ski Resort, Squaw Valley USA, Heavenly and Northstar at Tahoe all plan to kick off their seasons in the next two weeks.

Opening dates announced as of Wednesday include:

Heavenly, Nov. 19

Squaw Valley USA and Northstar at Tahoe, Nov. 20

Alpine Meadows and Tahoe Donner, Dec. 10.

Mt. Shasta, Dec. 16

If it is time for you to get gear for the 2010-2011 ski and snowboard season the UNR Ski Swap is coming up this weekend. They are claiming they will have over 15,000 new and used items. See Ski Swap for more info.

Heavenly Mountain Resort opened Mott Canyon gates 4,5 and 6 today for the first time this ski season.

The storm is finally over. These new snow pictures were taken just down from the Stagecoach Lift on the Nevada side of Heavenly Mountain Resort.