Pre-Winter Storm Dumps Plenty Of Snow In Mountain Areas

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com)  —  A pre-winter storm dumped plenty of snow in the mountain communities.

CBS2's Tom Wait reported from Wrightwood where he said the sound of snowplows was sweet music to the ears of the people who live and work there.

"It was a constant snowfall," said Shelly Howard.

The early snow has everyone in the ski and snowboard area in high spirits.

"My kids can't wait. They're both ski instructors, so they're just waiting for the mountain to open back up, I think, on Sunday," said Howard.

The snow started coming down early in the morning and kept coming.

Mountain High, which barely opened about two weeks ago before closing, will likely reopen this weekend.

"It's great. We're really excited. This is the first real snowstorm of the season; it's brought 6-8 inches, and we're expecting it to continue like this," Mountain High's Kim Hermon said.

More snow is expected and that could mean more business for many stores in the zone.

"We're hoping it will bring visitors. It will bring business into the store," said Mike Livreri.

KCAL9's Crystal Cruz picked up the Wrightwood story Friday night and the anticipation for a slope-pack weekend remained high.

"Long awaited but everybody is really excited seems like we're behind this year but anything worth having us worth waiting for," said Mountain High's Cappy Probert.

Mountain High employees are working through the night in anticipation of opening Sunday.

"As you can see, we got quite a bit of snow today probably in excess of 9 inches which was more than what we expected and its still snowing a little bit," Probert said.

The last couple of winters have been brutal for businesses in the Wrightwood area because of lackluster winters.

Grizzley Cafe owner Leo Hordyke needs 2015 to be nice and snowy.

"We usually get a 15-20 percent spike in sales when it snows," Hordyke says.

The more snow, the more skiers and snowboarders visit the area.

The shop manager would like the store just as packed this wkend with people and their wallets.

"Wwe're hoping for snow and praying for snow and it looks like we might actually get some this year so we're stoked and conditions are looking good right now," said Mountain Outhouse owner Brent Beeson.

CBS2's Randy Paige, meanwhile, found freezing conditions along the Grapevine, and plenty of snow beginning to accumulate.

The road leading to Mt. Pinos was closed due to snow.

Residents weren't complaining, especially kids.

Eighth-grader Sirena Crummer spent the day throwing snowballs on what would have normally been a school day.

A snow day was called.

"I was happy, but I didn't believe there was snow because it was just raining at first. But I'm really glad that it's snowing," Crummer said.

Crummer grew up in Hawaii, so today marked only the second time she's seen or felt snow.

"I like it, but it's cold," Crummer said