Thompsonville, MI (Sunday, November 20, 2005) - Thanks to close to two feet of snow that Mother Nature has dumped on Crystal Mountain since Wednesday, and the fact that Crystal's snowguns have been operating at full bore since Wednesday night, Crystal Mountain will open for skiing and snowboarding on Thanksgiving Day.

Michigan's Crystal Mountain will open for the 2005-2006 season on Thursday, Nov. 24, with at least eight slopes and four lifts in operation. Lifts will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, Nov. 27, and then close midweek for snowmaking. In addition, Crystal will open up 4K of the resort's cross-country trails.

"A Thanksgiving Day opening is always the target for most ski areas, however realistically it has happened [at Crystal Mountain] about 50 percent of the time in the last ten years," said Joan O'Neill, the resort's communications manager. "That's what makes this year all the more exciting. The recent lake-effect snow that has fallen at Crystal Mountain has provided the jump start that the season needed -- needless to say, there's a severe bounce in our step."