A recent storm dropped 5 inches of snow on the the slopes at Ski Santa Fe and reminded everyone that Mother Nature isn’t mean all the time. Last year’s season was one of the worst ever for parts of the Southwest, so, the early snow is hoped to be a harpinger of storms to come.

In 2005-06 Ski New Mexico, a trade organization, counted only 416,617 skier day visits to New Mexico resorts, a drop of 56 percent from the previous season’s 954,181 visits. You can bet this is one place resorts and ski shop owners take the "pray for snow mantra" seriously.

What is boosting everyone’s spirits is that, traditionally, when New Mexico gets early snow everyone is counting on skiing by Thanksgiving. So, with El Nino rolling in off the Pacific, be sure to add New Mexico ski resorts to your search for this year’s ski vacation destination.