Even though at first, considering the economic crisis, there were some fears about the public’s interest in winter sports, Northstar, the Lake Tahoe ski resort, was filled with enthusiastic tourists looking to have a good time.

"We didn't know whether people were going to come skiing because of the economy," said Jessica VanPernis, spokeswoman for Northstar. "But snow trumped everything. And skiers came! It's a great way to open the new year," she added.

The snowfall aded as much as 8 inches over the weekend, which attracted numerous skiers, snow borders and sled enthusiasts to all of the area’s ski resorts.

Heavenly is another extremely popular direction for tourists. It stands at 4,800 acres, being California’s largest ski resort. It follows the Nevada-California border at the south end of Lake Tahoe, allowing skiers to choose routes either in Nevada or California (or both in the same day).

The resorts in the area provide all sorts of services, from restaurants and cinemas, to casinos and hotels.

For now it is not yet clear whether the excelent conditions will be kept over the following week, with meteorologists anouncing a slight chance of rain for tomorrow, with lows in the 40s and highs in the mid 50s. Tuesday will look very much the same with lows in the low 40s and highs in the upper 50s, while Wednesday’s cloudy sky will bring a high of 60 and a low of about 40. The extended forecast notes that Thursday, Friday and Saturday will keep Wednesday’s figures.