BANNER ELK, N.C. (AP) — Two out of North Carolina’s half-dozen ski resorts are open for business and fun after an early snow hit parts of the state’s mountains.

Sugar Mountain Resort and Cataloochee Ski Area opened Sunday for their winter season Sunday.

Sugar Mountain says it opened because this weekend’s Arctic blast dropped more than eight inches of snow in parts of the Appalachian Mountains in western North Carolina. The resort also made snow through the weekend as temperatures in the high country dropped well below the freezing mark.

Cataloochee says it has a snow base of about 2 feet deep. It has five slopes and two chairlifts operating.

Four other North Carolina ski areas plan to open in the next few weeks.

Vermont’s Killington Resort is opening Tuesday for the season.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.