One of the most fun events of this year's snow season will happen on Dec. 6. It's the 10th annual Santa Sunday at Sunday River in Newry, Maine, when 250 skiers and riders in Santa suits take to the slopes en-masse. My personal favorites are the Santas on Telemark gear - there's something particularly charming about watching Santa genuflect gracefully down a snowy slope.

Sunday River has been the only Northeast resort in continuous operation this season. If you haven't visited yet, Santa

Sunday is a great excuse. It's fun whether you participate, or just take your enjoyment from the spectacle of so many Santas on the slopes while you ski or ride.

Here's how it works. The first 250 folks pre-register online (sundayriver.com/Events/SantaSunday/index.html) starting this Sunday at noon, and then show up and re-register in person on Dec. 6 between 7:30 and 10:30 a.m., dressed in full Santa regalia (red suit, beard, hat with white pom-pom). In the spirit of Christmas, each Santa must then make a $10 (or more, hopefully a lot more!) donation to the Bethel Rotary Club's fund that provides gifts for needy children. For that, the Santas get a free lift ticket.

That ticket is good only until 11 a.m. At that hour, all sliding Santas must show up for a group photograph and a photo-op mass Santa start on the Broadway Trail at the South Ridge base. All the sliding Santas then get a lift ticket good for the rest of that day and two additional lift tickets valid through Dec. 18. Surely Santa can afford to give a good cause more than a measly $10 for three free lift tickets.

Remember, there are only 250 Santa slots to fill, and you must pre-register. Remember, too, that you don't have to be in Santa gear to make the charity donation. I've been to Santa Sunday a couple of times and I can tell you, if the sight of so many Santas on the slopes doesn't make you smile, you're definitely a Grinch with a heart (and, probably, underwear) that's two sizes too small.

There's snow on the slopes. What are you waiting for?

The A list: Who's open?

As I write this, it's still ridiculously warm for late November and it's not absolutely certain who is going to be open for Thanksgiving.

At the Boston Ski Show, I was talking to Chris Ellms, the Director of Ski Operations for Bretton Woods. He was telling me that a couple of nights of strong temperature inversions had let them blow tons of snow around the base of the mountain (where they've opened their learning area lift), but that it had been too warm on top to make any snow at all. Talk about strange weather.

Here's who will be open for Thanksgiving Weekend, barring something completely unforeseen.

• Bretton Woods (877-873-0626, mountwashingtonresort.com); Killington (800-621-6867, killington.com) in Vermont; and Sunday River (800-543-2SKI, sundayriver.com) in Maine.

Here's who is making snow and who might be open for Thanksgiving Weekend. As always, check the web or call ahead before you get in the car to go.

• Gore Mountain (518-251-2411, goremountain.com) in North Creek, N.Y.; Jay Peak (800-451-4449, jaypeakresort.com) in Vermont; Loon Mountain Resort (800-229-5666, loonmtn.com) in Lincoln; Okemo Mountain Resort (800-786-5366, okemo.com) in Ludlow, Vt.; Mont Tremblant (866-253-0097, tremblant.ca) in Quebec; Mount Snow (800-245-7669, mountsnow.com) in Dover, Vt.; Stowe Mountain Resort (800-253-4754, stowe.com) in Vermont; Sugarloaf (207-237-2000, sugarloaf.com) in Carrabassett Valley, Maine; and Smuggler's Notch (800-451-8752, smuggs.com) in Jeffersonville, Vt.

As it stands now, it looks like the times they are a changin'. New weather patterns should bring colder temps and the weekend of Dec. 4-6 is likely to see a whole bunch of areas start turning their lifts.

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