If you look at all that's new on the slopes for the coming season, you'd never know that there's been a recession that was supposed to hurt the ski industry. Take a peek and start salivating. Snow season is just a cold snap away. This week we'll look at Vermont and one area in New York with big news, next week we'll check out New Hampshire and Maine.

Ascutney Mountain Resort (800-243-0011; ascutney.com) in Brownsville, Vt. has affiliated with the Holiday Inn Club to market their mountain as a vacation destination. Last year, Ascutney received town approval for its master development plan and big changes are in store for the future.

Bolton Valley (877-9BOLTON, boltonvalley.com) in Bolton, Vt. is extending snowmaking on the popular Cobrass trail that connects the main mountain with the Timberline area. And, it is retrofitting snow guns to improve efficiency. Making more snow with less energy is good.

Bromley Mountain (800-865-4786; bromley.com) in Peru, Vt., has completed a two-year, $1.1 million upgrade to its snowmaking system, which has increased capacity by 30 percent.

Jay Peak (800-451-4449; jaypeakresort.com) in Jay, Vt. will re-open the Tram Haus

Lodge in February. It will have 57 units, studios, and one- and two-bedroom suites, plus a new restaurant and bar (with actual windows and a view of the slopes), as well as a rental, repair and demo center.

Killington (800-621-6867; killington.com) in Killington, Vt. has more and better snowmaking in store for the season - as if it couldn't blow more snow than anyone else already.

Mad River Glen (802-496-3551; madriverglen.com) in Fayston, Vt. hasn't changed anything, which is exactly the way it should be. The "new" single chair (now several years old) looks exactly like the "old" single chair and is still the best chairlift ride in the world.

Magic Mountain (802-824-5645; magicmtn.com) in Londonderry, Vt. is attempting to follow Mad River Glen's successful model by going co-op. If you've always wanted to own a piece of your favorite ski area, you can at Magic. But it isn't sitting around either. This season it's repaired and upgraded the snowmaking for more efficiency and added more open terrain for prime tree skiing.

Middlebury Snow Bowl (802-388-4356; middlebury.edu/campuslife/facilities/snowbowl) in Hancock, Vt. is in the middle of replacing its 40-year-old Worth Mount double chair with a Doppelmayr/CTEC fixed-grip triple. If you've never explored the Snow Bowl, this is obviously the year to do it.

Mount Snow (800 245-7669, mountsnow.com) in Dover, Vt. was the first resort in the state to turn its lifts this season. It's upgraded the grooming fleet and made improvements to its already awesome snowmaking system. It's also taken the already legendary Carinthia snow park to the next level.

Okemo Mountain Resort, (800-786-5366; okemo.com) in Ludlow, Vt., has pumped up its snowmaking and grooming this winter with the addition of a second Prinoth BR500 grooming machine, affectionately referred to as "The Beast," which sports a 24-foot-wide tiller and a 20-foot-wide blade. It's also reconfigured the snowmaking system to enhanced resurfacing response time.

Pico (866-667-7426; picomountain.com) in Rutland, Vt. has also upgraded snowmaking with particular emphasis on Upper Pike, which completes years of improvements on this signature trail.

Smugglers Notch (800-451-8752; smuggs.com) in Jeffersonville, Vt. has extended the expert Full Nelson trail from above mid-point to the base on Sterling Mountain, which now has 12 expert trails on a supposedly "intermediate" mountain.

Stowe Mountain Resort (800-253-4754; stowe.com) in Stowe, Vt. took a bit of a breather this summer after completely revamping the entire Spruce Mountain area with new lifts, trails, snowmaking, base lodge and the most amazing luxury hotel at any ski resort in New England. They deserve the rest. (next page »)