{gallery}12_22_09/sleepinggiant{/gallery}Tanner Hall, a 4-year-old from Cody, gets ski lessons from Erika Ivanoff at the Sleeping Giant grand opening Saturday. Tribune photo by Kara Bacon Park County skiers celebrate opening weekend at Sleeping Giant The long-awaited grand opening at Sleeping Giant Ski Area brought some 300 people to the North Fork area on Saturday.“It was great,” said executive director Ham Bryan. “Gosh, it was a cast of hundreds ... The (skiing) Santas were a big hit. It was pretty funny watching Santa ride the magic carpet, and the torchlight parade was awesome.”

But the highlight for many was the ribbon cutting, because the mid-afternoon ceremony brought just what everyone had been hoping for: Snow.

According to Bryan, it snowed on and off through the afternoon and evening, and “when I drove up this morning (Monday) it was snowing. It snowed a bit yesterday, and according to weather reports, we're expecting snow off and on for the next several days.”

Around 200 people purchased lift tickets on Saturday, with pass holders and non-skiing spectators rounding out the crowd.

“We, of course, would have liked more snow,” Bryan added. “We'd like to have a little more snow so we could open the new lift.”

Monday morning again saw hustle and bustle at Sleeping Giant as 70 school children from Burlington and Meeteetse traveled to the mountain for a day of skiing and snowboarding.

“Eighty to 90 percent of them needed rentals, so it was pretty hectic up here,” Bryan said.

Sleeping Giant will be closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but will be open every day from Dec. 26-Jan. 4.