BOONE, Iowa — Seven Oaks welcomed a huge crowd on the first day of their winter snowboarding and skiing season.

The opening of the park depends on the weather and Joel Bryan, Seven Oakes Owner, says they were fortunate enough to have great weather to work with this year. Seven Oakes is also excited to open this year with new equipment and expanded opportunities for visitors.

Seven Oaks invested in new snow machines this year and had around 24 machines running nonstop beginning Monday to get the park ready. An estimated 1,500 pounds of water per minute was pumped into the machines to create the snow-covered slopes people enjoyed today.

The park was able to open several terrains ahead of schedule including the blue slope, the green slope, a mini park setup, and a beginner’s learning area where they teach free lessons.

“It’s a little chilly today and so we thought we’d have a slow start, and we were wrong,” said Bryan. “There’s a lot of people coming out.”

Joel was worried that the colder than usual temperatures would steer people away from coming out for the opening, but those worries were quickly dashed. Not only has the cold not stopped people, many are relishing it.

Erik Anderson was on the first chair that went up today and has been skiing since he was in fourth grade. He wasn’t sure when the season would start due to weather and was surprised with a great day on the slopes Saturday.

“I think it’s great, they opened up really quickly,” said Anderson. “We haven’t had great temperatures to start skiing but once they got the temperatures, they were open quick.”

Anderson wasn’t the only one who came out to give the slopes a whirl on opening day.

Evan Nelson started skiing a few years ago and was on the second chair that went up today, he said it’s surprising chilly out but that’s just adds to the experience.

“When you’re skiing down the hill and you don’t have your ski mask up on you face it really hurts your face, when it hit you, all the ice pellets,” said Nelson.

It’s only the first weekend but the forecast and the outstanding first day have Joel excited for the rest of the season.

“They’re really showing normal temperatures for Iowa through at least the month of December,” said Bryan. “A couple of shots of cold weather, a couple of shots of snow coming in with some clippers. And so, we’re just really excited to have a great season.”

Check out the Seven Oakes website to see their hours and get updates on changes.