At long last, the day local ski enthusiasts thought may never arrive is only a day away.

Blue Mountain Resort in Palmerton plans to open at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to marketing specialist Melissa Yingling.As part of its opening, Yingling said the resort will also be giving away lift tickets, prize packs, and swag at 8:15 a.m. Wednesday through its social media channels, with a live broadcast on Facebook, and encouraged guests to follow the resort on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter to participate.On opening day, the resort will offer reduced ticket prices, available for purchase at ticket windows only.Yingling said the resort has been working around the clock to get trails ready, and noted it will open much earlier than it did last year, when it wasn't open fully until January."This is actually normal for us," Yingling said. "We're right on par with what we consider normal, so we're excited about it, we're exited to be opening when we were hoping to open, and with the holiday season, so it feels great."Yingling said limited trails will be available as the snowmakers continue to blow snow and groom trails to get ready for the holiday season."We have been blowing snow steadily since last Thursday, and we are ready to open with seven trails Wednesday, and also four lifts available," she said. "We're going to kick up our snow-making so we can continue to work on opening more trails and get closer to a full opening."The Easy Out, Vista, Midway, Come Around, Summit School Hill, Upper Main Street and Lower Main Street trails will be available, as will the Vista, Main Street, Burma and Summit School Hill Conveyor lifts.The resort is open for the season from 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays, and 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends/holidays.Other services and departments that will be operating include the Summit Rental Shop, Ski Check, and Guest Services, Slopeside Pub & Grill, Summit Café, Last Run Lounge and True Blue Mountain Sports Store in both the Summit and Valley.Child care will be available this Saturday and Sunday, before closing again until after Christmas.The Valley parking lot will be open for True Blue customers only. There will be no ski or shuttle access from the Valley.Beginning Saturday, explorer, beginner, and private lessons will be available in the Summit Lodge.For more information on the resort operations,visit

www.skibluemt.com.