SILVERTON, Colo. — Rocky Mountain first-chair bragging rights were claimed Sunday when the folks at Silverton Mountain fired up the old double seater to allow their team of pow-hungry patrollers a shot at the upper mountain’s freshly accumulated snow.

In a press release sent to TGR Monday, Silverton co-owner Jenn Brill heralded the first (powder) shots fired of the 2017/18 winter season with some “very eager” mountain operations personnel firing up their iconic chairlift to harvest the goods.

“Winter is here with fresh snow today at Silverton Mountain!” Brill wrote in the release. “The most recent low pressure system dropped enough snow on the slopes for some very eager Silverton Mountain ski and snowboard patrollers to get the first turns of the season. The patrollers could not resist the opportunity … to make some turns on the upper mountain as they celebrated the start of the season.”

As the highest ski area in North America at 13,487 feet, the infamous mountain is no stranger to high-elevation early season snow, with their team often posting early autumnal turns that make the rest of us salivate in anticipation.

“The base is still building and coverage a little spotty,” Brill continued, “but the fun factor was off the charts as the first lift-served turns of the Colorado 2017/18 ski season were made today.”

Silverton’s opening is scheduled for some time in December, but Brill promises that if the conditions are right, the ski area may open well before that time.

“If the snow keeps up at this pace, that date could be pushed up,” she wrote. “THIS IS NOT A JOKE — the photos are real!”