MAGGIE VALLEY — Opening day. Those two words can make just about any avid skier or snowboarder go crazy — not to mention skip work or school.

So it's no surprise that several people were playing hooky Wednesday as Cataloochee Ski Area celebrated the first day of its 52nd season — and the second earliest opening in its history. The little mountain has been around since 1961, but it seemed to become new that morning to the small but passionate crowd gathered in its lodge. As they zipped up their coats, snapped their bindings and pulled on their gloves, nearly everyone was smiling wide.

Leah Reasor was probably reading the minds of many when she gushed, "I'm just like a little girl."

It wasn't even 9 a.m., and her family of six had already spent two hours driving from their home in Oak Ridge, ...