SIOUX FALLS, S.D (KELO) — The recent snow storms have many wishing for the snow to go away.

But for people at Great Bear Ski Valley, the snow is just what they have been waiting for.

While some people do their best to stay away from the snow…

Snowboarders Luke, Taten and Matt tell me they have waited all year for the snow to arrive at Great Bear.

“I like the snow. It’s really my main thing I do in winter is just come out and snowboard and ski,” Luke Sanchez said.

The trio has been hitting the slopes every day since the park opened.

“Just being on the snow and shredding is just kind of awesome. I mean, it’s one of my favorite things to do. I love to just get out here and pretty much hit the park all day,” Taten Mooney said.

They aren’t the only ones enjoying the recent snowfalls. General Manager Dan Grider says the snowfall has helped business bounce back from last year.

“This is the first time in the 30 years that I’ve been here that we’ve opened up with 100% of our runs open. So we’re really excited about that,” Grider said.

Over 16,000 people have visited the park since it open December 26th.

“Over the six day holiday period that we were open, we saw 14,000 visits. Now we compare that to last year, the entire year, we had 39,000,” Grider said.

Grider says if the snow continues, the park could be open until mid-March. Which gives skiers and boarders lots of chances to hit the slopes.

“When there’s no school on the snow days. I mean, it’s just great to come out here and just shred the gnar all day,” Matt Steffen said.

Great Bear Ski Valley hosted it’s first ski race today.