SILVERTON, Colo., Dec. 27 (UPI) -- This week's winter storm that brought blizzards to the U.S. mountain West dumped 4 feet of snow on high-altitude Silverton, Colo., officials said.

The small town high in the San Juan Mountains took the brunt of the Christmas Day storm as ferocious winds whipped the snow into 8-foot drifts, The Denver Post reported Saturday.


"They got the brunt of it," National Weather Service meteorologist Bryon Lawrence told the newspaper.

The storm closed Molas, Coal Bank and Red Mountain passes, boxing Silverton in and closing the town's two ski areas. But officials said the resorts would likely reopen as soon as the roads were plowed, with the Silverton Mountain Ski Area expected to boast a record-breaking 200 inches of snow -- or 16.6 feet, the Post said.

"The roads being closed has been challenging," ski area spokeswoman Jen Brill told the Rocky Mountain News. "But I never will say that there's any such thing as too much snow. You won't hear that out of my mouth."