This is how it all begins. You're looking at the first 12 hours of snowmaking on Beech Mountain on November 21, 2015. Not a bad start! I heard the snowguns fire up around 5pm the night before and met some of the Beech Mountain team later that night at dinner. They told me they'd be open for business in one week. They were right! It's not quite the Greatest Snow on Earth but it'll do until the real stuff starts piling up!

This photograph was captured with a DJI Phantom 3 Professional drone.