Competitive skiers and snowboarders from Ontario, Calgary and Vancouver along with downhill and freestyle teams in the territory have been taking in the terrain at Mount Sima for more than a week now.

On Saturday, members of the general public will get their turn when the hill officially opens for the 2015/2016 season.

The Nov. 21 opening is likely the earliest the hill has seen in its more-than 20-year history, approximately two weeks ahead of its typical opening date in recent years, general manager Cindy Chandler said in an interview this morning.

The hill has already been very busy with the 150 Outside athletes in town for early-season training. Many are booking to return next year and some are opting to stay in the territory a little longer than planned due to the conditions at Mount Sima.

The athletes arrived in the territory thanks to a $160,000 contribution from the Yukon government for snow-making equipment, terrain park development and safety netting which helped the hill offer early training to elite athletes.

Given that the hill has the base, natural snow has been falling and the hill has been operating for the elite athletes, Chandler said it just made sense to open to the general public.

It will be open Saturdays and Sundays for the rest of the month. In December, it will add Fridays to its schedule for the general public.

“People are very excited,” Chandler said.

She’s heard from a few who are envious of the athletes who have been enjoying the features of the terrain park and runs Mount Sima offers.

Chandler expects there could be anywhere from 500 to 800 people ready to start their season on Saturday.

Opening day is often a very busy one for the hill, she added, with up to 800 taking in the facility on opening day in past years.

The Saturday opening this season will be a change for the hill from its typical Friday season-opener. That day often sees students who might otherwise be in a classroom taking to the slopes.

With about 800 season passes already sold for the 2015/2016 season, Chandler said, the numbers are where they were for the past two years - a major increase over the year before when just 200 users purchased season passes.

In that year, the hill experienced significant financial problems and faced potential closure.

A new group – the Friends of Mount Sima – eventually took over operations from the Great Northern Ski Society.

At that time, Softball Yukon assisted the hill with a $70,000 loan.

Meanwhile, a number of other parties purchased equipment from the hill, which essentially remained at the hill for continued operations.

Chandler cited a number of changes at Mount Sima over the past two years which she believes have contributed to the major boost in season pass sales.

“We’ve got a lot more events,” she said.

The hill also offers more terrain park features than it has in the past, she pointed off.

The hill’s snow school and day camps have also seen major increases in registration over the last couple of years.

Meanwhile, cross-country skiers have already been taking to the trails of the Whitehorse Cross Country Ski Club.

Club manager Miriam Lukszova said in an interview this morning crews started preparing the snow on the trails with the Oct. 31 snowfall.

“We started packing right away,” she said.

More and more skiers have been seen on the trails on weekends as well as Nov. 11, when many had the day off work or school for Remembrance Day, Lukszova said.

October’s warm weather had her and other staff at the club worried the number of season pass holders would be down.

By the end of that month, however, when the early-bird special ends, the club was on par with last year’s numbers, with about 1,000 passes sold.

The recent snowfall in the city had crews busy today as they trundled out the grooming equipment.

“Hopefully, they’ll be setting a track,” Lukszova said.

Until today, she added, there was only enough snow to pack down rather than doing any extensive grooming.

As the skiing and snowboarding season begins, other snow enthusiasts have been taking advantage of the season.

The revs of snowmobiles could be heard in the city over the weekend, while a number of others dug out their toboggans and sleds and were seen gliding down hills around town.