It's time to dust off the skis and dig the snowboard out, SilverStar Mountain Resort is open for the season.

The North Okanagan ski hill officially opened for the 2017-18 season on Thursday.

Brad Baker, SilverStar director of operations, said about 1,000 people took in the first runs of the season.

“We opened up four lifts and 46 runs,” said Baker Friday. “We're really happy and the public and guests are really happy to have us open. Everybody had a lot of pent up demand, especially when we got the snow in town a couple of weeks ago. It really adds to the excitement level for us.”

That initial snowfall took a bit of a hit as the Pineapple Express rolled the Valley, but Baker said conditions were still strong on opening day.

“Conditions are pretty good. Coverage could always be better, but we are expecting some snow in the next few days again and we will start our grooming program back at it.”

SilverStar just purchased two new groomers – at $400,000 each – to bring its fleet of groomers to 10.

“We have the most modern groomers in the Interior,” said Baker.

SilverStar has also won several awards in the past for its grooming efforts.