Thousands of gallons of water were shot into the bright blue skies Sunday morning, wafting back to Earth, covering the hillsides near Huff with snow.

The crisp, cold temperatures were providing near-perfect conditions for the Beck family-owned ski area best known as Huff Hills, south of Mandan just a mile west of Highway 1806.

The only thing that could have made things a little better was some swirling wind to help distribute the manmade snow a little better, Andy Beck said. The tall, lanky Beck, son of the ski area's creator, Jim Beck, is a full-time Mandan firefighter who lately uses all of his spare time getting the ski runs ready for winter fun.

"We're hoping to open by next weekend, but it's all dependent on the weather, though things look pretty good right now," Beck said. "We've been making snow for about 75 hours now and we figure we'll need about 200 hours' worth to open."

The past several years have been tough sledding for Huff Hills - tough skiing and snowboarding, too - as Mother Nature failed to cooperate, providing, by North Dakota standards, balmy temperatures throughout the winter.

It wasn't a lack of snow that kept the crowds away from Huff Hills, but more their attitudes, Beck said.

"When you're having 50- and 60-degree days in December and January, people are thinking about getting out the golf clubs or going roller blading, not skiing or snowboarding," Beck said. "We had plenty of snow out here; we can make all we need."

The last time Huff Hills experienced a really good winter was back in 1997, Beck said. There's never been a thought about closing, but hopes are that this winter will be a turning point of sorts.

"The weather pattern is what we've been looking for. It's gets cold, then warms up and then gets cold again. That up and down, that's what we like to see," Beck said. "We've been looking for one good season to turn the corner."

A good season is having 200 to 300 people showing up and using the variety of ski runs.

"When there's a lot of people out here, this is just an awesome place to have fun," Beck said. "I grew up with the resort, so that's how I learned the business."

December, January and February are Huff Hills' "big months." The rule of thumb goes that if the ski area is open by Thanksgiving, it's going to be a good year. The weeks surrounding Christmas are a season by themselves, with kids on break and families taking vacations. These are the make-or-break weeks.

Huff Hills promotes itself at a place to learn and to get yourself in shape for those big snow weekends in Montana. The ski area lets you get both yourself and your equipment into shape before hitting the big runs in the mountains, Beck said. "Then, instead of just going on one or two big trips during the winter, you can go every weekend."

Efforts are being concentrated on creating a terrain park for snowboarders. On Dec. 30, Burton Snowboards, a leading manufacturer of snowboards and equipment, will bring its equipment for demonstration rides. Bismarck's Savvy Skate and Snow Shop is a distributor of Burton equipment and helped make it possible for the manufacturer to come to Huff Hills.

To make snow, the Becks employ the traditional fan guns, which shoot water into the freezing air. Water is piped over two and a half miles from the Missouri for this purpose. Huff also started incorporating a new technology last year called SnoMax. It incorporates proteins around which water crystals gather to make snow. It's more efficient than the snow fan method.

A lot of time and money is spent in the maintenance of their hardware, which includes two lifts and grooming equipment, Beck said. As long as nighttime temperatures fall into the lower 20s, Huff Hills is assured of good snow. The manmade snow lasts a lot longer than people might suspect, Beck said. Should temperatures even rise into the 60s during the day, as long as they drop at night, there will be snow on the slopes.

(Reach reporter Gordon Weixel at 250-8255 or gordon.weixel@;bismarcktribune.com.)