The snow in Tahoe is better than you think.

It's not the kind of statement that fills marketing materials, but a ski resort industry coping with unusually weak snowfall totals will take it.

"It's a lot nicer than it has been," said Heather Hudson, of Truckee, as she took a break this week from the slopes at Squaw Valley.

After a January without natural snowfall, resort officials are doing the happy dance over the 18 inches of snow that has fallen in recent days. The fresh snow, coupled with snow-making efforts, made for excellent conditions late this week. Not the conditions offered by the record totals of last year, but soft fluffy snow covering the majority of the mountain.

"It's OK," said Julie Kalkbrenner, of Reno, as she prepared to start a run at Alpine Meadows.

She and her ski buddy Rachel Stubblefield, of Incline Village, laughed at being asked to compare this year with last. (It's no comparison).

"Any day skiing is better than not, but it's definitely not as deep," said Stubblefield. "Last year was amazing, but you can't have an amazing year every year."

Despite the fact that area resorts have invested heavily in snow-making operations, many skiers and snowboarders wait for Mother Nature to tell them when the ski season has begun.

"When it's snowing and when it's raining in Sacramento, that is their key to come up," said Russ Pecoraro, director of communications for Heavenly Mountain Resort.

"When we get snow, we get people," added Bob Roberts, a spokesman for the California Ski Resort Association.

Rachael Woods, spokeswoman for Homewood, was optimistic about the remainder of the winter.

"We have another half of winter ahead of us. This is a great way to start that second half," Woods said.

National Weather Service, meteorologist George Cline offers a less rosy picture. As of Feb. 1 (prior to the most recent storms), the snowfall accumulation in the Central Sierra region was at 32 percent of normal.

And while weak systems are expected to roll through Saturday and late Monday, the 30-day outlook does not look especially wet, Cline said.

Despite the minimal snowfall, the resort industry appears to be on track this year for increases in booking and spending over last year, said Tom Foley, operations director for a Denver-based ski industry consulting firm.

He said there has been a drop-off since Christmas, but data culled from 18 destination resorts in the western United States suggest that destination travelers are still showing up and spending money.

What the numbers don't show is how many of those destination travelers actually hit the slopes or how many day-trip skiers or riders are enjoying the mountain.

Roberts said he hopes the fresh snow will bring the season pass holders and their friends to the mountain this weekend.

For a ski industry already outperforming the economy, an improving economy coupled with good snow would have made this a banner year, Cline said.

"With the economy going now," Cline said, "good snow would have been a phenomenal thing."

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