Winter Carnival always brings a fun, festive attitude to our entire area.

This year, it also brought an extra dose of enthusiasm to our slopes.

The six feet of fresh snow we’ve accumulated in the last two weeks might have SOMETHING to do with that.

Our slope conditions have stood up beautifully to the carnival crowds.  We can thank the single-digit overnight temperatures for freeze-drying the snow left by Thursday’s storm. Light, fluffy powder lasted all the way through the weekend.

But people found other ways to express themselves in the spirit of Winter Carnival.

Our mascot, Bruno Bear, danced through the streets downtown during the Mardi Gras Parade.

You can view more great photos of the parade in this slideshow from the Idaho Statesman.

We found some of the most colorful carnival expressions at today’s Kid’s Snowcastle Experience.

Inspired by the snow sculptures on display all over town, these aspiring artists put their own creative spin on the concept in our base area.

First, they used molds to sculpt the castles into shape and add some flair.

Then, they personalized their castles by adding bursts of color.

While this group was busy leaving a festive mark in our base area, many of our other visitors chose to leave their mark higher up the mountain, in the form of smooth, graceful tracks traced through the soft, forgiving powder.

For others, a more heart-felt message emerged.

But in the end, the greatest expression was displayed in the skies above us.

As nature’s final act of the day stole the show.

– April