The 2004-2005 ski and snowboard season in Western Pennsylvania, which officially ended at 6 p.m. yesterday when Seven Springs closed its slopes and trails and turned off its chairlifts, went out in style.

Snow sports enthusiasts at the popular Somerset County resort were delighted to find up to eight-inches of fresh snow when they arrived for the last day of the season. The new snow fell on a base that ranged from 20-inches to 48-inches in depth.

Boyce Park, Blue Knob, Hidden Valley, Mystic Mountain at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort & Spa and The Springs at Laurel Mountain all closed within the past three weeks.

However, Snowshoe Mountain Resort in east-central West Virginia will remain open until 4:30 p.m. Sunday, thanks to 91 inches of natural snow it has received since mid-February. That includes five-inches that fell during the weekend. As of late today, the base depth ranged from 38-inches to 58-inches.

Spokesman Joe Stevens said the 2.5 million tons of snow the resort's snowmaking crews made from Jan. 14th through March 5th, combined with all the natural snow that fell in the last six weeks, "have created the best snow conditions of the season."