Snowflakes fall silently, but to some business owners who haven't seen enough of them the past few years, they are making a resounding noise: Cha-ching!

Ski-slope managers, snowmobile dealers, resort owners and other winter proprietors in Minnesota and Wisconsin are giddy about the snowy season so far, with December's multiple snowfalls giving their businesses the biggest jump-start some have seen in about a decade.

Finally, after years of balmy winters, the first part of this season has lived up to what Upper Midwest reputations are made of: Locals trudging through the drifts, swathed head to toe in Gore-Tex.

Local ski-slope owners are so happy "they're just like pigs in mud. They finally had a really good early season which they really, really needed," said Brad Nelson, president of Hi Tempo Ski Shop in White Bear Lake, where last year a plaintive sign outside read: "Think Positive Snow Will Fall."

"You can see it in those guys' eyes," Nelson said. "It's a different year. It's the fun we all signed up for when we all got into this business."

For some people, it came just in time.

"We were about at the end of a lot of businesses' patience," said Bryon Schroeder, owner of Hayward Power Sports and president of the Sawyer County Snowmobile and ATV Alliance. "We had lost quite a number of them who elected not to open this year because they just couldn't take another year of no business."

Now, the city of Hayward and Sawyer County area are back in snowmobiling paradise, with the motorized machines buzzing 600 miles of groomed trails and crowding into parking lots of lodges and restaurants.

A big snowfall the weekend before Christmas kicked it all into gear, Schroeder said: "When I woke up [that] Sunday morning, I looked out the window and said 'Santa Claus came!'"

And the timing was perfect. The week spanning December 26 through January 2 has traditionally represented about 30 percent of winter business in the area, he said. If there's no snow that week, it has a big effect.

"The snow has caused an amazing holiday season up here -- first time in just about 10 years. It's been a long time," Schroeder said. "This is a huge shot in the arm for our entire economy in this county."

Metro snow good for Gunflint

It's a shot in the arm, even, for business owners in the far northern reaches of Minnesota where snow has been less of a problem for the past few years.

Ted Young, who hosts cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and dog-sledding tourists as co-owner of Boundary Country Trekking on the Gunflint Trail, said business was down the past few years because people from the Twin Cities didn't see snow in their own back yards and weren't thinking about it as much.

"If people in the Twin Cities, which is the Gunflint's major market, don't have snow, they haven't taken out their skis and they're biking and they're not thinking about skiing," Young said, adding that he was jammed with visitors over the holidays. "It looks like really a good winter right now."

Afton Alps, which makes its own snow and has been open for business every year, gets more business when natural snow reminds people to ski, said Amy Reents, a manager at the suburban ski hill.

She explained that natural snow "gets people in the mood. They see it in their front yard and they decide that they're either going to look at it from inside or get outside and enjoy winter. It definitely influences the traffic here."

The bottom line: "Our business in December is almost double what it was some of the years when we've had really warm Decembers," Reents said.

Lutsen Mountains has benefited from the snow and warm enough weather on the North Shore to make skiing pleasant, said marketing director Jim Vick, who added: "I'm guessing it's one of the very best Decembers we've ever had."

Early snow bad for the ice

But the earlier-than-usual snowfalls may be to blame for lack of good ice on some lakes.

Officials in Breezy Point, Minn., canceled this year's Ice Fest because they don't trust the thickness of the ice on Big Pelican Lake, said Dave Gravdahl, general manager of Breezy Point Resort and a member of the Breezy Point Ice Fest Committee.

Although there won't be fireworks, snowmobile racing and other scheduled events, Gravdahl still expects quite a few visitors. "We still like the snow," he said. "We needed the moisture."

Those who have benefitted from the good snow are cautious, too. With warmer temperatures and rain this weekend, they hope for more snow later.

After all, it's still going to be a long winter.

"Let's just keep our fingers crossed that the season continues," Schroeder said. "It's a wonderful thing."

Pam Louwagie • 612-673-7102