STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

Some fruit trees and roses are already budding in the Treasure and Magic valleys, a month ahead of schedule.

Firefighters fought a range fire near the Snake River Canyon on Thursday as wind picked up a pile of burning trimmings, carrying them uphill.

And bags of ice melt are sitting in stores waiting for the storms that aren’t coming.

Certainly, locals are lamenting the fact that this year’s snowfall has been nowhere as copious as last year’s. But Lisa Griffith said eight students from Middlebury College in Vermont have put it in her perspective for her.

“They’re telling me over and over again how amazing the snow is on Baldy, how amazing the skiing is. They said, ‘We skied the Bowls and they were absolutely wonderful,’ “ said Griffith, whose daughter attends Middlebury.

And, lest we complain about the gorgeous warm days we’ve been having, take note from the former colleagues of the late ski journalist Gary Black.

“They told me it was minus-40 windchill where they were this week in South Korea,” said Heather Black, noting the Olympic host’s notorious windy clime.

Sun Valley managed to circumvent the recent thaw-freeze cycle on Baldy Saturday morning with expert grooming and a little manmade snow. Cross-county skiing was firm on Billy’s Bridge but other trails offered nice skiing.