At the Loveland Ski Area Sports Shop, Meg Raczynska is getting ready for the upcoming ski season by handling a heaping hill of hats.

"This is the beginning stages of a fort," Raczynska said.

She and a skeleton crew of other employees are hard at work unloading boxes of winter wear before the snow starts flying.

"It is a race against the clock," Raczynska said.

It's a timeline Loveland spokesman John Sellers says isn't far off.

"Fourteen days, 18 days, something like that, we'll get these things fired up," Sellers said.

Stretching along the ski area's main run you can see Loveland's arsenal of snow guns in place and ready to fire frosted flakes, covering the summer green runs with manmade snow.

"I think we're all just watching the temperatures waiting for those cold temps to move in so we can get cracking," Sellers said.

It also will mean the kickoff for a big race with Arapahoe Basin. Spokeswoman Leigh Heirholzer says their guns are up too as they compete to see which area can open for the season first.

"Once we start making snow, we need a couple of weeks to get enough on the ground and we'll be ready to open to the public," Heirholzer said.

Even without the snow guns, forecasters say the public could still see good early-season snow this year.

"They are calling for a La Nina season which means early and abundant snowfall," Sellers said.

It means Raczynska better pick up the pace with those hats.

"There's a lot more where this came from," Raczynska said.

She knows it won't be long before they're back in high demand.