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Busy 2020-21 Ski Season Closes With a Bang This Weekend with Celebrations at Each Area Resort

There is still plenty of snow at Appalachian Ski Mtn. This photo was taken on Friday morning.

 

By Nathan Ham

A record-setting ski season will come to an end this weekend at Appalachian Ski Mtn., Beech Mountain and Sugar Mountain with all three slopes calling it a year.

“It’s been an incredible season. We are really thankful for such a loyal staff and customer base,” said Talia Freeman, the Director of Marketing at Beech Mountain. “We will operate from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Saturday and our party will be from 4-7 p.m.”

The end of year party at Beech Mountain for season pass holders and staff members will take place at the lodge cafeteria and will include complimentary barbecue, beer and wine.

At Sugar Mountain and Appalachian Ski Mtn., both will have their final day of the season on Sunday and will close with popular annual events. Sugar Mountain will have its snow burning event while Appalachian Ski Mtn. will close with its annual Meltdown Games.

“Traffic is starting to slow down so we thought Sunday would be a good way to end a terrific season,” said Sugar Mountain Vice-President, Kim Jochl. “The burning of the snow is a tradition that came from Europe where at the end of the season, we burn the snow and usher out the season and welcome in a new season.

Appalachian Ski Mtn. will continue with day and night skiing through 5 p.m. on Sunday.

The staff at Appalachian Ski Mtn. were hard at work on the pond skim ramp Friday morning.

“We’ve been fortunate to have a lot of cold weather and the economy is strong. Kids have been out of school and wanting to get outside. We’ve been blessed in a lot of ways this year,” said Brad Moretz, co-owner of Appalachian Ski Mtn. “Our signature season-ending event is the pond skim and we are fortunate enough to have a lot of snow to build that with. We’re going to have a super long pond skim, longer than what we normally do. It should be 100 feet or more. It’s one final weekend of fun.”

Everyone can come out and enjoy the Meltdown Games with a full schedule of events on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, the Impossible Rail Session beings at 11 a.m., followed by the Cardboard Box Derby at 12:30 p.m. The Ski and Snowboard Big Air competition will start at 2 p.m. and the Trash Bag Downhill race will wrap up the events for the day at 4 p.m. On Sunday, the High Ollie Contest kicks off the day at 11 a.m. The popular Pond Skim and Costume Contest will happen at 1 p.m. and the Chinese Downhill race will conclude the season at 4 p.m.