1000 x 90

All Winter Resorts Open for Riding, Tubing, Ice Skating on Christmas Weekend

By Jesse Wood

Unless you are heading north for the holidays, the only White Christmas in the High Country is going to take place on the ski slopes. “Fortunately for the ski areas,” RaysWeather.com noted in a forecast discussion earlier this week, “it will be just cold enough to keep snow on the slopes.”

Appalachian Ski Mtn. is opening for Christmas Day for the first time ever, and ASM General Manager Brad Moretz said the resort is using the day as a fundraiser for a first aid ski patrol facility. Last year, ASM used the Easter holiday, which it normally isn’t open on either, to raise funds for the Middle Fork Greenway project.

Moretz noted that if folks purchase Christmas Day ski tickets online before Dec. 25, a 50 percent discount on lift tickets is available. That’s a “great deal,” he said, for a day when most people will have the day off from work. 

Appalachian Ski Mtn. plans to have 10 of its 12 slopes open. Christmas Eve hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Sunday, the slopes will be open 1 to 10 p.m. In addition, ASM is hosting special holiday Midnight Blast Sessions from Dec. 26 to Dec. 30 – and a half-night ticket, good from 8:30 p.m. to midnight, on these select Midnight Blast Sessions.

Santa will be at Sugar Mountain Resort through Dec. 24.
Santa will be at Sugar Mountain Resort through Dec. 24.

Sugar Mountain Resort is open on Christmas Eve from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and on Christmas Day from noon to 10 p.m. and is also offering two-hour tubing and ice skating sessions, beginning on the even hours.

Sugar Mountain Resort currently has a base of 14 to 46 inches with eight slopes open. Through Dec. 24, Santa will be skiing, riding and talking to the little boys and girls on the slopes. 

Beech Mountain Resort is open on Christmas Eve from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Christmas Day from 1 to 10 p.m. Beech Mountain Resort has 9 trails open and a base of 14 to 38 inches.

Hawksnest Tubing will also be open on Christmas weekend. Saturday sessions take place at 10 a.m., 12 p.m. and 2 p.m., while Sunday sessions happen at 2 p.m., 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Have fun at the ski resorts this Christmas weekend and get primed for the fireworks and fun planned on the slopes during the upcoming New Year celebration.