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Forget Black Friday! It’s a White Holiday Weekend at Ski Resorts in the High Country: App, Beech and Sugar

Two folks ride the ski lift on Friday morning at Appalachian Ski Mtn. Photo by Drew Stanley
Two folks ride the ski lift on Wednesday morning at Appalachian Ski Mtn. Photo by Drew Stanley

 

By Jesse Wood

Nov. 29, 2013. “Forget Black Friday and those dreadfully overcrowded stores! It’s White Friday at Beech Mountain Resort,” a spokesman for Beech Mountain exclaimed in an email on Friday morning.

The same could be said for Sugar Mountain Resort and Appalachian Ski Mtn., too.

Beech Mountain Resort officially opened its 46th ski season at 9 a.m. on Friday, which Craig Distl of Beech Mountain said was aided by a half-foot of snow in the previous 24 hours.

“To celebrate, Beech Mountain Resort is offering weekday rates on lift tickets all weekend long,” Distl said, adding that views from its new summer cam can be seen here.

Beech Mountain Resort has three of seven lifts operating and eight of 15 trails open with a base of 14 to 30 inches. It’s currently making snow right now. For more information, call 1-800-438-2093 or click to www.beechmountainresort.com.

Drew Stanley with Appalachian Ski Mtn. mentioned that opening day on Wednesday was “amazing” and that the winter weather felt like mid-January.

“I would say we have more coverage and terrain open than we ever have in the last 10 years at least, maybe more,” Stanley exclaimed on Thanksgiving Day. “It looks like some good snowmaking weather is in store for the next two nights, so we will be making over all slopes to deepen the base and give riders peak season conditions.”

In its 52nd year, Appalachian Ski Mtn. opened with a 10 to 20 inch base with eight slopes and two terrain parks. Now it has up to a 24-inch base and has a slopes open in each of the terrains: easiest, more difficult, most difficult and freestyle terrain. Five lifts are running as well. For more information, click to www.appskimtn.com or call 828-295-7828.

The first resort to open this year, Sugar Mountain Resort has a base of 14 to 48 inches. Four lifts are running and nine slopes are open. Sessions for ice skating and three lanes in the resort’s tubing park are open.

And don’t forget about the 11th annual SugarFest that begins on Friday, Dec. 13. Click here to read more about SugarFest. For more information about skiing and Sugar this weekend, click to www.skisugar.com or call 828-898-4521.