Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05
March 13, 2008
LIFT TICKET
A Column About Skiing and Snowboarding in the High Country by Sam Calhoun
Here’s to another great ski and snowboard season!
While you still have some weeks left to enjoy the slopes, we have entered the fourth month of the 2007-08 season and the final curtain call is coming soon.
Because of the heavy rains, Ski Beech closed for the season last Friday and Hawksnest Resort is now closed for skiing and snowboarding. Sugar Mountain Resort and Appalachian Ski Mountain plan to stay open until the end of March.
Despite Mother Nature’s light offering of real snow, our four area ski slopes maintained large bases throughout the entire season, taking advantage of the surplus of cold temperatures.
Visitors came, stayed in area hotel rooms—the Boone Convention and Visitors Bureau posted record numbers in January—and bought plenty of lift tickets. Locals punched plenty of tickets as well. Most of our local annual snowsports events went off without a hitch, such as the Shred for the Cup Series and Fresh Fridays Series at Appalachian Ski Mountain, Thursday Night Rail Jams at Ski Beech, Race Nights at Hawksnest and the now famous third annual Sugar Mountain Adult Race League at Sugar Mountain Resort.
Old and new ski and snowboard friends reconnected and connected, made plans for the future, dreamed of the possibilities for next season and shared stories of triumphs on the slopes.
And now, aside from a trip to Appalachian’s Meltdown Games and one last trip up to Sugar Mountain Resort to get my Northridge-Flying Mile fix, I have started the ceremonial task of putting my skis and ski car rack to bed in the house, soon to be replaced by my bike car rack and bike—a weak tradeoff, in my opinion.
And so I thank you, the reader, the skier, the snowboarder, for enjoying this ski season with me and for reading my column. I will be back next year with the fourth annual installment of Lift Ticket and I hope you will join me. Same place, same time—well, hopefully a little earlier next year. How does a 2-footer sound around Thanksgiving? The ball is in your court Mother Nature…I want to go play in the snow.
Slope Reports
According to GoSkiNC.com, the North Carolina Ski Areas Association’s website, as of Tuesday, Appalachian Ski Mountain is looking good with a 36- to 88-inch base and 10 slopes open; Ski Beech is closed for the season; Hawksnest Resort is closed for skiing and snowboarding for the season; and Sugar Mountain Resort is reporting a 23- to 70-inch base with 17 slopes open.
Ice skating is open at Appalachian Ski Mountain, and tubing is available at Hawksnest Resort and Sugar Mountain Resort.
Hawksnest Resort
Hawksnest Resort will be open for snow tubing only from Thursday, March 13, to Sunday, March 16. The ski and snowboard season at Hawksnest is now over.
Tubing sessions at Hawksnest Resort cost $15 on Thursday and Friday and $20 on Saturday and Sunday. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Hawksnest Resort, the tubing runs are open from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. On Sunday, the tubing runs are open from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Sugar Mountain Resort
Seventeen slopes are still open atop Sugar Mountain and the recent rains have not affected the resort’s base of snow.
Don’t miss Sugar Mountain’s Easter Egg Hunt on Sunday, March 23, at 9:00 a.m. Dress up in your Easter costume and join Sugar Bear and Sweetie Bear—Sugar Mountain Resort’s mascots—on the slopes in search of prize-filled eggs. Sorry adults, the contest is only open to those 12 and under. An egg containing a 2008-09 season pass will be scattered among hundreds of other prize-filled eggs. A valid lift ticket or season pass is required for participation. To participate, meet at the bottom of the yellow lift at 9:00 a.m. The hunt will take place on the Lower Flying Mile ski slope and is for skiers and snowboarders only.
March Madness rates are currently in effect at Sugar Mountain Resort. During March, customers of Sugar Mountain can take advantage of up to 25 percent savings on lift tickets, rental equipment and lessons. Restrictions apply though, so click to www.skisugar.com/rates/index.phtml for more information.
Appalachian Ski Mountain
Appalachian is alive with plenty of offerings for the end of the season.
The final Fresh Friday Jam Session is scheduled for Friday, March 21, from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. at Appalachian Terrain Park. Thus far, this event has been hugely successful, thanks to Drew Stanley, director of the Appalachian Terrain Park, and his in-house welder who works hard to bring a never-before-seen terrain park setup to the park for every event in the series. Fresh Friday sports a low-key, relaxed jam session format, where riders can hit the new setup as many times as they want, in any order they want, just like a normal day of riding with friends. Registration is from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. at the cashier booth #1 in the lower level of the lodge. The shred session lasts from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m., with the awards taking place near the setup immediately after the jam ends. The setup stays intact all weekend long, so riders can return with their friends.
The next day on Saturday, March 22, is the last night of night skiing at Appalachian.
On Saturday and Sunday, March 29 and 30, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day, Appalachian is hosting its annual Meltdown Games, a two-day event that honors another ski season gone by with various serious and non-serious competitions and games. The event is free to all ages with the purchase of a lift ticket. Lift tickets at Appalachian Ski Mountain for the last weekend of skiing cost $41 for adults and $30 for juniors, seniors and members of the military.
The Meltdown Games feature a ski and snowboard slopestyle competition, a cardboard box derby, a ski and snowboard competition, a trash bag downhill race, a rail jam, a tug of war, a costume contest, a Chinese downhill and the much-anticipated pond skimming contest.
“The fun part of watching the pond skimming contest is not the people who do make it across—it’s the people who don’t make it across,” said Brad Moretz, co-owner of Appalachian Ski Mountain.
I’ll see you there!
Go play in the snow.
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Email sam@highcountrypress.com.
Must-Have Info for the 2006-07 Season
Appalachian Ski Mountain: 828-295-7828,
www.appskimtn.com, www.appterrainpark.com
Ski Beech: 828-387-2011, www.skibeech.com
Hawksnest: 828-963-6561, www.hawksnest-resort.com
Sugar Mountain Resort: 828-898-4521, www.skisugar.com
North Carolina Ski Areas Association: www.goskinc.com