JANUARY 15, 2009 ISSUE
Lift Ticket
A Column About Skiing and Snowboarding in the High Country
Would you come to a multiple-day music festival held at one of our ski slopes?
Other major ski resorts on the East Coast have introduced multiple-day music festivals over the past few years, including Snowshoe Mountain Resort in West Virginia. Every year on January 1, 2 and 3, Snowshoe hosts three days of discounted lift tickets and live music at night. The event takes place when most students are still on holiday break and when attendance at the resort is decreasing because the holidays are over. Thus, the event is a win-win for attendees and hosts.
I am encouraged by the creation of new events similar to this in the High Country, such as the Winners Take All Rail Jam at Beech Mountain on February 7, but I also believe we can do more.
I’ll even stick my money where my mouth is on this one. My other job is as owner of Mountain Fountain Productions, a music management company specializing in creating, organizing and implementing large-scale music festivals. I propose that for the 2009-10 ski season, Mountain Fountain Productions join with other players in the High Country ski industry and throw a two-day music festival at one of our ski slopes. I want to know if you—the local ski community—think this is a good idea, and think this is something you would get behind.
The event, in theory, would include discounted lift tickets and lodging in the hope that locals would gather groups of friends and “camp out” in the accommodations throughout the two-day event. What’s more, the discounted lift tickets could gain attendees discounted entry to each night’s concert on the mountain. Taking it a step further, what if attendees paid one set fee, giving them lodging, food, lift tickets and entry into the music events in a package deal? What if the music were performed at the base of the slopes during the day, and then again at night?
What if we created the ski resort scene for ourselves, instead of complaining that it is lacking? What if we made the High Country winter lifestyle what it was in the 1970s? Using the words of Barack Obama, “Yes we can.” Let’s do it.
Around the Slopes…
-Ski Beech is hosting the Winners Take All Rail Jam on Saturday, February 7, from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Sponsored by Skull Candy, Under Armour, 4FRNT Skis, Kangol, POW, Launch and Guerilla Fist, the jam starts with signup at 11:00 a.m. in The Beech Tree Bar & Grill and the jam starts at 5:00 p.m. I talked with 4FRNT Skis Southeastern Representative Dayne Anderson this week and he gave me a glowing review of how the renaissance is progressing atop Beech Mountain. This event, Anderson said, is 100 percent new for the area because it not only includes a rail jam, but also graffiti art on the snow, live music from DJs at night and an emcee battle during the daytime with cash prizes. The cost of the entire event is $20, and participants will compete for cash and prize packages. The event features three divisions for the rail jam—girls, 15 and under, and best of breed—and it will be filmed in its entirety for Havoc Television. During the afternoon, Under Armour is sponsoring the Bunker Battle, a competition among eight emcees. After the rail jam, the 3rd Rail After Party takes place in The Beech Tree Bar & Grill and will include live performances from Brother Reade, Supastition, DJ DR, DJ Sicknis and DJ Real. For more info, click to www.3rdrailjam.com.
-Hawksnest Resort is taking advantage of this week’s arctic blast to blow plenty of snow for Martin Luther King, Jr. Weekend. Fourteen snow tubing lanes are currently open at the resort, and Co-Owner Lenny Cottom expects to blow snow every night this week. This Friday, tubing sessions cost $22 and are offered at 10:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. On Saturday, Sunday and Monday, tubing sessions cost $30 per person. Tubing sessions on Saturday and Sunday are offered at 10:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Tubing sessions on Monday are offered at 10:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.
-Only two slopes—Hard Core and Thin Slice—were not open as of press time at Appalachian Ski Mountain, but that will all change this Saturday, January 17. Snowmakers at Appalachian expect to open both slopes this weekend after they take advantage of the colder-than-normal temperatures on Thursday and Friday. Appalachian announced new incentives for its clientele this week. First, people who buy a lift ticket at Appalachian now are eligible for 50 percent off an ice skating session on the same day. Second, and hopefully just in time for a big snow, Appalachian is beefing up its already gracious snow day rates with half-price snowboard rentals for students. Since the 1960s, Appalachian has offered a special rate when school is canceled because of snow. Elementary and high school students, teachers and staff in Watauga County and the adjoining counties of Caldwell, Ashe, Avery, Wilkes and Johnson County, Tenn., can take advantage of these rates—and now the half-price snowboard rental—by showing proof of residency. Appalachian’s snow day rate for lift tickets is $8.
-The first race for the 4th annual Sugar Mountain Adult Race League took place last Monday night at Sugar Mountain Resort. More than 130 racers—representing local businesses, resorts, restaurants and media—gathered at the top of Sugar’s Big Birch to rekindle the beer league camaraderie and get in a little racing. The results of the race are included in this column and will be posted online at www.highcountrypress.com by Thursday evening. Podium projections and smack talking will begin again in earnest in next week’s column—everyone needs some time to gather some ammunition and so far, Team Sugar Mountain Resort is in first place, and that’s not news to anyone. (Imagine that.)
Go play in the snow.
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Email sam@highcountrypress.com.
Cyber Slope Info…
Appalachian Ski Mountain:
828-295-7828, www.appskimtn.com, www.appterrainpark.com
Ski Beech:
828-387-2011, www.skibeech.com
Hawksnest Resort:
828-963-6561, www.hawksnest-resort.com
Sugar Mountain Resort:
828-898-4521, www.skisugar.com
North Carolina Ski Areas Association:
www.goskinc.com
Sugar Mountain Adult Race League—Team Standings After Week 1
1. Team Sugar Mountain Resort—20 points
2T. Team Banner Elk Café #1—18 points
2T. Team Ski Country Sports #1—18 points
4. Team Alpine Ski Center #1—16 points
5T. Team Banner Elk Café #2—13 points
5T. Team ASU Ski Team—13 points
5T. Team Insurance Plus—13 points
8. Team Sugar Ski School—11 points
9. Team Sugar Ski Patrol—10 points
10T. Team Beech Mountain—9 points
10T. Team Lodge Coffee House—9 points
12T. Team Ski Country Sports #2—7 points
12T. Team Zuzda—7 points
14T. Team High Country Press—6 points
14T. Team 1st Tracks—6 points
14T. Team Alpine Ski Center #2—6 points
Snowboard-Only Teams
1. Team Edge of the World—8 points
2. Team ASU Snowboard Team—6 points
Sugar Mountain Resort Monday Nite Race Results 1-12-09
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