Sugar, Beech, and Appalachian are relatively close, but have very little in terms of terrain and snow. Winterplace is 5hrs - ish into WV, and then Snowshoe another 2hrs from there. As much skiing as I have done it's worth it to me to make a long weekend trip to Snowshoe and be done with it, or better yet head west for powder.
Ricky, I agree. Couple others are Wolf Ridge between Asheville and Mars Hill and Cataloochee. Expect long lines at all of them
Agreed. We go to Appalachian for a quick trip. Snowshoe if we have more time but it's a haul from Columbia.
What Ricky said. Appalachian in Boone, NC may be your best bet because it won't stress your knees like Sugar or Beech will. Winterplace is good too but a longer drive. Pick your slope at Snowshoe - there's plenty of slopes with different degrees of difficulty. My favorite "local" is Beech but Snowshoe is my favorite slope this side of the Rockies. Haha just realized I'm talking like an active skier! I see knee replacements in my future too. I put away my gear a long time ago but like golf courses, slopes don't change their shape, so my info is still legit.
Appalachian is the best of the NC slopes if you are into terrain parks. That is why we choose Appalachian. If you are not into terrain parks, sugar or Beech would be best.
Got a buddy here in Columbia that snowboards that had a season pass to Appalachian. He loves the terrain parks there.
My kids are boarders and love Appalachian terrain park. They would prefer it over snowshoe. The lift taking you to the park at Snowshoe is painful.
Just my opinion. If you are going to drive to Winterplace. Drive the extra couple hours to snowshoe.
Yes, skiing in the west really is like a completely different activity altogether. I grew up skiing the NC resorts, Ober Gatlinburg, and Snowshoe, WV, etc. I loved it. When I got married, we honeymooned in Jackson Hole and that was my first experience skiing the Rockies. It was like a paradigm shift for me. I never skied in the southeast again. From then on, we flew out west every year for our ski fix until we were finally blessed to have the opportunity to move out here.
Indeed it is, and I'm a skier who likes to dabble with the jumps in the parks a little.
It's not all of snowshoe. The lift at the western territory is high speed and the lines are normally short. We stay over there in the afternoon when the slow lifts and crowds are on the other side.
Have to get your weight back in powder. It's a lot different than the ice on the east coast. Love boarding through the trees out west, especially in powder.
You'll be glad you started them young. I started mine on ski's at age 5. They transitioned to boards at 7. They will never go back to ski's. They are one-plankers for life. They will pass you up at about age 13.
Hey. Sounds like a good trip. I’m afraid I’d fall asleep if I drove that far that early and skied 3 days and drove back.
I’m not a golfer but your analogy is pretty good.
Moonshine mountain in Hendersonville and Tube World at Maggie Valley are probably your closest. However, this weather sucks right now. I'm honestly shocked some of the slopes are even open. Tahoe in California is losing a ton of money right now. Most are just now starting to open out there. Unprecedented.
This is not a trip for the wife. My wife will only go if her friends go and there's lots of partying involved.
Gotcha. Thanks
Partying = hanging out with friends and socializing. Not necessarily drinking. That said, skiing is not her priority when she joins us.
