Beech Mt or Sugar Mt North Carolina?

[tlmdisney]

For any of you out there how have ever been to either of these ski areas, which would you recommend. My family would like to go on a ski trip over Christmas. We moved to Florida from Montana last year. These seem to be the closest in terms of driving to us. If you have any information about this area what else there is to do, want to not miss, I would appreciate it.

 

[stevenpensacola]

I may be of a little help...but not much...

I've been to Ski Beech many many years ago with a church group...when we got there...no snow!!!.

There were several nights when the temp would drop...you could hear the snow guns start up for an hour or two then shut back off due to rising temps. This being said, we had to find other ways to entertain ourselves...I recall the town close by had a nice, intimate mall...and the town also had a pretty college.

There was also a place calls Fred's Mercantile (I think) which was a neat general store heading up to Ski Beech.

It did finally snow before we left...and we did get to ski...but the conditions were less than ideal.

Have also been to Cataloochee and Ober Gatlinburg skiing in east.

We went to Breckenridge, Colorado for our honeymoon years later and skiid, skied, ski'd (you know what I mean).

In comparison:

Skiing out west (Colorado) = Walt Disney World

Skiing in the east (Smokies/NC/Tenn area) = amusement park set up in a parking lot.

The snow in the areas you've mentioned is nothing like the snow out west based on my experiences...snow in the east is very dependent on the weather...the "snow" is often man-made, and can range from snow like stuff to ice, to mush...all dependent on the weather.

Hope this helps...and hope you have a great time!

 

[minkydog]

In comparison:

Skiing out west (Colorado) = Walt Disney World

Skiing in the east (Smokies/NC/Tenn area) = amusement park set up in a parking lot.

The snow in the areas you've mentioned is nothing like the snow out west based on my experiences...snow in the east is very dependent on the weather...the "snow" is often man-made, and can range from snow like stuff to ice, to mush...all dependent on the weather.

Hope this helps...and hope you have a great time!

This is a great description of east coast snow. Coming from Montana, just be sure you lower your expectations...a lot. But the fun is what you make it and I'm sure you will have a great time.

 

[tlmdisney]

I have been warned not to have high expectations as far as the quality of snow, The area does look beautiful and we would like a little winter with our Christmas this year. The two ski resorts are only 30 minutes apart according to google maps, I was wondering what the comparison is. We want to rent a condo on the mountain for our stay but do not know which one. Maybe I should put of renting until closer to Christmas to make sure there will be snow.