Great time at Sugar Mountain! Been 2x so far this year. Of course it's an east coast ski resort but the best in NC in my opinion. Was fortunate to have some good snow. Most runs are now open, the bartenders are friendly, the food is OK. Tuesdays are the slowest days. Weekends and Mondays are packed with long lift lines starting around 11:30 am. My fave time to go is Tuesday/Wednesday mornings if you have the flexibility. Ready for my 3rd this season! read more

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The ski patrol needs to get off their high horse of power. They took a guys pass for the entire day because he accidentally nicked his ski. Talk about ruining someone's day and taking money out of their pockets. read more

That ski patrol man should be embarrassed.... he was barely "hit" and it was clearly on accident. Standing in the middle of the mountain in a large group is dumb. Give that man a season pass read more

Absolutely terrible job done by ski patrol. On an absolute power trip. Removing someone's ticket over a minor accident is atrocious. Not everyone is a professional. Would never recommend this resort to anyone! read more

Ski patrol is rude! To take someone's ticket for an accident, is ridiculous. Im a rookie boarder and skiier and will never visit sugar mountain ski resort is they are not beginner friendly read more

Got hit by ski patrol when I was standing in the middle of the run stretching and doing kegels and they took my pass away for the day cause I didn't invite the ski patroller and told me to never come back. No seriously why in the world would a resort keep a ski patroller that pulled that kids pass for a little nick on his ski's, especially considering he was nagging 10 other people in the middle of the run, patroller should know better than that. read more

Sugar Mountain Resort was overshadowed by unprofessional and disrespectful behavior from the ski patrol. Their attitude ruined what should have been a safe, welcoming experience on the mountain. read more

Ski patrol is on a power trip and they will take your ticket for no reason. They offer no compensation or no way to dispute. Very rude. They weren't viral on TikTok. Go check. read more

A great spot for beginners with easy access to book instructors. However, on certain days, there can be long lines to rent equipment. read more

Sugar Mountain Resort - Ski Resorts Near Me - Sugar Mountain, North Carolina

I really wish I had read the reviews before booking a ski in/out at Sugar Mountain. As you can see from my picture, we overlooked the Easy Street lift. Look how long the line was, yet there are TWO people going up in a lift. We watched singles go up by themselves. There is nobody managing people getting on the lift that fits four people so no wonder it gets so backed up. It was so ridiculous that I ended up not even buying a lift ticket for myself. That's not even the worst of the trip. Sugar Mountain is so terribly inefficient at everything. You cannot book anything in advance. We arrived on a Friday evening so we walked down to the ski school building to register our kids for ski school for the next day. They were already sold out. My husband got in line around 2:30 the next day for ski school registration to open up at 4:00 and they came out and cut the line prior to my husband letting everyone know that anyone past that point would not get in. They do have group and private lessons but you also can't pre-book that so you have to show up on the mountain at 7am to be given a time for your lesson. So the next day we decided to get tickets to tube. There was no parking and I even drove all the way down the mountain looking at full lots and decided to just go park back up at the condo and walk down the mountain with two small kids. Again, you cannot pre-book so you have to stand in a long line and you can only buy tickets for the next session, but they cannot sell tickets until one hour prior to the session. WHAT?! The guy at the register said he cannot even see future sessions on his computer. How outdated is this system? We got in line at 11:00, thinking we could get tickets for the 12:00 session. Nope, sold out. So we continue to stand in line until tickets for the 2:00 session go on sale at 1:00. Got close to the front and then it sold out. At this point, we already dedicated three hours to standing in line so I stood in line for tickets for the 4:00 session to go on sale at 3:00. The cashier hand tallies everyone who orders so he knows when they are sold out. I stood in line for FIVE HOURS for tubing. That is your whole day wasted. I felt bad for the employee because I know it's not his fault their system is so inefficient but he had so many people coming up and asking if he could just tell them whether they'd get in for the next session or not or if they could just order tickets for a future session. Luckily we were staying on the mountain and I had my mom with me to take the kids back to the condo, but many people did not have that convenience and ended up leaving after waiting for hours. If only they would let you order for a future session, you could at least take your kids somewhere or do something in the meantime and then return when it's your time to tube. Not to mention, there is a snack bar and restroom next door but the restroom only has TWO stalls so after waiting five hours in the tubing line, I waited 25 minutes to use the bathroom prior to our tubing session. There was also only two tables to sit at inside. It would be nice to have a heated, indoor area where people can sit if they are taking turns waiting in the ridiculous line. My dad and my husband went out on the slopes during the Twilight hours. In addition to being packed (never go on a weekend), they made snow the entire time. When it blows in your face and freezes on your goggles, it's a safety issue...not to mention not being able to see. I don't know why they were making snow all day long after it had just snowed. It never stopped. Overall, we were not impressed with the inefficiency of Sugar Mountain. We also stayed there to see if we would like the area and potentially buy an investment property but we've already crossed it off the list. read more

Sugar Mountain Resort - Long lift line, yet two people are on the lift when they can fit four - Ski Resorts Near Me - Sugar Mountain, North Carolina

It takes some research to have a good time here. First off, you can't buy lift tickets until 8 pm the night before. If you wait until the day of, you'll be waiting in a long line. They do rent ski equipment, but if you do it here you'll spend hours in lines. As for the lodge, it is just ok. The food consisted of grossly overpriced sandwiches, pizza, burgers, and fries. There's plenty of booze to be had as well, but I didn't drink so I don't know pricing. Also, this is not a Colorado ski resort so get that out of your head. So how did we avoid these long waits? We rented our skis from an establishment off property. A quick google search will give you 2-3 ski shops all with about the same prices. They are easy and significantly faster. I spoke with the gentleman on the phone and asked all sorts of questions about what to expect on the slopes. He was very informative. As for lift tickets, we bought ours the night before. We showed up around 7:45 pm, window opened at 8 pm, and we were done in a matter of minutes. Easy and no lines. I can't say enough about their ski school. It fills up fast, but we managed to get our 9 year old into the group session. She had never seen snow until this day and after a 90 minute class, she was skiing the bunny slope alone. A big kudos goes out to the instructors. We stayed at a ski in ski out. It made life much easier. Overall, we were pleasantly surprised with the slopes. It's a great place to learn for beginners and also fun for more experienced folks. There is a military discount for active duty only...no retiree or vet discount. We'll definitely be coming back. read more

Would be a five star if it was not for the obnoxious short tempered behavior of the owner Gunther Jochl. He really made a scene today coming in the lobby and kicking people out over the slightest issues. So sad!!! I've seen this before with him and not surprised to see it again. He's like the boss from the movie Christmas Vacation that Cousin Eddy ties up and brings to Clark Griswald. Yeah, that kind of guy!! LOL!! You never see him smiling, never saying thank you to customers, just a gruff man barking orders and expressing to the world that he is truly unhappy as his best days are behind him. Gunther has lost sight that he is in business to SERVE the needs of the skiers. And he should review this famous quote "There is only one boss, the customer. And he can fire everybody in the company, from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money elsewhere." -Sam Walton, founder of Walmart. I saw him rip the tag off one guy who accidentally fell into another guy, kicked a whole family out for asking questions about a ticket issues and yells at employees constantly in front of customers. Just not a pleasant person! His unorganized image is actually unethically calculated. The ticket office girl (name hidden to protect her) said Gunther oversold the resort by 700 people past capacity because he's so greedy and does so on a regular basis. The limit is his call and doesn't follow the planned number. She also said that's why he refuses to do reservations because then it would be transparent to the actual capacity of the resort. Better hope you make the cut!!! But Unfortunately he is making the lift lines an hour wait. That means in a 4 hour time period, you get to ski 3-4 times, that's it! As the leader of the business, Gunther's attitude, trickles down to some of his employees who follow his lead. They are also just as grumpy, just as careless that you are having a good experience, hate their jobs, and hate you. Soooo sad!!! I feel for the employees who are lashing out on the customers, because their boss lashes out on them. So here's how to have a good experience. You have to take a different approach: If you see a guy who looks like George Soros, that is the owner, avoid him and then you can have a good time. If you can understand that the employees who are unhappy and rude, are working for a tyrant that they hate, give them grace and try to put yourself in their shoes. Most of the employees are wonderful and go out of their way to show the sweet kind spirit of the Appalachian Mountains. The slopes are wonderful, the ski lifts work good, the grooming equipment is awesome and the equipment is on par for rentals. Overall it's a wonderful place. Customer service savvy employees like Jack in the equipment rental place are a diamond in a coal mine!!! He is a good representation of the majority of the employees. ONE LAST WARNING!!!!! When Gunther gets angry and calls off no more tickets and you are still in the ticket line, your ski trip is CANCELLED!!! There's no way to make any kind of reservations, no guarantees that if you travel from hours away that you get to ski. So have a plan B if you are coming here just to ski. Because you might not get in. He will open the flood gates when it opens and if you are not in the front of the line at 7:00am, then your chances are very slim if it's a busy day. Best of luck and STAY AWAY FROM GUNTHER JOCHL AND UNDERSTAND THERE ARE NO RESERVATIONS!!!' Look at the red flags: Owner dedicated a special spot to glorify himself on the company website. Owner names one of the runs after himself. Owner has a gold plated enclosed ski gondola for only him to ride in. Owner created a front row parking spot for himself and nobody else These are red flags for an insecure, angry, bitter, communistic, micromanaging jerk who has forgot that the customer pays his salary. read more

Sugar Mountain Resort - 1 hour wait for the ski lift. Bring a book to read. - Ski Resorts Near Me - Sugar Mountain, North Carolina

Enjoyed a weekend up here skiing as it's the closest to Florida for snow. We skied the Friday & Saturday of Presidents weekend. The slopes were pretty good for us to build up our skills as beginners. There was pretty good snow for it being a warmer weekend though a little slushy on Saturday after some rain overnight. Overall, The staff was helpful and friendly and seemed to be watching those getting on & off the lifts & the magic carpet so didn't see some of the issues others brought up. We took a group lesson (1.5hrs) on Friday and a private lesson (1hr) on Saturday. The group lesson was good and our instructor (Daniel) did a good job despite the wide range of abilities but with about 15 people we didn't get too far. The private lesson was amazing and the instructor (Justin) was great and really assessed both of us and could customize his lesson to help us progress and improve on the areas each of us needed. We didn't get to test out the tubing, as it sold out for the session as we walked up. The main ski house works but is slightly dated (looks like the 70s or 80s). We did not rent our equipment here as we figured with the holiday weekend it would be crazy and have long lines and were glad we did. Friday was pretty good though still busy but on Saturday it was so busy we spent more time in lift lines then on the slopes. They do have a cafeteria area and a place to get beers, but the options were slim, especially if you are a vegetarian (sorry vegans, I'm not sure there's much other than French fries). Even drink wise there were only two options, though at least one was Spaten. Overall, Sugar works as a good option if you don't want to go far, decent slopes, they try to make tons of snow, and good instructors. A couple items to consider: if possible go during the week to avoid the crowds and consider renting equipment off site to avoid lines. I do wish they would improve their food and drink options and also provide the option to purchase things in advance or online (can't buy lift tix till the day even if you are there the previous day, tubing is only 1 hr prior to the session time & lessons are the day of). read more

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This is one of the most poorly run ski resorts I've encountered. They do not offer an online option to purchase any lift tickets, lessons or ski school. The rule is, you have to go the night before between 8pm-9pm to buy lift tickets for the next day . The line is obnoxiously long every time, takes hours of waiting in the freezing cold to buy lift tickets then they won't even allow you to buy for multiple days! Nope. You must come back & suffer in line daily to get your tickets. THEN they won't even allow you to purchase ski school or lessons at that time. You must come the morning of, be on line at 6AM (purchasing opens at 8am)again waiting in the freezing temps. My husband waited 2 hours & when he almost reached the front of the line , they closed purchasing & said sorry bout your luck. Then there's parking. There is absolutely no parking anywhere. Every day the sign said the lot was full. We had to shuttle in which took 1-2 hours. Total time suck & waste of money. These people do not care about their customers, it's evident.we will go to Beech mountain from here on out. read more

Sugar Mountain Resort - Ski Resorts Near Me - Sugar Mountain, North Carolina

A nicer place to ski/ snowboard in the area. The runs are pretty long runs, compared to other ski resorts in the area. There were a few draw backs that kind of made the trip a little less enjoyable which were: - social distancing is not well enforced. There are signs up that say masks are required and staff that casually and sporadically mention wearing masks while standing in lines. Buses were limited with taped off seating but the drivers just told everyone to kind of cram in if the seats were full. - There is no pre-purchasing of tickets unless you are physically there the night before. I am 2.5 hours away so there is a good chance that even if I show up well before opening they may be sold out. Luckily, I got a ticket. - Parking is a pain due to having to park in whatever lot they tell you then wait for a bus. There is not an easy way to walk from any of the parking lots to the slopes. Overall, I enjoyed the trip and the resort. I do think there is an evolution of customer experience and use of technology that could better the experience of the guests. Lines at the lifts were long but moved at a steady pace. I will go back but mainly because option in NC are limited. read more

Sugar Mountain Resort - Crowded lines at ski lifts. - Ski Resorts Near Me - Sugar Mountain, North Carolina

The bad: on one of the busiest weeks of the year, the customer service at this resort was below mediocre, and that's being generous. Inside for equipment rental, they only had maybe half of their cashier windows open. My brother and I chose the far left, away from the main entrance, thinking it would be the shorter line, which it was at first. Little did we know, the cashier booth had a system error (which we didn't hear about until we made it to the window), which made our line nearly 2x slower moving than other lines. When we finally got to the cashier, after over 1.5 hours of waiting, we overheard the person in front of us informed about the system issue that caused the delay. I told the cashier that not having advised us all in that particular line of any sort of delay was extremely poor customer service and wanted to speak to the manager to see what sort of small compensation could be made for our delay. Literally, after they having admitted it was an issue in their system, the "manager" came up and put the blame on us, the customer, saying "we'll y'all chose one of the busiest days of the year". Extremely unprofessional comments and blaming their poor service on the fact that it was a busy day. I don't disagree it was busy, but when you wait in a line for 1.5 hours versus lines beside you moving at 2x the rate, clearly there is an issue. When we finally paid (no sort of prorating), I went to the rental area to get my board, boots and helmet. Those staff were friendly, but not very attentive to their gear they were handing out. I had to go back 2 times. The first, I noticed when I went to put on my boots, that someone had knotted the laces to an almost impossible knot to undo-I actually didn't even attempt. The other boot someone had cut the laces so short there is no way they would've ever been tied. The guy was nice to swap me out quickly for other boots, but seriously if you are renting gear, inspect it! Next, after getting my board, I noticed one of the bindings was given to me loose. Once again, I had to go back, and this time, just snagged a screwdriver laying around and tightened it myself. Wouldn't you rent gear that's ready to go? Clearly this resort has no form of quality control. Overall, the majority of resort staff just didn't seem to care about customer service or quality of services rendered. Maybe they underpay? Or they understaff? And simply put too much pressure on the few employees they have on peak days? And believe me, I was not the only frustrated customer. The okay: resort snow was good for NC I guess. Never been to a resort where they blow snow all day. I guess the bright side is that it's "fresher" conditions but downside is the amount of noise it generates in such a beautiful place. Sounded like we were under an airport in most places, and very hard to hear skiiers or snowboarders coming up from behind. I generally had a good time boarding other than the snow blowing noise. The exceptionally good: my brother's personal board's binding broke unexpectedly after our second run. There was a "graveyard" of sorts of old binding parts near the gear rental section. As a shot in the dark, we headed to that area, and one of the staff was a complete boss and fixed up my brother's binding at no cost. This dude was an absolute legend in the midst of mediocrity. He cared about service, taking care of the customer, and tackling problems that came his way with real solutions. Five stars for this guy--my guess is he may have been the manager of the rentals area. Overall, it's pretty lousy that there were that many hiccups on a day the resort is expecting more people. They were understaffed and ultimately overcharging for "holiday" pricing without having put in the effort to prepare for holiday surge in customers. Personally, I'll stick to the more expensive resorts. Spending a bit more for better service would be totally worth it. read more

Sugar Mountain Resort - Line for rentals. As you can see, many of the cashier booths not open. - Ski Resorts Near Me - Sugar Mountain, North Carolina

Lost a backpack full of gear, called at 8 AM it's now 5:40 and never heard back. Went tubing and have to brake with your feet, no embankment for stopping and wrecked my ankle. Refused to issue a refund. Save your money. read more

Be advised, you CANNOT reserve ANY activities over the phone or online. Had to wait in line for kids to do sledding for 3+ hours to be told they sold out for the time slot twice and that we would have to wait an additional two hours for the ticket booth to reopen. There were people that waited 5+ hours to be informed the same thing. Wasted an entire day. Not good business practice. Skiing is booked the same way. Cannot reserve online. Had I known this I would've chose another resort or destination. Unprofessional and inept staff makes it equally frustrating. If I could give zero stars I would. Won't be back. read more

I think sugar mountain could fix most of their problems by charging more and capping out the number of tickets and rentals. Early day, you will have a great time. The snow will be good and the lines aren't bad to get on the slopes (minus the one green/easy slope they have, that line is always monstrous). By lunchtime, the place is overcrowded, and unfortunately the skill levels of everyone are very mismatched and it becomes a madhouse. People are colliding left and right. People are constantly having to "pump the brakes" because beginners decide to go up to the summit. Your best bet would be to go to Beech Mountain where they actually cap out ticket sales, the slopes are consistently better, and parking isn't a nightmare. read more

Can I give 0 stars?!?!?! This place is an absolute joke of an establishment!!! We tried to ski on 12/31 but the entire place was iced over. The website stated they would be blowing snow and when we got there at 5:30pm there wasn't a single machine in use. Their reason being that was that the people who operate the blowers were at a party. WTH!!???!!! So we wasted $200 for my kids to ski down one slope and bust their butt. This experience absolutely ruined my trip to NC and will NEVER go back. I guess you guys need the $200 more than I do, you greedy bunch. read more

I will never come back to this place ever again It's not organized at all All you have to do is wait wait wait and wait in line for anything you want to do It's start with the parking Wait to park your car and wait again for the the bus After you have to wait for approximately an hour to get your equipment/ and the lift and for the ski lesson same thing I waited another hour for my daughter to get a ski lesson And they told me they were already full The wouldn't give me the option of purchasing for the next day The girl said I had to come back the next day and the line starts at 5.15 and they open at 8 5.15 ????? Seriously?????? We were so disappointed that we had decided to go back home Don't waist your money and go somewhere else read more

I adore this establishment! I drove to Sugar mountain right after leaving Extreme Snowboard and Ski and thank God the folks down there recommended snow chains for my tires or I would not have been able to make it up the mountain. I had so much fun and I will be coming back up here from Florida probably every weekend. I want to be buried right under Easy Street. God Bless. read more

Sugar Mountain Resort - Ski Resorts Near Me - Sugar Mountain, North Carolina

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The runs are limited, of course. But they are decent in height and skill levels for this area of the country. The staff / ownership is unprofessional and lacking in ski knowledge and basic operational practices. Purchasing tickets is a true hassle. Nothing online or the ability to purchase multi-day tickets is crazy, even with COVID restrictions. Standing in line at 8 PM to buy tomorrow's tickets is stupid and not COVID smart. The lift operators do not understand basic safety practices, such as stopping the chairs when skiers fall de-chairing. We won't be back ! read more

I ordered 3 Christmas gift cards from Sugar Mountain on December 16th. I only live 90 miles from them so this was adequate time to receive them. I was told that this was mailed out on December 17th. I finally received this envelope on December 24th but it only had one of the three gift cards in it. As you can see, this was not postmarked in Greensboro until December 22. When I called on the 26th, I was told that they can't fit three gift cards in one envelope! What?!!! read more

Sugar Mountain Resort - This is the size of the one gift card that was in the envelope. They said they couldn't fit three of these in the same envelope? - Ski Resorts Near Me - Sugar Mountain, North Carolina

Beautiful day on the mountain today. Still plenty of snow and crowds were only noticeable around noontime. Capped off the day with a local brew on the patio. read more

Sugar Mountain Resort - From the base lodge. Still plenty of snow! - Ski Resorts Near Me - Sugar Mountain, North Carolina

First time here. As soon as we (finally!) found a parking spot at the ski resort, it was another 2 hours to be able to ski. Waited in a line forever for the parking lot bus. Bus ride was 35 min due to sitting in standing traffic because no one could find parking. Another 35 min in line to get lift tickets, then 45 min in line to get on the chair lift. Fortunately we already had skis and gear. We left after 3 tiny runs on the greens. I'm a life long skier and have never seen such a poorly run operation. All three lift lines were 45 min wait each time. There was no crowd-control and they never stopped selling lift tickets. The place was overflowing with people. The snow blowers were running at an obnoxious speed and spewed freezing sleet all over skiers. They continued blowing sleety snow all day despite the recent real snow fall, 19 degree weather, and harsh winds. The blowers clobbered you on the lifts and all the way down the run. It was unbearable at times, Seriously miserable because of the blowers. I've skied in terrible weather conditions in the bitter cold and can honestly say this was the worst. Hope the management makes changes. This place can be so much better but our visit was a huge fail. Big shout out to the amazing bus drivers. It was so crowded with cars trying to find parking that they all got stuck in line. They were cheery and very apologetic. It took us 1.5 hours to get from the parking lot between waiting in line and riding on a super slow ride due to all the traffic. Again, there was zero crowd control. read more

There aren't many options for skiing in North Carolina. I get that. But Sugar Mountain was absolutely horrible. Think about the dirtiest Walmart for skiing and that's Sugar Mountain. After it took well over an hour of waiting in line to ride a bus to the ski resort, we waited quite a while longer to try and access tubing. Our party waited in line for about two hours to buy tickets to tube. Most of us decided not to even tube at this point, so we purchased tickets for the kids. They were able to get a couple of runs in after waiting in insane lines for each of the few slopes to tube. I can't imagine ever coming back here. Horrible experience. read more

Parking was over whelmed. We waited a while to get a spot. Then had to walk far with lots of gear to get to the ticket office. Then wait about 45 min in line for lift passes. Then took beginners to the bunny slope. Wow what a scene! So crowded by people not moving. The lifts for the other slopes had huge lines and lots of people just jumping the lines without any staff making it orderly. We left early very dissatisfied. They should limit number of tickets and have enough staff to keep it organized. We also saw ambulances. Not surprised. Lots of accidents waiting to happen there. The place is obviously just greedy & doesn't care if people have a good experience. The restaurant was also insanely packed we didn't even bother. Will try other places. read more

We had a great weekend coming on for skiing and snowboarding! We stayed pretty close by in Banner Elk, with only a 10 min drive. Parking was pretty easy and straight forward. There is a drop off zone if you have trouble walking or want to drop family off first. However, there is plenty of parking! Once the lots close to the resort are full, you will be directed to the overflow parking. We just parked and walked, since it was only a 10 min walk. If you want to take the bus and have your gear, you can jump on and be there within 5-10 mins. The bus comes by the lots continuously. All the rentals and lift tickets were straight forward. We rented for multi days and then rented lockers so that we could leave our stuff overnight and get it the next day. You do have to buy lift tickets every day though. All the pricing was very reasonable and straightforward. There is a cafe with food, bar, and cafe. The food is pretty good, little pricey, but you are paying for convenience. If you want to save some money, just bring your food to the resort. Only negative was the lines. This was the busiest weeks of the year and there are a lot of beginners out there. Not a ton of fresh powder, but the resort makes their own. You get a pretty good deal for what you pay for honestly. I would recommend this for beginners who want to try out skiing and snowboarding. If it doesn't workout, then just go hit the tubes. read more

The place we stayed at Sugar Mountain was so beautiful, immaculate and fabulous! Loved it! We stayed at a condo in The Reserve. However, Sugar Mountain park itself has some major work to do. They way they sell tickets - specific times, first come-first serve is a huge frustrating time-waster. Why they don't do online ticket sales is beyond me. I feel for people who go up there, have to wait 2-3 hours in a line outside in the cold and sometimes don't even get a ticket. Rado waited for two hours the night before for the next day and they closed the ticket counter right in front of him. He was literally the next person in line. And we waited for 4 hours to get tickets to go tubing. And I know there had to be people in line that never got a ticket. They really need to come into the 21st century with everyone else and do online pre-ticket sales. It would save so much frustration for both themselves and their guests. You can plan as much ahead as you want to and you will still have to stand in line outside for at least two hours. The tubing was fun once we got to do it, however, I don't know that it was worth wasting the rest of my day waiting on it. We will plan better and go to Hawk's Nest next time. read more

This is not your typical ski resort. Customer service is not on their agenda. If you're looking for a fun, family, friendly experience ski elsewhere. read more

Tubing Blues Sugar mountain really needs to develop a better way to sell tickets for their tubing. We arrived an hour before they were starting to sell the tickets which are sold an hour before the tubing time....We did not make the cut off. I realize that it is MLK weekend in but what a scam and a bunch of disappointed people --look at the line. Been in line for two hours now and we aren't even certain yet if we can get tickets for the next run... read more

Came here to take my 8 year old tubing. Arrived at 10 am and had to wait until 11 in line just to see if I could get tickets to the noon tubing session (only sell 60 tix per session). At 11:30 we were 2 families outside of the 60 person noon session. Now both my wife and 8 year old are hangry so we wasted 2 hours to be told tuff luck. Why not just sell the tix for the 2 pm session so I could go get lunch and come back. This is unacceptable when dealing with kids and families. If I pay up front and don't show back up, you still got my money. You're basically showing kids a shiner new toy and them telling them to STAND in a line for 4 hours to MAYBE be able to go down a hill 4 or 5 times. Y'all need to do better and there is no chance in this lifetime that we would EVER come back to this dump. Staff was also really rude which is most likely a product of poor management read more

Lines, lines and more lines! Lines to ride the bus from the parking lot to the resort. They don't sell multi-day lift passes, so you get to stand in another line EVERY DAY when you arrive. If you also need equipment, there are lines for equipment rental. One for boots, another for snow boards or skis. (Interestingly, one can rent equipment for multiple days, but not lift tickets). Then the line for ski lessons plus the wait for the next available class if they are filled up. Then the line for the ski lift. And they seem to have 1/2 as many lifts anchored on the cable as they should making it feel like a crawl. Bottom line, your standing in lines much more than on the ski slope which is what you pay for. What is most interesting is the use of NCR carbon paper! I haven't seen that in years. Pieces of paper all stapled together and handed back to the customer for presentation at clothing rental, boot rental, ski rental or ski instructors. Why not code an app, (think Disney, Airlines) to enable customers to make all purchases in advance and present a QR code to be scanned at each station? Then all the clerks taking orders and processing credit card payments can work at the redesigned counters handing out equipment and processing guests 5x faster? But, with the crowds continuing to come, there's no motivation to innovate. At least post on your website the customer count, wait times etc. for the time of year. Possibly guests would balance the load on their own if they could plan their trip during periods of lower traffic. read more

This was my first time skiing and I had a pretty decent time. We came on a Friday-Saturday and bought day passes for both. Friday morning was not busy and I took it for granted. We got there around 8:30am and got a parking spot up front. On Saturday we arrived at about the same time but had to park further away. Luckily Sugar runs a free shuttle and it was no problem at all. Honestly it was probably less walking when we took the shuttle. Friday's ticket was not too bad in terms of price but I was hoping to get a college discount. As it turned out, they only offer their student discount Sun-Thur. On Saturday the day pass was $80 which was absolutely not worth all the waiting in lines. I took a few turns on the bunny hill before moving onto East Street. Unfortunately, for beginnings East Street is pretty much the only ski option and by the afternoon and all of Saturday the line was not worth the 30 second ski to the bottom. By Saturday, I upgraded to the blues which left me with more ski options including the main lift to the top, but by 1 o'clock on Saturday the lift lines were so long that we called it quits. The lodge was decent. There was a decent amount of seating but it did get very crowded. The food was very overpriced as expected. I would say this place is best for intermediate skiers or locals that can go during the week when it is less crowded. read more

A two and a half hour drive from our home south of Charlotte, NC on good roads through pretty country. We skied here with our sons in the late 1970s and later in the mid-1980s so were familiar with the operation. Altitude is low for snow, so most all of the snow is made-made. But there is enough to ski on. In many ways you get to ski is nice, sunny, temperate weather. No need to bundle up as you would in a wintry location. The city of Blowing Rock is your support center with an OK selection of restaurants, shops and especially ski equipment rentals and gear. Just drive down the hill and you are there. There is a shuttle bus just off the main entrance road which is great for people not staying in the resort area. Plenty of parking and you slide your skis into the PVC pipes along the side and get shuttled right up to the ticket windows. There are different lift tickets and ski times. All day lift tickets are complimented with half day tickets which start after 12 noon and night tickets. The main slopes are well lighted so night skiing, if you still have the energy after skiing all day, is safe and comfortable. The ski area is adjacent to tennis courts, an ice skating rink and a tubing slope. There are fees to use these as they are separate from the ski slopes. The lodge is pretty good. The food consists of burgers, hot dogs, chili, sandwiches, prepared salads and good BBQ pork. Prices are a bit high, but so it goes: $3 for a cookie, for example. Plenty of tables. Upstairs allows people to picnic with food they bring in and there is also a full bar up there. Best to save that for end of day. There is a beginner slope with a "magic carpet" moving ramp that you just stand on to get back to the top. Lots of instructors for group lessons and private ones in skiing and snow boarding. There are condos to rent that are adjacent to the slopes. Very nice people. The staff is courteous, lodge workers pleasant and there is roving security inside and outside to keep a lookout for ski thieves and rowdy youths. Ski people are very well behaved anyway, but sometimes the teens can get a bit out of hand. And all day lift ticket is $72 for adults, $51 for military and other youth prices. Children 4 and under ski free and you have to get their lift tickets with the child present. AND..if you are 70 or older you ski for free! What a deal for wife and I. We are grateful that we have the health to do it. Very much a family place to enjoy. read more

Came here and this was my first time snowboarding. Excited? SUPER. Went as a group of 5, and I personally had a b-b-blast. (hahaha lol) Went on a Monday and did the $81pp (per person) deal for the full day: + Board/boots/bindings rental + Unlimited lift ticket + And a 1 hour snowboarding class I also opted for the helmet, which I think was an addtl $10pp. So for $91pp, you get to hit the slopes all day. Sooo, this is where Sugar Ski loses a star: they have classes every hour, on the hour. They expect you to be waiting in the "class pick up" area 10-15 mins early, which is fine. But some guy just dumped a bin of wrist-guards, expected us to put them on before the class, and then went on his merry way. Being a first timer, I've never put on a wristguard. Had no idea which one was left from right (until another guy came along and showed us). Theeennn, we had our "lovely" instructor. Ed. Lol... This guy looked like he had an awful case of RBF (urban dictionary that if you must). He did not look enthused to be with us at all. There was another girl in our class that fell after getting off the magic carpet, and when we had to put both feet in the bindings, she couldn't stay up. Ed? Just went away, expected us to follow, and when he looked back to see that girl was still having trouble standing up, he was like, "What the hell is she doing? ...*shrugs*" Sooo, yeah. Talk about stellar instructor quality... lol. I'd give him a 1*. Nonetheless, after we were done with our class, we had so much fun going down the bunny slopes and generally falling all over the mountain. I tried the green "easy street" once with my SO... lol. That was a lesson in failure, haha, but very fun when I wasn't wheezing for air or rubbing my bruised behind. And the SNOW! Was so freaking pretty. We got lucky with the snowfall. :) And the tubing we hit up after was FREEZING, but exhilarating and beautiful (snowfall while tubing!). I definitely recommend tubing and going down the lanes as a group rather than doing it solo. :) I'm def stoked to snowboard again. :D Determined to learn it! lol. Will have to make it a longer event than just 1 day though. :) read more

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Head north or out west. Conditions and amenities are not worth the price. They should at least offer a discount. read more

Sugar Mountain Resort - Can't believe they charge for this. - Ski Resorts Near Me - Sugar Mountain, North Carolina

WORST EXPERIENCE EVER!!! The lines are over 4 hrs long because the system they have to sell the tickets it makes no sense. They sell them every hour and they make you waist your time in lines to then tell you it is only 100 tickets per session (tubing). Instead of selling by the time of the sessions which it will make it way easier for everyone. Not coming here EVER AGAIN AND NOT RECOMMENDING IT FOR ANYONE EITHER read more

This is my first time skiing. Had always been told the instructors were really cool & nice... well, sorry to say, not my experience. The instructor's name is Justin. Told him I had never even seen snow in my life, that he would need to be patient with me, naturally I was nervous. Not only he lost his patience fast, but he didn't take the time to correct what I was doing wrong. Just kept saying the same thing, over and over again like I couldn't hear him. One time he tried to be encouraging (when I told him I would go practice by my self). The other thing I didn't like was that he only did two runs down the bunny slope and that's it. Didn't show us how to fall, how to stop sliding - just going forward and stopping forming a wedge with your feet which is not useful @ the big slopes. Very disappointed with Justin. The other thing I have to complain about is the organization there. As stated before, this is my first time @ a skiing place but, here little kids were at the same slope with people practicing. People who fall, or aren't experienced might hurt some of them - that concerns me. Would like to see a bunny slope for kids and one for adults. Now, for people who have done it before, this is a good place to go. Even with my bad instructor experience I had a really good time and had fun. Went with a cool group of friends, loved watching everyone do their thing, and the mountain is beautiful @ night. The lodge is fun to hang out, great hot chocolate - very important when you're freezing outside - drinks at the bar upstairs, and who doesn't like people watching, and maybe making some new friends. read more