Appalachian Ski Mtn. — Attraction in Blowing Rock

This might be a nice little place for beginners on weekdays but wow, this place is not set up to handle weekend crowds.

Here are some pros and cons to help you decide where to spend your time and money skiing in WNC:

Pro: You can purchase your LIFT CARD and sign your waivers online before you arrive, making it very fast to get on the slopes.

Pro: The wide RUNS were great for beginners and those who want to avoid beginners since there was enough room to safely pass them.

Pro: Lift OPERATORS seemed safety focused and were paying attention.

Pro: Most STAFF were friendly and helpful. There were several who acted too busy/ important to talk. Pro tip: take your nametag off if your job does not include being nice to the public.

Mostly Pro: The FOOD was actually pretty tasty and while expensive, it was not as outrageously priced as some places.

Con: PARKING and DROP OFF. There is no drop off close to the lodge. You have to walk pretty far with your gear. You also have to pay $2 for parking which just feels like they are trying to squeeze their guests.

Con: This is the only ski resort we’ve been to that doesn’t offer a half day lift ticket. You have to buy a full-priced full-day ticket. We spent $150 to ski for 2 hours before the wind got too bad to ski. It seems bonkers not to have the half day option for a place with beginners who usually aren’t up for a full day.

Con: This is NOWHERE TO SIT indoors! This is just shocking for a place that brands itself as family friendly: This resort has ZERO indoor seating for people who are not actively eating in the restaurant dining areas. We watched staff continuously kick people out who had finished eating or who brought their own snacks. “No picnicking” signs are everywhere. That is perfectly reasonable for a restaurant but not for a ski resort! Where are people supposed to go?? Case in point: we watched a mother with 2 young children whose husband and older children were skiing be told she couldn’t sit at the table if she was done eating. The food line is easily 10-15 minutes long and people are swooping in on tables as soon as you get up. Was she supposed to leave her toddlers at the table while she went to buy more food when they weren’t even hungry? Take them and hope no one took her table? Then what, after they finished their second round of food? Go sit outside in the 7 degree weather? It makes absolutely no sense. It must be a new policy because so many people were upset and vowed never to come back.

Con: There are no ski/ board racks at the entrance of the lodge. Skis and snowboard are not allowed in the main part of the lodge. You have to drag your gear all the way downstairs, through long hallways then outside to stow your gear while you check in, eat, use the restroom, etc. One staff member said we could leave our gear near the entrance while we got settled but I honestly have no idea what other people do other than drag it all the way through the building and outside then come back. It seems like the vast majority of people are first timers and rent their gear so maybe this isn’t an issue for the masses but still, it seems like a big oversight.

Overall: We give this place a C- Not a failing grade, but we know they can do much,...

I visited back in 2019 and remember the experience very fondly. The mountain is the most perfect for learning how to ski or snowboard and has plenty of terrain parks for people who want to take some extra risk.

However, that was back before Appalachian Ski Mountain went online-only. The experience back then would have given them 5 stars, however I have to deduct 3 stars for not just limiting customers to buy online exclusively, but for making the experience worse and more expensive.

Here's a comparison: Winterplace gives you the option to buy online, and as a reward for saving them money on that, you get $5 worth of savings and are saved plenty of time since all the waivers and such that you'd need to sign are included in their terms that you only need to click a button to accept. Vail and Alterra resorts also have a very simple system despite offering premium prices, but most of their resorts are more distinguished for their available terrain or experience, except for a few duds due to being in a bad location or due to the mismatching legacies (Big Boulder was intended to be more terrain park, Vail nerfed that like they did with Park City and as such the experience there was ruined for the loyal customers it had).

Even Beech Mountain gave you the option to come in and they only tacked on the RFID fee, which comes once. Appalachian Ski Mountain is a smaller resort that on a non-holiday day forces you to spend almost as much as a weekend day on Beech Mountain (if you're fine riding only 4 hours, which if you're too far or slow like me it's the most you'll need and use).

Here's the problem: I had no choice but to select an annual park pass ($5 vs $1 for one day) I do not need, since I was riding only one day. I had to take a test which I was aware of, but will put off some newer customers. I had to pay $2 for the RFID, which was fair, but also had to pay $2 for using the online platform and supporting the development of their unique website. Oh, and we also had to pay $2 in guaranteed parking. What was supposed to be a $49 ticket turned to $60 and on top of that the location has the audacity to request a pick-up time as if that was even necessary.

I decided to not put up with it and take the vacation day off and deal with my college situation instead. That's $60 of revenue lost from me. I would have bought if Appalachian Ski Mountain had a distinguishing feature, like for example, the entire mountain was a terrain park. I'd pay a premium price for a mountain that is fully open almost all season and the entire mountain has wacky freestyle terrain for the true park enthusiast, but right now, I would just rather get my tickets elsewhere and ride a more distinguished mountain like Sugar Mountain, Beech, or even any of mountains in the Poconos.

If this was my first experience, this would be 0 stars, but the mountain has the advantage of prior experience to help boost the rating to 3 (or 2.5...

Tldr: Disorganized, relatively small, crowded…with individual staff who are clearly trying.

Disclaimer: The individual people at the resort are trying, but the overall experience comes off as disorganized…and some of the staff are rude.

Random examples: We were told to show at 1030 for a 1200 lesson, but didn’t get an instructor till 1230. On Wednesday there were zero perking attendants and I parked where I wanted, on Thursday I was barked at by three separate parking attendants for 1) parking in disabled parking (zero signs, so not actually a legal spot), 2) parking at the end of an aisle (no idea why), 3) not backing into my parking spot (again no idea why) The night before people at the resort have no idea what is happening the next day, when asked if there were spots in ski school, their best advice was to show at 0800, for a 0900 opening, and (hope) there is an opening. At 0830 the next morning, people up front knew immediately there were no openings, which was fine because the slopes opened 0900, so at least we could free ski…just kidding the mountain opened 25 minutes late, and then only opened 2 out of 3 slopes (at a resort the size of a costco parking lot.) by 1100 on Thursday (2 jan 25) there was a 40 minute wait to size skis and boot, by noon there was a 15 minute wait to go up a starter slope, and the ski lodge was standing room only with people apparently waiting an hour to grab equipment from staff who are clearly trying but are understaffed and fighting software that apparently being run on a 1990’s computer in the basement. On the bunny slope, the magic carpet randomly cut off while beginners were trying to reset to the top of a small hill. 5 minutes later all of the beginners were stills stranded at the bottom of the hill, and the hill operator went sprinting to get assistance to get the carpet operating again. A 11 year old crashed into my 5 year old, i was initially concerned for her (the 11 year old)since she apparently yardsale’d, and my 5 year old wasn’t crying. One of the staff immediately started barking at the 11 year old before even checking if she was fine, saying if she couldn’t slow down, she needed to get off that slope (at a resort that sells itself as a premier location to learn how to ski.) It scared the girl so bad she ran off without her poles just to get away from him.

Bright spot: Our individual instructor (Kristian) was phenomenal with a group of mostly beginners. He was easily the brightest spot of the resort, and highlights how individuals are trying to keep it a positive experience.

Bottom line: The individual people at the resort are trying, but the overall resort is so inefficient and disorganized that the end experience is mildly...